Gun placement while sleeping

create a bedroom package

I've been building a small bedroom kit for responding to nocturnal emergencies and contingencies. We live on the Oregon Coast and have concerns that range from storms and mudslides to earthquakes and tsunamis. I like the safepacker as a holster concept for the bedroom, but I take it one step further.

If I awake to a 9.0 Richter scale earthquake, my glasses, gun and everything else will be all over the room, with dressers and armoires crashing on top of them. Californians can attest to earthquakes that throw you out of bed and right onto the floor.

So into a safepacker holster place the following: weapon, reloads, and tactical flashlight and sleep with it under the covers. I put it between me and my spouse so we both have access to it. Next to the bed I have a bag or pack where I put my wallet, keys, other EDC gear and glasses every night when I go to bed. I have a pair of pants ready to jump into next to the bed and shoes with hard soles just like a firefighter.

When the ground stops shaking there will be debris and broken glass all over the place and I will be in the dark, probably without electricity. A holster system with reloads and tac light are the first piece of a plan for being prepared for anything.
 
44 mag. Smith with a speed loader and empty cylinder. If I'm awake enough to open the drawer and load it, I'm awake enough to use it.

Ambien sleep aid users need to be aware of reports where they drive, write notes, fix meals and eat without being aware of it -- and don't remember doing it later.

I don't use Ambien, but I don't want a gun in the night-stand "cocked & locked" while I'm asleep. It's not necessary and probably not a good idea.

Ohhhhh yeah . . . the sidearm is only to cover me until I get to the long gun in the corner -- which is also not loaded, but has ammo "at the ready."

No kids in this house, no strangers, no visitors. When there are, the guns get secured, in a SAFE.
 
My Mossberg 500 12Ga sits in the safe 2 steps from my bed, five rounds of 00 buckshot in the magazine, bolt closed on an empty chamber. The safe is closed, but the dial is unlocked. I can be in the safe and chamber a round in 3.5 seconds, and have a bandoleer of extra ammunition hanging in the safe as well. Anyone coming into the house will set off the alarm, but the dog barks as soon as he hears something in the yard. Between these two warnings, I'm fairly confident I can be up and armed before being in danger, but have enough pause to avoid a ND, and enough concealment of the weapon to avoid it being used against me.
A note on dogs: My American Bulldog has impressed me with his uncanny ability to tell when I'm expecting company and when I'm not. Any uninvited activity in the yard rouses him to alert, warning barks and all (great deterrent for Jehovah's Witness's). But if I know a friend is coming over, he doesn't make a sound.
 
Where to put it

Many people make the same mistake when it comes to sleeping with a gun handy. Never, ever, EVER put your gun in an unsecured place. That means on (some) bedside tables, on a pillow or even under a pillow. Any place like this is very bad. And I don't mean because someone can grab it or your kids could get it- or even that an angry wife could get it (!!!)
The problem is that if you put your gun in a place like this- as you move around during the night the gun can too. If you are half awake and reach for your gun it might not be where you left it. It might have been pushed around and be only 6 inches from where you think it should be. During a break-in this could be imposible to find during a panic.
ALWAYS keep you gun in a place where it won't move from. You don't have to use a safe. Maybe put it in a bedside drawer or tuck it under the mattress. How about mounting a holster on the bed frame?
Just be sure that it will be in the same place every time you reach for it.
 
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Quote:Ambien sleep aid users need to be aware of reports where they drive, write notes, fix meals and eat without being aware of it -- and don't remember doing it later. :Unquote

I'm a Ambien CR user and have never had these side effects. Ambien helps me fall asleep when I want to, lets me wake up when the dogs (or occasionally wife:D) wants me to. I don't use any other kinds of alcohol or drugs.

Only reason for mentioning this, I wouldn't want folks to be scared off this sleep aid, if they need one.

Gun's locked in a biometric safe condition 3.
 
I'm a Ambien CR user and have never had these side effects. Ambien helps me fall asleep when I want to, lets me wake up when the dogs (or occasionally wife) wants me to. I don't use any other kinds of alcohol or drugs.
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My wife is an Ambien CR user and it has caused her 2 falls, one of which was quite serious. (Wife is an RA patient) Now she gets half of one only under my complete supervision. Personally, I don't recommend Ambien CR for anybody.
 
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