Dedicated home defense gun(s).

NIGHTLORD40K said:

I got a remarkably nice one at Harbor Freight for $25 and used lag bolts to secure it inside my bookself out of sight but instantly available. Even if a burglar finds it, it would take some serious tools and time to cut it free

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I imagine it's the rebranded version of this

D.B. Cooper said:

I'm in the planning stage of staging guns around my home for home defense. I live in a 2 story condo.

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Am I reading this right? You live in a condo. I thought Alaskans live in igloos.

D.B. Cooper said:

One of my top concerns is that the front door entryway is immediately adjacent to the bottom of the stairs that lead to the upper level. If I'm in my living room, and someone kicks my door in, I can't get to safety upstairs. So that's the scenario.?

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Someone or something?

I remember an old episode of COPs in Alaska where they responded to a call of a bear breaking into a house. When they got there was a very large, very dead white Polar Bear laying in the snow outside the back door of a house. Inside the house was a very excited female homeowner. It seems the Bear got hungry and decided to raid her kitchen by first ripping the back doors off of the house and then clawing his way in. The homeowner killed him using a short barrel pump shotgun.

D.B. Cooper said:

Over penetration is a more relevant concern there.

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AR’s or rather the .223 / 5.56 using 55 gr. bullet is surprisingly a low penetrating round. A choice worth considering is a AR handgun.

D.B. Cooper said:

A subordinate question is securing the guns themselves. They will be easy pickings for a daytime residential break-in.

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No easy answer. Since you mention your son what age is he and do his friends come to your home to visit? A common thing home burglaries share is the thieves knew what valuables the homeowner has by previous visits to the house.

D.B. Cooper said:

Additionally, if I leave a loaded gun downstairs, and I am upstairs, I have left a weapon for my attacker to use against me.

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In general invasions of occupied dwellings in American are uncommon. Many that do occur are because the resident has been targeted for a specific reason, such as selling drugs from the house.

RedlegRick said:

I'd first worry about making your door as hard as possible to kick in. Windows too. Reinforced frameworks, steel doors and polycarbonate go a long way for both when you're at home and away. I like the coffee table gun cabinet idea too, no need to advertise if someone is scoping your place out. Other than that, shotgun and whatever handgun you prefer should be enough.

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Even if it is a rental you can hardened the doors by replacing the hinge screws with longer ones and longer throw dead bolt locks. (Won’t help much with hungry bears though).

I have become interested in shelves that hid guns. You hit a secret switch and the bottom of the shelf lowers giving access to what gun you have stashed in it. I want to incorporate one in my living room when we remodel the house.

Pretty much, if I'm wearing pants then I'm carrying a gun.
My walking-around gun and holster is smaller than my wallet.
It fits into a sleeve in my front pants pocket, either side.
No reason for the wife to know.
I mean, do you know everything that she has in her purse?

Trunk Monkey said:

I want to quote something that Kathy (Cornered Cat) Jackson said once. I don't remember her exact wording but essentially what she said is there's this dichotomy where our home is so unsecure that we won't have time to get a gun out of a fast action safe and yet our home is so secure that we can afford to just randomly stash unsecured Firearms throughout the premises.

I think you'd be better off carrying at home than staging Firearms throughout the house.

I carry a glock 26 and a spare magazine in my pocket in my pocket at home. If I'm not wearing clothing that supports that it sits on the coffee table right in front of me if I move throughout the house it goes with me.



You're concerned enough about a home invasion to stash multiple guns throughout your house (Which you've already stated would need to be secured) but not concerned enough to carry a pocket pistol at home?



But having guns stashed all over your house wouldn't be?

It's 4 a.m. where I'm at and I'm at work. My wife is home alone and I promise you that if she's awake there's a gun on her

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Quoted because it bears repeating....

I do keep a dedicated home defense gun in my bedroom so I want it secured in a stronger than average container. It is 7GA steel (3/16"). I do not have multiple guns stashed around the home because I always pocket carry a .380.

I do have customers that are homeowners that do and have 5 or 6 FAS1 safes bolted down around their homes. I even have a well known Defense Contractor that specializes in Biometrics (Oh, the irony) that has 5 of my safes with the optional key (to deadbolt, the Simplex lock and work as backup entry) bolted throughout their offices for added security.

D.B. Cooper said:

Am I better off staging a handgun or a shotgun downstairs?

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Since I live alone I have a loaded gun in the three places I spend the most time in my home.

Bfh_auto said:

If I feel the need to carry inside my house, I would move shortly.
When I lived in the bad part of Tulsa, I had a shelf over the door with a handgun on it. You had to walk in, turn around and look up to see it.
A well trained dog that weighs between 60 and 100 pounds is better than guns.

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But you feel the need to stash guns all over your house?

Trunk Monkey said:

But you feel the need to stash guns all over your house?

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I had one gun above the front door. The rest were in the bedroom.
My dogs are like family and I protect them the same as they do me.

D.B. Cooper said:

I think if I carried inside our home, I would be single and looking for a new place to live in very short order. That would be seen as evidence that I had gone over the edge or off the deep end.

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I have a child.

For me it’s a choice of ...
• 1) Trying to find some place where he couldn’t reach it and doesn’t know it’s there (that strategy only lasts for so long as they get bigger and you still need to lock it up when you leave - a biometric locker for long guns is better)

• 2) Leaving an unsecured firearm out (not an option).

• 3) Carrying it on me.

I went with option three for obvious reasons.

I don’t live in a bad neighborhood, but bad things happen even in good neighborhoods. Violent criminals own cars and they also have the option of stealing them even if they didn’t.

[Cue examples from other threads where people thought they were safe because they lived in X, Y and Z neighborhood and they ended up murdered, raped or robbed]

They go to where the money is. That sometimes means YOUR neighborhood.

RedlegRick said:

I wouldn't get a dog just to be part of my security system and I do agree with the carry versus prestaging argument. Dogs are a big responsibility and much, much more than simply a component.

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Yes they are. Dogs are a part of my family. They must be loved, trained and cared for just like a child. A bad dog is a good sign of a bad owner.

My gun safe has an alarm:

D.B. Cooper said:

I think if I carried inside our home, I would be single and looking for a new place to live in very short order. That would be seen as evidence that I had gone over the edge or off the deep end.

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My spouse felt that way, once upon a time … and then our home was invaded by two tweakers one afternoon while the dogs were in the backyard. Now she's the one who's obsessive about ensuring she's got a gun on her person or handy, even if she's in the kitchen cooking, taking a bath, or in her office working. And she now activates the alarm system even when she's home.

I live in a really good neighborhood in a relatively safe town. My gun is either on me or within arms reach at all times except where prohibited by law or limited by the desire to stay employed. I'm not paranoid, but having been targeted once by a couple who were looking for pain meds (my wife had just had a surgery and they didn't make it past the front door), I'm much more vigilant. It's also as much a part of my everyday "clothing" as my shirts and lederhosen. What, you don't have tactical lederhosen? (no, I've never actually worn lederhosen).

Matt

I've never worn tactical lederhosen, either. That would clash with my tactical sporran.

Browning said:

I have a child.


[Cue examples from other threads where people thought they were safe because they lived in X, Y and Z neighborhood and they ended up murdered, raped or robbed]

They go to where the money is. That sometimes means YOUR neighborhood.

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true, which is why most often a home invasion is because the owner was a drug dealer, or someone was flashing around their bling. As far as rape, a woman (or man) can have a stalker which may become dangerous. Home invasions being randomly selected are rare.

Most of my guns are for entertainment and hunting. Home security was kind of an afterthought, but we did finally provide for that.

A large dog, one of the protective breeds, is a lot of security. Daughter has a German Shepherd who is VERY protective of her and her family. I'm sure he would take a chunk out of anyone not welcome in their home.

A couple of pepper sprays are a good thing to stash. I usually have one unobtrusively hanging to one side of my front door. They are small, non-lethal, and inexpensive. I'm told that someone who catches a face full of that stuff will be pretty much incapacitated for at least half an hour. Of course, if you spray, you're likely to catch a bit of it yourself.

A very bright flashlight, with a pulse feature, is very important to have.

Now, if my pants are on, my little 380 is on my belt, unless I'm headed for the Post Office. What I've been taught is that in a pinch, you often have very little time to respond. We have a little safe near the foot of our bed, and that's where the carry guns go at night, with the door open. When we have visitors or are away, the door is closed and the magazine from my M4gery joins the handguns in the safe.

denton said:

I'm told that someone who catches a face full of that stuff will be pretty much incapacitated for at least half an hour.

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The last time I got sprayed (training) I put the guy who did it on the ground and handcuffed him. OC isn't the Hammer of Thor that people think it is

In my experience, when pepper spray is released, usually everybody loses.
Especially when it is used indoors.

D.B. Cooper said:

He set up several mock homes using drywall, plywood, and T-11 siding. Almost everything blew completely through all of it... For this reason alone, I'm seriously thinking about just going with handgun(s) loaded with Glazer Safety Slugs.

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Glasser Safety Slugs are not as effective as they claim to be. For starters it doesn’t penetrate deeply enough to meet FBI standard of 12” - 18”. (Check out some of the YouTube videos). One thing I do know is it gets cold up north. So if the attacker was a large person wearing a heavy coat it might not penetrate deep enough to incapacitate him instantly. Don’t confused incapacitation with being lethal. It will be of small comfort to your family if your attacker dies 30 minutes after you do.

D.B. Cooper said:

PS: Not even Native Alaskans live in igloos.

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Is that because global warming is melting all of the ice?

(Come on. Smile. It is TGIF).

theotherwaldo said:

I've never worn tactical lederhosen, either. That would clash with my tactical sporran.

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In the words of Adrian Cronauer, "If you're going to fight, clash!"