Loaded Guns At Home

[Meeskas]

I just bought my first gun a few weeks ago, a Beretta 9mm. Part of the reason I bought was Home Defense. I am interested in LEO's take on storing a gun at home with a loaded magazine in it. Currently I store the gun in a safe with the magazine separate. When I am home the safe is unlocked. I feel it only takes a second to load the magazine and chamber the round, but is that 1 second too long?

[fuegoslow]

Possibly, while at home, you CAN carry your weapon on your person. Castle Doctrine applies to your residence in California. The only question would be with other members of your family(I.e. Wife, children, etc) and their feelings. Education and safety training will go a long way. When the police response time is only a few minutes away, you may only have a few seconds to protect your loved ones!

[Grumpyoldretiredcop]

Not enough information. Kids at home? Shared living situation? Location of safe and accessibility?

[Jonathan Doe]

No restrictions on having loaded guns at home. However, there is a penal code section, I believe 12035PC, that says if a minor gets hold of the gun and injures other, you will be liable and can be prosecuted.

[fuegoslow]

Very true on accessibility of firearm by a minor. Every time I purchase a firearm, that disclosure is stated on the documents I receive from the FFL or manufacture pamphlet.

[l_Z_l]

i cc/oc (snap cap in chamber w/ loaded mag) at home and it's never out of my sight...it took my parent a few months to get used to it...they want to go shooting to see why i'm so excited about the sport...gotta set something up next mo...

[Meeskas]

Not enough information. Kids at home? Shared living situation? Location of safe and accessibility?

No kids, live alone. I have dogs so I don't think I would be suprised by an intruder. Neighborhood is pretty safe. I really don't want to carry it around the house with me. I am asking the question because a friend of mine asked me "why do you have a gun at home if you are not keeping it loaded and ready to use". My feeling is that I want it stored safely and I can get to my safe, get the gun and load the magazine in under 10 seconds.

[JohnnyG]

No restrictions on having loaded guns at home. However, there is a penal code section, I believe 12035PC, that says if a minor gets hold of the gun and injures other, you will be liable and can be prosecutedd

You also must "know or reasonably should know" that a child can gain access to the said firearm. In other words, if you live with no kids in the house and a punk teen breaks in and takes it off your kitchen counter and shoots someone else with it, you still haven't committed a crime. (I'm not advocating you leave guns sitting around while you're gone though )

John

[Suvorov]

i cc/oc (snap cap in chamber w/ loaded mag) at home and it's never out of my sight...it took my parent a few months to get used to it...they want to go shooting to see why i'm so excited about the sport...gotta set something up next mo...

You are about the 3rd person I have seen post that leaves their gun with a loaded magazine and snap cap in the chamber.

Why may I ask?

I can understand not wanting to have a loaded chamber, but what purpose does a snap cap serve? You certainly are not going to be dry firing the weapon with a loaded magazine and the snap cap is just one more thing that could potentially get in the way and cause your gun to jam up when you attempt to chamber a round. In short I see no advantage to this method and several severe disadvantages.

Please give me a sound reason for storing/carrying a firearm in this manner


As for the OP, a gun ain't no good in self defense unless it is loaded. You don't get to decide how much time you will have to react. I would advise you keep it as ready to go as you feel comfortable. My personal self-defense guns are stored loaded and ready, however they are locked up at all times. My duty gun is either on my body or required to be locked up and stays loaded at all times.

If you are comfortable leaving the gun unlocked while at home, I would leave the weapon with chamber empty but magazine loaded and in the weapon. The Beretta also has the advantage of a mechanical safety that you could leave on if you wanted to store the gun fully loaded but still offer some measure of protection from an untrained person/kid shooting it. Just remember to train (a bunch) to disengage the safety before firing. If the weapon is to be left locked up at all times, I would advise leaving it loaded as you might not have much time to chamber a round once you get the safe open.

Remember that the PC mentioned above does not apply unless you have a reasonable expectations of minors in the house. In other words, you are not punishable if kids break into your house and find the loaded gun.

Just my opinions.

[Casual_Shooter]

I read an argument that people use a snap-cap in their guns because if it gets taken away and used on them, the trigger pull will be useless to the bad-guy- possibly giving you extra time to flee, grab another weapon etc.

[Blue]

I read an argument that people use a snap-cap in their guns because if it gets taken away and used on them, the trigger pull will be useless to the bad-guy- possibly giving you extra time to flee, grab another weapon etc.

Basically the same as leaving the chamber empty right?

[Casual_Shooter]

Basically the same as leaving the chamber empty right?

Yup... didn't make sense to me either.

[armygunsmith]

I don't see the advantages of having a snap cap in the chamber. I also believe that the safest and most useful place to have a loaded firearm is on your person and properly holstered. Kids shouldn't be able to get at it because it is under your control, secondly and most importantly, the firearm is ready should the need arise. What if a criminal kicks down your front door and you're in the living-room cut off from your safe? My good friend Springfield and I always hang out together at the house.

[Suvorov]

Basically the same as leaving the chamber empty right?

Exactly, but with the added disadvantage of getting in the way when you try and chamber a round.

As I said, an empty chamber makes some sense, a snap cap in the chamber seems completely ludacris!

What, the bad guy is going to take your gun, and before pulling the trigger, he is going to press check it to make sure it is loaded and then seeing the snap cap, be fooled into thinking it is loaded. All the while, giving you time to use your secret ninja skills to disarm him, rack the slide, and drill him in the forehead?

I'm baffled

[oldironpants]

Goudy: Was this revolver loaded and cocked?

Rooster Cogburn: Well, a gun that's unloaded and cocked ain't good for nothin'.

I have one in just about every room of the house...my kids are adults, there are no neighbor's near so I have no expectations to have children that could come in.

(edit): I also agree with the comments about the snapcap. Just something extra to cause a jam/problem when your fine motor skills go to pot due to the massive adrenaline rush from a threat. An empty chamber to merely rack the slide back would be my choice if I was to store it that way, but I kind of differ to the Duke in the quote above.

Here's from the PC section itself on 12035 (you can read the full section by clicking on this link):

(b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a person commits
the crime of "criminal storage of a firearm of the first degree" if
he or she keeps any loaded firearm within any premises that are under
his or her custody or control and he or she knows or reasonably
should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm
without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian and
the child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes death or
great bodily injury to himself, herself, or any other person.
(2) Except as provided in subdivision (c), a person commits the
crime of "criminal storage of a firearm of the second degree" if he
or she keeps any loaded firearm within any premises that are under
his or her custody or control and he or she knows or reasonably
should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm
without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian and
the child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes injury,
other than great bodily injury, to himself, herself, or any other
person, or carries the firearm either to a public place or in
violation of Section 417.

(c) Subdivision (b) shall not apply whenever any of the following
occurs:
(1) The child obtains the firearm as a result of an illegal entry
to any premises by any person.
(2) The firearm is kept in a locked container or in a location
that a reasonable person would believe to be secure.
(3) The firearm is carried on the person or within such a close
proximity thereto that the individual can readily retrieve and use
the firearm as if carried on the person.
(4) The firearm is locked with a locking device that has rendered
the firearm inoperable.
(5) The person is a peace officer or a member of the armed forces
or National Guard and the child obtains the firearm during, or
incidental to, the performance of the person's duties.
(6) The child obtains, or obtains and discharges, the firearm in a
lawful act of self-defense or defense of another person, or persons.

(7) The person who keeps a loaded firearm on any premise that is
under his or her custody or control has no reasonable expectation,
based on objective facts and circumstances, that a child is likely to
be present on the premises.