Making a case for home defense handgun

[ocbruin]

I'm just starting to explore the world of shooting and handguns. Of course, one consideration is maintaining a handgun in terms of home/self defense. I have started to talk to my wife about this (we have two small children in the home) and I was wondering if there are any good links or other information that can help make the case from the risk/benefit part of the equation (risks - handgun related accidents vs. benefits - averted crimes, successful home defense, etc.). The more hard data, the better.

I tried searching, but could not come up with any good search parameters to get anything applicable.

[thominator]

Since the Supreme Court found that police have no legal duty to protect an individual in Castle Rock vs. Gonzales, you can't rely on anyone else but God and yourself to protect you and your family.

http://www.allsafedefense.com/news/CopsDontProtect.htm

[Dr Rockso]

There's a lot of misleading statistics out there about this subject (on both sides of the argument), but in terms of defensive gun use there's somewhere on the order of 1 million per year.

http://www.guncite.com/kleckandgertztable1.html

That means that each year about 0.3% of the population arms themselves for self defense, the vast majority of which do not fire a shot.

Since you have kids in the house that should be your wife's biggest concern, especially since the media has people convinced that accidental shootings amongst kids happens all the time. In reality the number of accidental shootings for kids under the age of 17 is about 150 per year (anti-gunners use misleading wording like "[huge number] of children and teenagers are shot each year" so that they can include anyone age 0-20 who gets shot in gang wars, suicides, and even justifiably shot by police or an armed citizen). While tragic, 150 per year is massively lower than deaths by drowning, poisoning, falling, etc... If you invest in a good lock-box or safe, store your firearm safely, and acquaint your kids with your guns under supervision with the knowledge that they are never to touch your gun unsupervised, you will have brought that risk down to approximately zero.

[Bukowski]

This site helped me a lot with the wife when she was just starting out. One of the best written from the female perspective:

http://www.corneredcat.com/TOC.aspx

[randy]

Here's the best case I can think of. I have testicles and I want to do this. Otherwise turn in your man card.

[rkt88edmo]

Preventing accidents is a matter of controlling access to the firearm.

Keep it on your person
or
Keep it locked up

And as long as you are well trained and keep safe firearm handling at the forefront of your mind you should never have an accident that harms your family.

Gunproofing your kids will help too. The cornered cat site is pretty good.

If you want statistics check out www.gunfacts.info

[RAD-CDPII]

Since you have kids at the house, a shotgun is not a good idea. If it's unloaded, you might as well have a baseball bat, if it's loaded it should be in the safe to keep it out of the kids way. Get a gunvault or some other quick to open safe to keep a loaded pistol in. Easy access, but out of reach of the kids. A shotgun in the safe is always good for a back up. But that's just my opinion. Others will I'm sure, dissagree.

[Socal858]

http://gunvault.com/minisafe.nxg

get a safe like one of these.

learn and practice safe habits and always stay aware

a handgun is better than a long arm in my opinion (indoors at least) because you will be able to operate a phone or other objects

[Casual Observer]

Since you have kids in the house that should be your wife's biggest concern, especially since the media has people convinced that accidental shootings amongst kids happens all the time. In reality the number of accidental shootings for kids under the age of 17 is about 150 per year (anti-gunners use misleading wording like "[huge number] of children and teenagers are shot each year" so that they can include anyone age 0-20 who gets shot in gang wars, suicides, and even justifiably shot by police or an armed citizen). While tragic, 150 per year is massively lower than deaths by drowning, poisoning, falling, etc... If you invest in a good lock-box or safe, store your firearm safely, and acquaint your kids with your guns under supervision with the knowledge that they are never to touch your gun unsupervised, you will have brought that risk down to approximately zero.

This is very true. Many of the anti-gun statistics are pretty slanted. IE- you're more likely to get shot with your own gun is a common but misleading statement which includes national statistics on suicide, not home invasions or robberies.

[1911su16b870]

Preventing accidents is a matter of controlling access to the firearm.

Keep it on your person
or
Keep it locked up

And as long as you are well trained and keep safe firearm handling at the forefront of your mind you should never have an accident that harms your family.

Gunproofing your kids will help too. The cornered cat site is pretty good.

If you want statistics check out www.gunfacts.info

+1 very well said rkt88edmo

Know Cooper's 4 laws:
1. Firearms are allways loaded.
2. Never muzzle/cover anything you don't want completely destroyed.
3. Finger off the trigger until you've made the mental decision to shoot.
4. Know your target and what's behind it.

[Miltiades]

Low probability of catastrophic loss

The rationale for keeping a self defense gun in your home is to provide a means to avoid a catastrophic loss, such as the murder, rape or permanent injury of you or a family member. The chances of needing the handgun for this are probably small - maybe one chance in 1000 over a 5 or 10 year period. So this is a hard situation to analyze numerically, because you can't really put a value on your life or health, which could be taken by an armed intruder.

A fire extinguisher in the home is a similar situation, because it can possibly allow you to stop a fire in the early stages, before it can become catastrophic and kill a family member or destroy your home completely. But you will have to spend $50 or so upfront for the fire extinguisher, and take the time to read the instructions for use so you will be ready if you need it. But most fire extinguishers sit in the closet for years and are never used.

As for the question of loaded firearms plus children in the home, it puts a burden on the adults to be very responsible at all times, keeping the gun in a quick access safe or on your person, and never unlocked where a child could get it. This is not easy, but it can be done by an adult who is willing to take the time and effort.

I have always kept a loaded firearm in my home, including for 20 years while my children lived there. There were no accidents, and fortunately I never needed the firearm for defense. But I was prepared if I did need it.

I think you also should be prepared.

[Rob454]

I purchased a small gun safe that I bolted IN the wall by my bed. Electric combo lock and its open in about 4 seconds. My wife and i are the only ones who know the combo. THATS IT end of story. I got it a few years ago when my nephews come and stay the summer and since it became a yearly thing I jsut got one. the gun is locked up. All my guns are locked up. As long as you and your wife are the ONLY ones who know the combo the only way kids are getting in it is if theire professional safe crackers.
Rob

[savs2k]

there is nothing dangerous about having a firearm as long as you and anyone who can get to them are smart. Dont touch it if you dont know what your doing with 115%confidence. Store it locked up but easily acessed where if you need it you can get it. train your children to not touch them and not hide from them. Curiosity is what will get children wondering about guns. Train train train and train some more with your firearm. When it comes down to it if someone broke into your home in the middle of the night, 911 is your best weapon. Just remember calling 911 means help is on the way. Can your wife live with herself if god forbid something happened WHILE help is on the way? I can live with myself if I was armed and cops got to my house before I had to shoot to protect someone i love. But I can NOT live with the fact that i couldnt do anything before cops got there. Gun saftey courses,training,knowledge,more training,more knowledge,more saftey, and MORE training to have a option in a bad situation is a VERY small price to pay.

[bubbaskyjacker]

first of all 1 in a 1000 or one in a million. it is still a chance. luckly i had my xd40 whne some one was trying to break into my apartment. lets just say a .40 cal barrel to the face kept them from coming back, so it helped me, odds are i wont need to do that again. depending on your kids age and size, its pretty hard to rack and shoot one's self with a pump shotgun a lil more safe in my eyes. that would be my vote. the most important is teaching the kids!!!!!!!!!!! about gun safety.

[ojisan]

It's not 1 in a million. I have been through it 5 times in my life so far. I am lucky to be alive. Chances for a man to be a victim of violent crime in their life is 1 in 4, woman, 1 in 3. Unfortunately, I have beat the odds here. If you remain defensless and helpless, you or your family have "problems", you will never forgive yourself. I still have PTSD almost 30 years later, better now but never gone. Use a quick access safe and train the kids in safety as soon as they are old enough. Grab 357 before you dial 911. When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.