Do you carry a handgun in and around the house?

[mope540]

No in-house carry since moving out of thug infested Ill-Annoy, but i do keep 2 handguns and shotgun ready in the house. I regularly carry on the property because of bobcats and whatever else might show up.

 

[Show Me]

If I'm in bed there is one within reach if I'm out of bed there will be one on me. I live in the sticks and don't carry a cell phone and if I did it would take a deputy at least 20 minutes to get here after I called. So best to be prepared.

I live behind the sticks you live in. During the week all stays locked up. Lunch box revolver does night stand duty. Weekend , whatever I'm testing loads in sits by the front door. Mini thirty at the back door. SxS in bedroom. Same old same old every Friday. I don't keep the tornado shelter with me. So, I'm ok

 

[Miami_JBT]

Bad things happen when you least expect it in places you wouldn't expect it to happen. Bad guys will not call ahead to schedule for your convivence when to commit bad things against you.

 

[Hugger-4641]

Yes, normally I do, unless I'm planning to park in the recliner for a while, then it might be on the arm beside me.
No, I don't wear one in the shower, but there is one in reach should someone decide to invade while I'm in there.

 

[cfullgraf]

We live in the country on 18 acres. We have two horses, two ponies, 4 greyhounds and a whippet.

Most of our invasion issues are from the 4 legged kind. The horses seem to keep the coyotes at bay, we hear them in the area but rarely see any.

Greyhounds are not great watch dogs but our goofy male does keep an ear out for traffic up the driveway. The females will just bury an intruder with kisses and leaning hugs. (My greyhounds are “lean machines”)

For other undesirable critters I keep a shotgun close at hand. I have handguns in the bedroom and closet just in case.

 

[NeverEnoughFDE]

No, if I needed to, I'd move

 

[Mercy Me]

It all depends on where you live and what the crime is like; not everywhere has the same issues.

 

[Kleanbore]

No, if I needed to, I'd move

No one "needs" to, until the need materializes. It's a matter of risk management--one of balancing likelihood, potential consequences, and what is involved in mitigation.

For me, there are two things that lead me to carry at home: the number of pssible points of ingress in the house, and my desire to minimize gun handling. It goes on once and comes off once, unless I am going to a medical center.

Moving would not change the equation.

 

[Haywood]

Yesterday I posted how I always have a gun in my pocket, at least. I saw others mention this way they know where the gun is. I have always felt safer with the gun on me than strategically placed in the house. It’s rare that young children visit BUT, you never know. They say kids can find anything so if they show up there is nothing to find. The same for a thief. If someone breaks in and the alarm doesn’t stop them, there is nothing to find. They wouldn’t want anything in my house. Everything is old, like me, nobody would buy my old junk.

 

[Choctaw]

I don't carry in my own house. I have cameras on all of the external doors which have motion detectors, all of the downstairs windows are alarmed, we have five inside dogs of various temperaments and barkabilities plus all three doors have blocking mechanisms. I will know the second you set foot on my property and we'll take it from there.

 

[tarosean]

We live in the country on 18 acres. We have two horses, two ponies, 4 greyhounds and a whippet.

Must be my brother from another mother.

Currently have Horses and a whippet, among others.. We used to have ponies and Greys.

Same scenario though. Your vehicle isn’t getting on my property without me letting you in and seeing you from a long way off. That does leave foot traffic. However, even criminals are typically not stupid enough to bound through pastures with unknown bulls, etc.

 

[halfmoonclip]

and my desire to minimize gun handling.

Good point. The loaded guns stay loaded.

He must be pretty small.

Yeah, he's a little pervert....

My 20 year old TJ Jeep had a really stout lockbox under the driver's seat, bolted to the seat. Really wish the newer cars offered that kind of security. Hate to leave a gun in the car these days. Do have a relatively stout lockbox that can be aircraft cabled in the trunk; use that especially when passing through gun-unfriendly states.
Moon

 

[The Night Rider]

I also have a part time welding/fabricating business. Was in the garage with the door halfway down and when I flipped my hood up a lady had ducked under the door and was standing on the other side of the welding table from me.

You'd have to be really dumb to get that close to somebody welding

 

[The Night Rider]

If the doorbell rings or knock etc, the guy who looks like he’s trying to straighten a sore back actually has his gun hand full of 9mm while he opens the door off to the side

This makes absolutely no sense to me.

You can literally put a video camera at your front door and talk to who's ever knocking on the door without ever getting out of your lazy boy. Why would you go to the door with a gun in your hand?

Massad Ayoob - How to answer the door at 3:00 AM - Critical Mas Episode 30

What do you do when there is a knock at the door at 3:00 AM? Massad Ayoob knows who the most likely person is on the other side. Opening the door with a gu...

youtu.be

 

[Miami_JBT]

Yes, normally I do, unless I'm planning to park in the recliner for a while, then it might be on the arm beside me.
No, I don't wear one in the shower, but there is one in reach should someone decide to invade while I'm in there.

 

[The Night Rider]

Snow Day

youtube.com

I keep one on the end table

 

[Miami_JBT]

This makes absolutely no sense to me.

You can literally put a video camera at your front door and talk to who's ever knocking on the door without ever getting out of your lazy boy. Why would you go to the door with a gun in your hand?

Massad Ayoob - How to answer the door at 3:00 AM - Critical Mas Episode 30

What do you do when there is a knock at the door at 3:00 AM? Massad Ayoob knows who the most likely person is on the other side. Opening the door with a gu...

youtu.be

I carry a gun in my house because sometimes, bad people do bad things, even if I don't answer the door. I have a ring camera and security cameras. I talk through my ring camera when people knock. But being a cop long enough, I've seen enough home invasions scenes and know that locked doors only keep honest people honest. Criminals don't care and if they want in, they're coming in.

 

[The Night Rider]

I carry a gun in my house because sometimes, bad people do bad things, even if I don't answer the door. I have a ring camera and security cameras. I talk through my ring camera when people knock. But being a cop long enough, I've seen enough home invasions scenes and know that locked doors only keep honest people honest. Criminals don't care and if they want in, they're coming in.

So you're going to open the door and make it easy for them?

 

[Miami_JBT]

So you're going to open the door and make it easy for them?

What part of "I have a ring camera and security cameras. I talk through my ring camera when people knock" did you not understand? That means I don't open the door for 'em.

But again, if bad people want to do bad things. They'll figure out a way to get inside. Hence why I carry at home. As a cop, I've been to enough home invasion crime scenes to see doors bashed in, sliding glass doors and windows shattered, etc.... If someone wants in, they're going to get in and cause a ruckus. Again, that's why I carry at home. Because a Ruger LCP in the pocket or a Colt King Cobra on the hip sure beats a GLOCK 19 in the safe.

 

[shoobe01]

I voted the "haha... oh, seriously: no." Things like home invasions simply do not happen randomly despite the fearmongers. They are, 99%, drug house thefts, and similar. A handful are wrong-address but I don't live in such a neighborhood.

That said, threats vary. In the past, I have been day-and-night armed covertly, calmly, because we fostered; emergency placements, so had a zillion kids through, often straight from their home or school or the hospital (sheriffs cars often showed up, not DCF or private agency people to drop them off) and >1 time the dad is Bad News, like multiple violent felony warrants etc, so we've been asked by the cops if we have a gun in the house, yes is a thank-goodness answer, and "maybe keep it around."

Also if there's a party at the house. Not for people we invite (kids stuff mostly) but you never know what that could invite or similar: other relatives of kids who are unpleasant. So it trips me into "unknown territory" and I carry in my house and yard. (Also, people around: could block access to locked up guns or even try I guess to break into the cage) But again, situational not routine.

But that's rare, and yes technically there are firearms locked up on two of the three floors so it's pretty easy to access one if I get any advance notice of a problem.

 

[cfullgraf]

Good point. The loaded guns stay loaded.

Yeah, he's a little pervert....

My 20 year old TJ Jeep had a really stout lockbox under the driver's seat, bolted to the seat. Really wish the newer cars offered that kind of security. Hate to leave a gun in the car these days. Do have a relatively stout lockbox that can be aircraft cabled in the trunk; use that especially when passing through gun-unfriendly states.
Moon

My youngest daughter went to college in St. Louis, MO. Her car was broken into a couple times. Nothing of significance stolen but the local police said it was because she was from TN and they were probably looking for firearms.

 

[crstrode]

I see many comments/questions from non-ccw folks describing their uneasiness when first considering daily carry.

The best way to overcome this is to carry on your person in the privacy of your own home.

Do this for a day, a week, a month, and before you know it, that gun -no matter how big or un-comfy - will essentially disappear from your thoughts.

 

[dodo bird]

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[crstrode]

Seems that folks living in the sticks far far away from all the bad guys believe the relative isolation inoculates then from harm.

Au Contraire Mon Frère!

With no one to see or hear for miles around, and the Sheriff cooling his heels in town at the doughnut shop, evil-doers can rape, torture, and pillage at their lesiure.

A very famous exemplar of this is the gruesome true story recounted by Capote in his book "In Cold Blood"

 

[Miami_JBT]

I voted the "haha... oh, seriously: no." Things like home invasions simply do not happen randomly despite the fearmongers. They are, 99%, drug house thefts, and similar. A handful are wrong-address but I don't live in such a neighborhood.

That said, threats vary. In the past, I have been day-and-night armed covertly, calmly, because we fostered; emergency placements, so had a zillion kids through, often straight from their home or school or the hospital (sheriffs cars often showed up, not DCF or private agency people to drop them off) and >1 time the dad is Bad News, like multiple violent felony warrants etc, so we've been asked by the cops if we have a gun in the house, yes is a thank-goodness answer, and "maybe keep it around."

Also if there's a party at the house. Not for people we invite (kids stuff mostly) but you never know what that could invite or similar: other relatives of kids who are unpleasant. So it trips me into "unknown territory" and I carry in my house and yard. (Also, people around: could block access to locked up guns or even try I guess to break into the cage) But again, situational not routine.

But that's rare, and yes technically there are firearms locked up on two of the three floors so it's pretty easy to access one if I get any advance notice of a problem.

I'm a former cop who is a registered lobbyist for a gun rights organizations. Plenty of people don't like me.