Some thoughts about carrying in the house.
Stashing guns all over means you have to "un-stash" guns if someone comes to visit--especially if they have kids. If you're carrying, you just have to throw on a shirt that hangs down enough to cover your holster.
If you have guns all over the house, securing them all before you leave is a pain. If you're carrying, you don't even have to lock up one gun. Just put on your cover garment and hit the road.
If you have kids, having guns all over the house is not safe unless you have some means to secure them all in place which would probably be expensive and probably a hassle. Having a gun in a holster is not an issue unless the kids rush you all at once and hold you down while they take your gun. (Yeah, that's
supposed to be funny.
)
Anyone who breaks into an occupied house probably has a plan to deal with occupants--and probably has at least given a passing thought to the fact that the occupants could have access to firearms. In other words, they're probably prepared to deal with the possibility of someone running to get a gun. They may not have considered the possibility that any of the occupants would actually be wearing a gun. If you can give yourself an edge, or an unexpected advantage, why not do so?
Watching video of a number of no-knock warrants being served gave me a bit more appreciation for how long it takes to get to a firearm when taken unprepared. I watched people literally sitting next to guns who had no time to reach over and grab them before being overwhelmed. It drove the fact home that just having a gun in the house, even in the same room, doesn't mean you'll be able to get to it if you need it fast.
Carrying outside the home often requires concealment holsters, cover garments, compact carry pistols, class time, class fees, state fees, background checks, fingerprinting, photographs, etc. And yet people willingly go through all that to be able to carry outside the home. Carry inside the home only requires a handgun and a decent belt holster. Why go to all the trouble and expense to carry outside the house and then not carry inside where you can do it hassle free and with virtually no expense at all?
Outside the home, retreat is usually the best option. Inside the home, retreat is often not a reasonable option. You're probably going to have to stand and fight--might as well make it as simple as possible to access the tools you plan to use.
Outside the home there is very little that you consider valuable while most of your possessions and the people you love are inside the home. There's more to defend inside the home. Why not do what you can to maximize your chances of success?
If something happens to you in public, there's a reasonable chance someone will see and at least call the authorities. At the least, it's unlikely that an encounter would become prolonged given that criminals usually don't want to hang around where folks can see them. Inside the home, once the doors are shut, no one will see what happens and, once the intruders subdue the occupants, the criminals can take their time doing whatever they want to do to your and yours. If you don't stop them up front, before they gain control, the situation could get a lot worse than anything that could reasonably be expected to happen in a public encounter. Witness the CT home invasion/hostage situation and the horrors that went on inside that home before the criminals set everything on fire and left the family members to burn alive. Those two intruders committed their crime with a baseball bat and a pellet gun. Had either of the parents been carrying at home the situation would likely have turned out much differently.
But, it's not really likely that someone will commit a home invasion on your house, is it? No, it's really quite unlikely. That makes the decision pretty simple. It's a matter of deciding if it's worth it to play the odds or whether the stakes are so high it's unwise to gamble.
