My Glock will not be my bedstand gun.

S

Steve Smith

New member
Some folks would consider this a "knee-jerk" reaction, but that's exactly why I had to do this. I sleep hard, but weird noises have me up quick...kinda weird. If something happend in the house (like the cat jumping on the bed) I'm normally sitting up before I'm even awake...heart pounding, fight or flight mode going. Instinct has me reaching for my nightstand gun, because I know I won't have much time if TSHTF in my house. Unfortunately, I'm usually startled by the whole thing. I'm afraid that I'd pull the trigger on the Glock in my "fog." I've decided to stick to a pistol with a safety for the nightstand. That way I at least have to me quasi-cognizant of what I'm doing.

Anyone have any other suggestions?
 
And any other gun would be different? If you train with it at all you can get it into action just as fast as a Glock. Sig or 1911 will do just the same thing if you can't control your ability to handle the weapon. Maybe you should think about a different night time accessability option. Your cat will thank you. -Coug
 
Actually, the Glock is new to me. I've ben using a 1911 for years and training with it. I'm just concerned with "grabbing" at the gun in my startled state. Once its in my hands proper control of the gun should be a-ok.

Doors and a dog wouldn't help...the doors are fine, but ne ones would not make me sleep any better, and a dog would only make noise that would startle me from sleep.

I'd swear my wife is one of the most inconsiderate people on earth sometimes...she knows how I am, but almost every morning she'll drop something or shut a door too hard...I'll be up with my eyes buggin-out in a flash. I used to actually get out of bed and be standing in the middle of the floor in a flash...before I even knew where I was...I've gotten a bit better since then.
 
I keep my gun with the safety on and hammer down. That way I have to take the safety off and go through the long DA pull.

You can keep a Glock away from the nightstand, but I'd hate to awaken to find a guy pounding on me and be able to reach for a gun.

An empty chamber is a decent alternative with a Glock, but in the above scenario, you won't have two hands. I guess you COULD leave the slide open.
 
What I was getting at is that the problem is that you could access the firearm prior to gaining enough conciousness to responsibly handle a firearm. If you train with a firearm enough you will gain an unconcious ability to manipulate that firearm. The design of the gun doesn't seem to be the issue here. Your ability to access/responsibly handle a firearm seems to be the issue. You could have a condition 3 1911 and still be able to fire a round prior to being coherant if you are practiced with the 1911 (read it doesn't matter if your bedside gun is a Glock). You need a better "bedside" security setup. I have seen electronic gun boxes that require a simple key pad to access the gun (perhaps giving you time to wake up). Yes it will take longer but, again, your cat will thank you (and perhaps your wife). -Coug
 
A few options:

Keep it with an empty pipe so you have to rack the slide first (this is what I do when I keep such guns in the nightstand).

Get one of those plastic things that fits in behind the trigger. You can't fire the gun until you pop it out with your index finger.

Put it in one of those quick open safes.
 
JMC,

Hey, a lot of people don't feel comfortable with a gun that they may shoot before they're fully awake. Everybody's sleep patterns are different; some folks wake up instantly, some remain groggy for a moment or two; some people sleepwalk or act out dreams. Some folks store their nightstand guns in condition three for just this reason.

If that works for them, what's the big deal? :confused:
 
Coug, I knew what you were getting at, and I appreciate it. I'm actually that way with my 1911 guns. Recently I heard something and woke up. My 1911 was on the nightstand then, and it was in my hand in a flash. I did not feel an immediate need to shoot, so I didn't flick the safety off (flipping the safety off. I had the presense of mind to no do that...that wpecific incident is what made me come to the decision about the Glock, though. In reaching for the 1911, I would have to defeat several safeties before making the gun go off, but with a Glock, 'd jsut have to be unlucky enough to grab with my finger in the trigger guard.

If I'm not making sense, please slap me.
 
Put in a 8lb connector and a 12lb trigger spring. You will have to be wide awake to pull thru that combo...
 
Revolver For Sleepless Night's-

that's why I keep a fully loded Smith & Wesson
686, .357 magnum under my pillow. You don't have to
worry about accidentally touching off a round, while in
a daze.:D :cool: :)

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
JMC,

I'm with you brother. To me, someone who is like that is like someone who is not in their right mind. Those people should not have access to firearms.

And I like the Big Bad Dog warning system myself. That's what Nikki the 75 lb Belgian Shepard is all about, besides being a good companion.

Also I don't live in a crime ridden area and almost everyone who lives in this part of the country knows that a B&E of an occupied dwelling will most likely result in looking at the wrong end of a firearm. So I don't keep my house gun(s) near the bed.
 
Steve,

Mikul's suggestion to keep the slide open sounds interesting. The Glock's relatively light trigger is the first thing that came to mind when I saw the title of your thread, and that's why I'd be reluctant to have one in C1 available to a startled sleeper -- not to mention how convenient it would be for a quiet BG to acquire it.

One of the best features of a pump shotgun for HD is the unmistakeable ka-chunk sound it makes when you chamber a round. Quite disconcerting for a BG in your house!

To bring a groggy sleeper fully awake, making them do something that requires conscious thought before they can do something in "muscle memory" (like pulling a trigger) is helpful.

I don't like racking the slide as an option because it takes two hands, but leaving the slide locked open with a full magazine might be an option on pistols with slide releases. It's a situation normally encountered only when reloading (and you certainly don't carry that way), so you're unlikely to automatically hit the slide release if you're groggy. When awake enough to think and release the slide, the noise is loud, authoritative, and sounds an awful lot like trouble to a BG.

The cat will thank you because it will be several rooms away in the split second before you can pull the trigger, you'll be awake, and your wife might decide that silence is golden around a sleeping spring loaded shooting machine.
 
"Those people should not have access to firearms."


WTF is that supposed to mean? Just because I don't wake up instantaneously, I lose my RIGHT TO SELF DEFENSE?
 
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