dangers of loaded on the night stand

I think it's been said ad nauseum, but I still agree that Dogs make the best intruder alarms. We have a 4 year old dog and a 1 year old puppy, and it took me less than a week to teach the puppy which noises were normal and which ones meant she needed to raise hell about. I think if you have one or two layers of primary defense (i.e. Alarms, Dogs, deadbolts), then a pistol can still be reached in time in a good quick-release safe. Plus, dogs or alarms have a tendency to wake up your brain a little bit more than it does on its own, so that may help to give you more clarity of thought and judgement. I've never pointed a gun at my wife or any houseguests (although both have made plenty of unusual noises in the middle of the night) because once I reach for the gun I'm also listening for secondary indications that an intruder is in the house.
 
Dog(s) and deadbolts on doors.
Revolver nearby.

We had a recent long-lost freind of the wife's show up unannounced and proceeded to "storm the castle." Had we not visually ID'd the person by the license plate of the car, the greeting would have been far less polite than it was.
 
magazine disconnect =
child locks =
internal locking systems =

My safety is my brain. It rarely fails.

...you never make typos, you always remember people's names, you never
forget an appointment...birthday....or anniversary, and you never flinch.
 
magazine disconnect =
child locks =
internal locking systems =

My safety is my brain. It rarely fails.

...you never make typos, you always remember people's names, you never
forget an appointment...birthday....or anniversary, and you never flinch.
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The thing to remember is that you can do things in away that allows for human failures, such as keeping your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire. If you can't remember that you should not own guns IMO.
 
Different strokes . . .

Life before kids was different, there was 1 or more loaded guns concealed in every single room of the house.

Life with YOUNG children means almost everything is unloaded and locked in the safe. I keep a couple of .45 autos around without a round in the chamber - - by the time he is old enough (strong enough) to rack the slide he'll know all about them, but until then an empty chamber and an 18# recoil spring serve as a additional child safety/protection measure and that's what it is all about right . . . protecting our loved ones.

My CCW is the only gun ready to go, with one in the chamber and when not on my person it is put away. But like many others on this board I have a very paranoid barking alarm - - The dog barks at anyone, even me, who approches the house and often when a neighbor opens or closes a car door.
 
+1 on the small gun safe. Mine is from Cannon safes and uses a push button simplex lock that you can reprogram as you want. I'm not big into anything that has a battery taht can run down and malfunction, whether it's a personal safe or a big safe, all mine have key/combo locks.
 
I sleep with a concealed carry piece in a shoulder holster, a backup gun on my leg, while cuddling my shotgun. I have two trained dobermans on either side of my bed and four pit bulls on the other side of a 3-inch titanium bedroom door. The exterior windows are bulletproof and I have 6 moving spotlights illuminating the yard with nearly a dozen cameras and motion detectors which will instantly sound an alarm and release the dogs on an intruder. The neighbors think I'm nuts but no home invasions yet!
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I have the same setup! Works well, don't it? :D
 
I sleep with anywhere from 2 to 5 handguns where I can reach them plus a 1,000,000 candlepower spotlight. No, I have never drawn down on my wife when she goes to the restroom. She is the only other person living in our home. I would rather be ready than fumbling with a lock when faced with imminent harm.
 
My safety is my brain. It rarely fails.
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Now that's a much more interesting statement than it might appear to be. The question is, what part of your brain?

In the seconds after being rudely awakened, are all of your cognitive abilities functioning fully? Very few can say that they are. While you're trying to shake the cobwebs out, your subconscious is in control, and the trouble with that is the subconscious isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. It can act, but it simply isn't capable of making a complex, shoot/don't shoot decision.

This is a case in which repetitive training can actually cause more harm than good. When you're awake and thinking, the conscious mind governs the muscle memory, but when you're half asleep, there is no governor reining in on the subconscious, and it's free to do what you've taught it, which is draw and shoot, without constraint.

As Col. Dave Grossman put it, "you've taught a puppy tricks". His theory is that the subconscious mind has about the same cognitive abilities as a dog. The question is, when your wife walks through your door, do you want that dog in charge of your weapon? ;)

So what's the solution? How about setting the conditions so that the puppy can't access the weapon, but the master can? My way of doing that is to secure my weapon in such a way that it takes two, distinct actions requiring conscious thought to retrieve it. Specifically, I must open a closed drawer and draw the gun from a level III retention holster. I can still access the gun in a hurry if need be, but it's highly unlikely that I can do it without thinking, as in half asleep.

If any of you ever get the chance, I strongly recommend Col. Grossman's seminar on "The Bulletproof Mind". He addresses a lot of this in an interesting and entertaining way.
 
Which would be quicker?

Our CHL instructor does the same thing, Capt. Charlie, and strongly suggests that. The hubster and I were thinking about a bedside handgun safe instead for two reasons. First, hubster has been known to sleepwalk and he has in fact been known to open dresser drawers, looking for things, while sound asleep. Second, it functions as an all-the-time place for the bedside gun, whereas if I leave a gun in a drawer, youngest son will run across it while trying to scrounge for batteries for his CD Walkman :rolleyes:

Up until now what I've done is put the XD on the nightstand (next to ME, not Sleeping Beauty next to me, lol) at bedtime and then put it back into my purse (its daytime home) in the morning. Now that I have 3 handguns of my own, though, one is going to live bedside all the time, and that means either getting it in and out of our big safe every time, or getting a little safe.

Springmom
 
I had a similar incident happen to me about 10 years ago in college. I had a knee injury and the doctor gave me some 800 mg ibuprofen tablets. My girlfriend came in (middle of the night)I freaked out thinking she was a burglar (no gun) according to her I got up fists clenched and was ready to beat her up like a burglar had just walked in. I woke up the next morning having a crazy dream and my girlfriend was terrified of me. I had no idea what happened was a real event. I no longer take large doses of ibuprofen and I make sure I keep the gun in a place that I hope I'd have to really be awake to get it and I also have a lock on the bedroom door, plus I'm married now so no middle of the night surprise guests :(
 
Did I miss it?

Did anyone mention that cocking a revolver under stress might be a mistake in itself?

My wife does not know that you can cock her 637. All of our shooting is double action which allows for a slight "press" without firing.

In any event, everyone has a different situation at their home. Hopefully each will address it appropriately. What worked for me with small children in the house was a revolver loaded with Speer plastic ammo. Never had to use it in an emergency but if I had, I am confident that the intruder would have thought they had been shot with something more powerful.

Maybe I am wrong but I happen to believe that most house breakers are seeking an easy target and don't come ready to shoot me.

John
Charlotte, NC
 
1. Training, training, and training.
2. Use a pistol lock box.
3. Never cock a double action revolver. They are meant to used DA only unless you need a precision shot at a moderate distance.
4. Have your girlfriend call before she gets home.
 
Drill, drill, drill: I never, ever have a finger in the triggerguard until I am going to fire. Not at the range, not at home with a gun I unloaded that has never left my hands, not nohow ever.

It seems to work. When my ex was working nights and cheating on me mornings (nope, I had no idea. I'm a ijit that way), he started being very, very quiet when he came home -- even though I was begging him to be noisy, as he was getting home about the time I needed to get up anyway.

Well, sneaking in kept waking me up with adrenaline going (yeech), and sure enough, the little DAO would be the first thing I'd pick up -- but held at ready and finger off the trigger. Drill. My subconscious -- or whatever -- only knows the one way to handle a gun. (AFAIK, he was only aware of this once, when he'd done an exceptionally good job of sneaking in and caught me reholstering).


Living alone now, the little DAO is never far from me. And never unloaded.
 
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My wife does not know that you can cock her 637. All of our shooting is double action which allows for a slight "press" without firing.

Never cock a double action revolver. They are meant to used DA only unless you need a precision shot at a moderate distance.

Drill, drill, drill: I never, ever have a finger in the triggerguard until I am going to fire. Not at the range, not at home with a gun I unloaded that has never left my hands, not nohow ever.
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The reason I cock a DA is my first shot I want the most accuracy possible for the number 1 reason. the Number 2 reason if someone is that close and get there hand on your weapon ( exactly they grab the cylinder) You cant fire a double action I live in a small house from my door to my bed is only 10 maybe 12 feet

Seriously, How do you drill for someone waking you? The time it took me to grab cock and point(aimed and ready to fire) from the door opening was probably less than a second defiantly less than 2 seconds she hadn’t finished opening the door or and was only half way in. I'm always looking for ways to improve my knowledge of firearms whether it is to shoot faster safer or how they work
 
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