Placement of defensive weapons in your home

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Dust_Devil

New member
An article in the Feb issue of SWAT on picture frame gun cabinets had me thinking that all my firearms locked up in one safe in one room is not the best idea tactically if I'm in another room if I threat bursts through my front door.

I don't live in a huge house where if I heard a noise of someone wanting to get in, I could run to another room and prepare myself and weapons. I live in a small condo where if someone feels he wants to break in while I'm in one room sleeping, in the bathroom taking a shower, in the kitchen cooking dinner or right by the front door in the living room watching TV that there isn't much time for me to react once the threat enters or to prevent that threat from entering.
While I am at home, I don't carry my weapon on me nor do I lay a rifle against my couch or a handgun on top of my coffee table.
However, since I live alone and don't have anybody such as children to worry about finding any of my firearms, this gives me a some options of not locking up all my firearms in one safe and place a couple in strategic places where whatever part of my condo I am in, I'll have a fast and quick access to a weapon without having to run to a certain room to unlock my gun safe before the threat gets to me first.
Ideas like having something that looks nothing more then just a regular picture frame actually holding a weapon for me ready to use or mounting a gun holster or shelf under a table or anyplace out of sight to visitors which will secretly hold a weapon for me to use in case of an emergency is something I should seriously consider.
 
I model my house after the Jovito ruins in the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark :D Spikes jabbing out of the walls, darts shooting out from the fire place, a neverending pit in the hall that I jump over every night, tarantulas hanging just inside the front door, and in case anything gets stolen, the whole house starts to come down around the bad guy once anything is removed from place and there is even a big boulder to seal off the front of the house :cool:

On a more serious note here are some thoughts: Ducktape a medium sized handgun under a chairside table in each room. Put a shotgun hanging over the fireplace (ready to pump). Gun in bedside table drawer or even better a shoulder holster hanging from the head of the bed next to you in between the bed and the bedside table. Maybe a shotgun latched to the underside of the bed so you can just reach under the bed and pull it out. duck tape a gun just under the kitchen sink.
 
Too complicated...

Keep a handgun on your hip.

Keep it hot.

At night, a longarm loaded and hot by the bedside.

Easy.
 
However, since I live alone and don't have anybody such as children to worry about finding any of my firearms, this gives me a some options of not locking up all my firearms in one safe and place a couple in strategic places where whatever part of my condo I am in,
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I live alone too and I never keep a loaded gun in my house. I even frown on loading even a single round in a gun at home. If an accidental discharge occurs in a condo it could strike a next door neighbor. Never drop your guard to safety even if youre the only one home. Keep the same rules at home you use at the range. Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. It's never a good idea to keep loaded guns around. I gave up trying to keep a loaded gun in the house for protection. I keep a loaded mag near the gun but I never load it in the house. Too darn dangerous. Few people need to have multiple gun locations. One gun is plenty. I gave up on trying to plan for any event.
 
I keep my 870 with 7 rounds of Remington Reduced Recoil 00 Buck in the tube and 4 1oz slugs in a Mesa Tactical Shell holder. I don't keep a shell in the chamber, however I do keep the firing pin down so I can quickly rack one in if I need to.

Once I turn 21 and get my CHL I will carry my GLOCK 26, even in my home.
 
Consider those fake pictures frames. They stick out from the wall about 1" extra and swing open to reveal a full size handgun.

Now that's art that is useful!

Chase
 
I keep my carry gun on me during all waking hours. I put it on in the morning and take it off when I go to bed. It then goes on the headboard within reach all the time while sleeping.
 
I have said this a thousand times, you are more likely to have your house or apartment robbed when your not home. A robber will most likey find a loaded and hidden weapons, the question is what happens if someone comes home unexpected and suprises the robber. My take is if you have kids, the guns should be locked up, but with you single guys and gals, I don't see a problem with keeping a weapon around unlocked and loaded when your home, it just when you leave, if your not carrying it with you, you should lock it or at least unload it, and hide the ammo in a seperate spot from the weapon, I think if someone robs your house and finds your weapon and later find the ammo , he hopefully may not take the time to load it.

Keeping a gun out in the open and on the nightstand in a little concerning to me. I'm a light sleeper, but the night I get some deep sleep is the night I wake up with a BG pointing my gun at my forehead. That thought would keep me up at night, that is why I sleep better with a pistol in a digital lockbox, bolted under my bed.
 
My turn to sound off

If the BG gets past the door chirp devices without us hearing and the 90+ lb american bulldog, I have two pistols within two steps of my bed, a mossy 500 within 3 steps and a handgun hidden near the rear of the house. My wife has instructions to get behind closed doors and don't open them until I calmly tell her to, regardless of anything she hears. If someone comes to that is not me, put two at waist height, call the police and watch out the window for their arrival.
 
I have one 1911 that will eject out of my ceiling fan when I push the secret button on the bedpost. That's good for 8 shots, then a quick duck and roll to the inside corner of the door and the shotgun comes out from behind the armoire... 7 shots gets me halfway up the hallway where I hit the secret lever 32" above the baseplate to open the sliding panel behind my family portrait. Out comes my M-4 with tac-light and reflex sight, and dual extended mags. That should be enough to get me to the front of the house where the SVD shoots up from a secret compartment in the floor and allows me to take the long-range shot as the BG's try to flee.

:)

Seriously, one or two is all you need. One in the nightstand (the one that should be on you until you go to bed), and one in a secure spot on the opposite side of the house.
 
I'd put them in reach of cover spots in your house: where you would dive to if someone busted open your door with a gun.
 
I'd put them in reach of cover spots in your house: where you would dive to if someone busted open your door with a gun
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Man, I SO believe that if your lifestyle or mentality requires a plan to stash weapons at various locations in your house to prepare for the day that someone sends an entry team through your front door that you might have things going on in your life that no one on this forum can help with....LOL :p
 
I am secure in my home

I have 2 alert (sometimes too alert) dogs, one that goes out to confront (a jet black Great Dane) and the other that provides close in support (the meaner, more agressive, more protective Golden Retriever). ADT has nothing on them!!

My XD40 is attached to my bedside table (my IWB holster is velcro wrapped around the leg below the height of the mattress), my small mag-light is on top of my bedside table, my pump shotgun (unracked) is hidden between the wall and headboard. All of which is on the far side of the bedroom door.

I live in a "very safe environment", (+/- 7k residents on an island with only one bridge on/off), but it's always a case of "it could never happen here" complacency that makes the news.

I leave, sometimes for a week or more, with my back door open (so my girls---dogs--can come and go as they need to in the fenced-in back yard). I get a girl (that used to live with me, so the girls/dogs know her well) to come in and feed them.

Living in a resort area, there are many vacant homes around, so if a BG is willing get by a large, bad-breathed Dane barking at head level, then get beyond to a bristling hurricane crotch-biter to get to anything I own, then they are welcome to it and I will be thankful I wasn't home when it occurred.

If a BG sets upon my home and manages to get beyond my dogs while I am home, then may God have mercy on my soul, because I may have to do what
I would really rather not, but would be forced, through no action of my own, to do.

I carry if I got my pants on and have a gun w/in arms reach if not. The only exception, now that I think of it, is when I'm in my bathroom/shower.

I don't have kids, keep my carry weapons (3) loaded w/ one in the chamber and my shotgun ready to pump. None are readily visible. I keep my other weapons empty and locked, with ammo and magazines separated also locked.

On the island we have DUI's, property theft, break-ins, domestic disputes, speeding and fender-benders. In the almost 10 years I've lived here, full-time, an LEO has been shot with a BB gun causing a bruise.

Being ready when in "safe" areas makes me even more ready when in other, sketchier areas. I never needed a gun, hope I never do, but I know I'll have one if I need one.
 
pickpocket said:
Man, I SO believe that if your lifestyle or mentality requires a plan to stash weapons at various locations in your house to prepare for the day that someone sends an entry team through your front door that you might have things going on in your life that no one on this forum can help with.
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From AP:
Two men arrested Saturday in the killing of a Richmond family are also suspected of slitting the throats of a musician, his wife and their two young daughters six days earlier, police said.
All seven victims were found bound with tape in their homes, authorities said.
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The Saturday referenced in the article was the same day that pickpocket posted. It isn't a question of your lifestyle, it's a function of what's going on in the world.
You don't get to make an appointment for your emergency, so you had better plan in advance. Everybody is planning; those that seem to be failing to plan are just planning to fail.
 
+1 Mr. Burke

I don't understand that "nothing bad will happen to me" mentality. Even among our own ranks in this and other forums, I read "you're paranoid" or "you're looking for a fight" far too often. The worst ones though are the people spouting off "Don't fight back. You'll just make it worse". Pathetic, defeatist thinking.

Just my opinion
 
While I am at home, I don't carry my weapon
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do so. you'll get used to it. After trying and buying no less than eight holsters, I finally ended up with the cheapest (and best) for my Glocks as a home-holster:


It's about EUR 12, - (U$ 14,-) and holds the gun tight because it grabs into the trigger bar. So kids can't pull it out and it wont drop out no matter what acrobatics you're doing with your kids. Still, there is no thumbbreak and it's extremey fast:
http://glockmeister.com/catalog/index.php/cPath/9_34?osCsid=ebda713cb00e5762183fc9b8b61a5370
Dsc00327.jpg
 
Interesting thread! My wife and I (kids are grown up and gone) live in a 2000 sq ft condo in a very nice low crime area of Scottsdale AZ. But things do happen here...mostly burglaries from absent homeowners, but occasional home invasions. Being an old decepit man, I am a typical would-be victim. Except that I refuse to be one. I carry a .45 compact at all times outside the house. My wife will be doing the same in a month when she gets her CCW. At home, my carry weapon and a Surefire are on a table next to the couch in the den where we watch TV. Her weapon is in our bedroom on her bedside table with a Surefire. Also in that bedroom, next to my side of the bed, is a tactical 870 12ga with light and laser and a cellphone. In case of a home invasion while we not in the bedroom, the drill is that I defend while she boogies to the bedroom, locks the door and hunkers down after calling 911. She stays there till I call her out or the cops arrive. We also have an office upstairs where the computer is. A 9mm carbine with light and laser lives by the desk. A balcony allows coverage of the back arcadia door, the living room and the dining room from there. Our early warning system is a loud, cowardly beagle and a louder, fearless miniature dachshund who thinks he's a Doberman. If a snake belches two doors away, he's up and yelling.

And yes, we practice! We go to the range 4 times a week minimum. My wife handles her new SA Micro Compact very well and is competent with the shogun and the carbine.

Paranoia? Possibly, but it's a dangerous world out there, folks.:cool:
 
Armed at Home

I carry a snubby in my pocket or in a holster when I'm at home.

I also keep a pistol in the bedroom along with a 12 ga. pump shotgun. Both of them have loaded magazines, with empty chambers.

I've never been threatened at home or on the street, but for most people it's a once in a lifetime incident that takes their lives!

BTW, when I leave the house I put trigger locks on my guns.

Be safe!

Chuck
 
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