Where do you keep your handgun at night?

I do something similar to that stated by SmithWesson357, I have a small nightstand next to my bed and the following works quite nicely. Around the bottom edge of the top shelf is a small overhang/trim piece or "skirt" that creates a recess under the top shelf that you can reach up "into" from the side but cant see unless you kneel on the floor and look up under it. I took some short countersunk screws and ran them through a soft holster to hold it flat under the top shelf without the screws protruding through the top. I laid in bed, reached my hand under the table top in the most natural position holding my gun and marked it's rotation in relation to the table top. After I found the most natural position to draw from bed, I screwed it in place... I can draw or reholster the gun easily by feel, great for dark and have a Surefire next to my alarm clock. No kids in the house, one 1911 is always there.
 
I usually sleep (or rather, wait with one eye open) with my Desert Eagle in a thigh rig under my ghillie suit.

Some call me the Dream Warrior.
 
In a top-open night stand. I added a latch and a combination lock to keep prying fingers out, but used short screws so that in the event of an emergency, I can force it open with minimal effort. Not the optimal, but total cost was about $15, and it lets me both sleep at night and leave the house worry free.

If I wasn't a poor student, I'd have some sort of pushbutton combination safe. No kids here, none likely to come, but having a cousin who shot himself in the head while fooling around with his parents gun kinda makes me think that safe storage is a good idea.
 
this brings a question to mind. I keep my .45 in a finger combo safe in my closet which a few feet from the bed. Is it a better idea to have it right next to the bed? I figured since my place is pretty hard to enter that I would hear anyone coming in and have time to get up, lock my door and open the safe.
 
Coltman 77:
We also have a 110 lb. Airedale, Angus.
Click to expand...

That is the BIGGEST Airdale I've ever heard of... by like at least 50 lbs!!! What do you feed that dog/ is he/she a purebred?

As for me, I am guilty of being a bit "unsafe" in most peoples' eyes because I too sleep with a loaded gun (not one in the chamber though) under my pillow and a couple loaded mags in the night stand next to my bed. I am actually doing to be purchasing a Blackhawk Serpa Quick Disconnect Kit that I will mount on the backside of my headboard upside down in the most comfortable position to remove it from loaded with a full mag and one in the pipe.

Glock 17 19+1 rounds and extra 33 round mag with LaserMax and Surefire X300 weapon light
 
20 gauge between bed and nightstand. Revolver on nightstand, not usually loaded, and ammo for 20 gauge next to it. Along with that a hatchet, 3 combat knives, a spoon, phone, and 4 heavy ammo cans to swing. Straight across the room there is 3 rifles and hhundreds more knives and rounds of ammo varying from 7.62 nagant to 20mm explosive. Bayonettes, meat cleavers, swords, machetes, slingblades, sickles, daggers, 2 of those funny spiked knuckle dusters and 3 other normal knuckle dusters. 4 Throwing stars in the walls hold up some hats and a display of civil war musket balls. Aside from that tons of parts for my sks and such. So the short answer, now that I realize I am probally a complete lunatic, is everywhere. FOR THE APOCALYPSE!!!
 
"That is the BIGGEST Airdale I've ever heard of... by like at least 50 lbs!!! What do you feed that dog/ is he/she a purebred?"

big airedales are not unusual. i have two 100 pounders myself from the ouachita kennels. they are as purebred as any show airedale, airedale history is loaded with "larger types". if you think a standard type airedale is good (and they are) then look into larger type airedales can do so much more.
 
I keep my daily cc sw40ve in the bottom of the nightstand loaded with one in the pipe, next to it is the flashlight and another mag. 20g pump in the closet with shells on the shelf. the .38 snubby is in my underwear drawer where my wife has practiced getting it if need be. I have an 8 month old and when he starts crawling and walking I will be investing in a safe with the push buttons, I really like those.
 
I think an electronic safe is the best bet (they all have key backup) but if you don't trust them one of the Hide-a-gun picture frames or clocks might be a good choice. Just hang it near the bed. You can get them from Amazon, Sportsman's guide, etc. They keep the gun out of sight and when it comes to children there is the added advantage of them being too high on the wall for the kids to reach. You can get them sized just for a handgun and a larger size with room for a flashlight and extra magazines. Here's a good price on the larger sized one. A lot of 2 for $40 http://countryside.myshopify.com/products/large-hide-a-gun-picture-frame-12-00-2-lot

Just make sure the kiddies aren't home when you hang it and never let them see you touch it so it doesn't attract their curiosity.

If you're somewhat handy you can make your own frame with parts from the hardware store. You could even make it recessed into the wall near the bed.
 
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:mad: I realize how politically incorrect this post will be, and how some people will possibly be offended, but after reading all this…… I was left without little choice but to toss in my two cents. I sleep with my sig 229 .40 next to me on the night stand, I also have a loaded 12 gauge in the closet with 4 buck, 3 in. mag. I have kids…. I have a gun safe. The safe is meant for thieves, not the kids. MY children have been taught from DAY ONE to respect, and operate (age appropriate of course) and do not handle my firearms without permission. On a side note, they also have NEVER been allowed into my bed room. Its my one little space in the world, after all, I do pay the bills. :D Something I think that has gotten lost in todays society. Teach your children well. I grew up around guns of all kinds at all times, NEVER was there an issue in my house. When I was 12, I kept my own guns, 3 at that time, in my own closet, in my own room, WITH my own ammo. Never a problem. However “OLD SCHOOL” this may be, and regardless of what laws are out there, I will never change my belief in teach the children instead of fortify against them. I have 3 kids, 11, 9, 6. To date, they follow all rules surrounding the guns in the house hold.
 
No kids and me behind bulletproof strongdoor, so I really don't expect a sudden home invasion, but if you have a really small baby, why not to have your gun in condition 3 (mag in but round not chambered), and pistol closed in your nightstand but unlocked.
Many unexperienced people have problems to move a slide so I suppose the baby would be pretty safe?
 
I have a sig p226 9mm with an extra mag on the nightstand unholstered and a 12 gauge slug barreled mossberg loaded with 00 buck in two door wardrobe . Also bedroom is upstairs and has a dead bolt with 2 light sleeping dogs (sheltie mix and corgi mix) in the bedroom with us. So the theory is the dogs will alert us. The BG has to break the bedroom door open. That should give enough time for me to arm the wife with the sig and me to grab the shotgun.
 
My husband and I don't have any children. When we are at home alone, his carry gun sits on the nightstand at night. His vision is better than mine, and his ability to wake up alert is better. My carry gun is put away in my office next to the bedroom, because I am essentially blind at night. Until I put on glasses and wake up a bit, I shouldn't use a gun. We also have a home defense shotgun that is loaded, but without a round in the chamber, and kept in the bedroom closet on a high shelf where it is easily reachable.

If children are visiting, all guns are unloaded and locked up (including the shotgun), or we are wearing them. Since the apartment is fairly small, we haven't had overnight guests, so the issue of what to do about our carry guns hasn't been an issue so far.
 
I keep it far enough away from the bed so that I am awake enough to not be a hazard to myself or my wife once I reach it. There is also a 70 pound Weimarainer sleeping in bed with us that would already be awake. Plus we sleep upstairs and the house is in the middle of a ranch five miles from town.

Reminds me of a running joke we (LEO's) have with our firefighter friends as to why police carry guns but firemen dont....
Firemen at a firehouse are awakened from a dead sleep in the middle of the night by an extremely loud station tone-out klaxon. They jump into their bunker gear and head out to the emergency within moments of being awakened. Imagine a building full of sleeping police being awakened by that klaxon with all of them wearing pistols or having them on their bed tables.
There would be some shots fired at the station house in the middle of the night and that klaxon would be toast!

Seriously, I dont want a gun in my hand two seconds after I am startled awake.
 
My Grandma would keep my Grandpa's 1911 on the nightstand, and everytime he would go on a long trip, she would put a loaded magazine between the mattresses.
 
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