Nightstand gun with children in the house?

[CoRoMo]

The manner in which I mounted this pistol safe to the nightstand is something to be admired. Now the wife wants one for hers.

 

[DammitBoy]

Not sure if he racked it or not as the camera doesnt show it... Heres what a 2-3yr old can do.
Link to vid

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=053_1229002851&c=1

Moral of the story, don't hand your infant a loaded gun.

He didn't have to rack the slide, his father had just fired it, thus chambering another round.

 

[Offlow]

Glock 20 OWB when I'm awake, otherwise it's on the dresser while we sleep.

I have a 4 year old son and he learned THREE years ago to not touch guns without daddy present. But he is an exceptionally good and smart child.

I do think a handgun safe might be in order in the coming years though.

 

[jim goose]

Semi auto only, no revolver. Gun at top of closet under sweater stack and mag in top drawer of dresser.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

It's sad how easy it is to open up a Gunvault. It's not really a "safe", just something to keep the kids out.

I agree with gun-proofing your kids, but gun-proofing their friends is much more difficult. This is where something like a Gun Vault is valuable.

 

[TheProf]

Gun proofing for kids...

1. Keep all other guns in the safe.
2. Keep SD gun on your person.
3. Or...on those rare occasions...use the +1 system.

For instance, you if believe that keeping your handgun on the top shelf is enough to keep it away from your 8 month old child, add ONE MORE layer of protection: perhaps use a special retention holster or keep the chamber empty.

What ever your system for keeping your SD arms from kids...add ONE MORE layer of protection than you think you might need.

If you think that teaching your 10 year old about guns is "good enough" to keep him from playing with that loaded gun in your den....well...add ONE MORE layer of deterrent. (By the way...kids...no matter how educated...are still kids.)

 

[1max2nv]

I keep mine with out a round in the chamber.

 

[ScottieG59]

Where I keep weapons

I have had to deal with this issue for years. I also know from experience that complex solutions often fail badly when stress is added to the mix. Experience has also shown me that I will get nervous when when forced into a life threatening situation. I can not count of being in top form.

This is not the same as when I was in the Army. I was able to remain calm and focused despite the incoming rounds. Maybe being with other armed soldiers helped. Also, our rules of engagement were not the same... we did not worry the police or prosecutors.

Somewhere, I try to find a workable solution that accounts for my 6 curious children, my anti-gun wife and my requirement to be ready.

I like big powerful service size firearms, but I also carry concealed during the day. For now, I carry my mouse gun (Kahr P380) and it is easy to keep it away from the kids and does not alarm the wife. When the kids are asleep and I go to bed, I get my Glock 20 out and keep it by my bed, in a container without a lock, and with the door locked.

I know the locked case would slow me down too much.

 

[pickinatune]

if not on my person, I keep an Auto in the night stand drawer with a the slide locked back and a mag sitting next to it. Train the kids not to touch the night stand at all, but in the event they do- they don't have a clue how to load the gun.

 

[seamaster]

Gunvault finger control access...............

 

[seamaster]

Becareful with our future...........

too many accidents around the world....lock those guns up around kids

 

[Uteridge]

One trick that my dad did for years was to put a couple of nails into the wall on the inside of the closet above the trim, wrap them in electrical tape, and store a gun up there. It is a good 7-8 feet off the ground and you would have to go inside the closet and look up to find it so it was even relatively safe in the event of a burglary. You could probably do the same thing with one of the pistol racks they make to go on the webbing of the door on my browning gun safe.

 

[B yond]

Quick-access electronic safe bolted to the headboard. No, not a lockbox, an actual safe. The rest of the guns are in a stack-on gun locker unloaded, except for the HD shotgun which is loaded with an empty chamber.

 

[WardenWolf]

Don't underestimate a child's ability to find stuff. putting guns up high is not sufficient unless you have a toddler, or a mature trained teenager. Any age in between you should have a safe. When I was a kid I was always looking around trying to see if my dad had a gun (he always said he didn't but for some reason I didn't believe him, he always seemed like he was hiding something) and when I was in my teens I was snoopin for pills and drugs. My parents never suspected anything, so even if your kids are trained don't trust them too much!

I didn't learn gun safety until I was about 15 and my over protective parents finally let me go shooting with my friends father, who taught me gun safety and how to shoot/handle firearms safely.

I now live near my family members, and my 10 year old cousin comes over to visit sometimes. He is quite immature for his age, and not trained in guns or gun safety at all, and he doesn't have respect for other peoples property.

He once told me how his friends dad had made his friend and him angry (don't remember why) so they went looking for his gun to "bend the barrel" he said. They found the gun but
luckily they could not find the ammo. and obviously they couldn't bend the barrel.. I scolded him for doing that but he did seem to get the message or understand the severity of the situation. To him it was a big joke.

I now have to keep a deadbolt on my bedroom door and my pistols in a lock box. I keep my door locked whenever I am not in it. I open the box at night for quick access to my guns.

I really wish my aunt and uncle would take some time to teach their kid gun safety and respect. They are both in the Army too, I shouldn't have to tell them to teach their kid gun safety and basic respect of others property.

So you're saying he's a brat BRAT. Which incidentally sounds like a burst from a machine gun.

There's no children in my home (I WAS the child, but I'm long an adult now) so it's not an issue here. I just keep my guns where it's convenient. Got a P-64 on my hip and a holstered Tokarev sitting next to me. My dad always kept them up high in the closet and I knew I was never to touch that shelf. If I had kids, though, I'd go with a biometric safe. Nice thing about those, besides fast access, is you can also set it up so multiple family members can access it. No keys, no combination, no problem.

 

[TexasBill]

One loaded on the hip; one in lockbox in my wife's nightstand. Others unloaded and locked up.

 

[C5rider]

time to chime in here. My dad built guns. We always had about 30 rifles stacked up in an open cabinet. We were going to the gun club with dad when we were about 8-years old. We were taught how to handle a gun safely and we were the wieird kids who told all of our friends that you NEVER point a gun at someone else, not even by accident, unless you intend on using it. We hunted and shot firearms all through my high-school years. It was nothing to grab my dad's 1914 Mauser and go out back for some plinking.

Through college and building a career, I got out of guns. I've now got two boys and I've debated long and hard about how to safely have both kids and guns in the house. I like one, I love the other.

I've always had my shotgun and one rifle that dad built for me but, when I bought another handgun, I also bought a safe to put it, and all my ammo into it. My oldest son goes to the range with me and shoots my 22lr revolver. My youngest (5 years old) shoots the bb gun. They're learning about guns and how to handle them. I've already considered that when they get old enough, shooting could easily become something that keeps us close. My dad went to the range the other day with me. The first time he's shot a gun in over 25 years. It would be neat to have both dad and my oldest son at the range, three generations of shooters.

Gun safety is a MUST, but each situation must be handled in a very personal, sober way. I've seen little kids that were safe around guns and teenagers that I wouldn't let handle a rubber band pistol.

 

[gym]

When any of my 4 grandkids are here, 1yr-8yrs old, the guns go in the safe. The one I carry stays with me. At night i sleep with it between the edge of the mattress, "unseen". You can't get it unless I roll to the side, or sit up. The kids never have seen a gun at my home, their patents are not gun people. Also they don't come in my bedroom unless I invite them. "wife's kids". I respect their wishes. To me both the son and son in law are whipped, they both like guns, but are afraid of their wives. Whipped like butter,
When they get older I will corrupt them, I can tell which one is the shooter already.

 

[mdauben]

On the nightstand in a biometrich safe.

I would agree with this one. From my own experience as a youngster, top shelf of closet, between the matresses, hidden in your underwere, there is no where in a normal house you can "hide" a gun that a determined child won't eventually find it. Safetly training and stern warnings are good, too, but children are children and are not always cognizent of the ramifications of their actions or their own mortality. Locking up all your guns is the only way to be sure they don't get their little hands on one.