"Oh my Gawd....do you have a gun in every room?"

Creaky_Old_Cop said:
I was asked that by a guest last night.

I changed the subject to contraception....but after I put her in the Uber...

I pulled out all the handguns I have stashed in the living room...
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After our kids were on their own we started keeping a gun all over the home. I don't want to be in the basement and hear the door get kicked in. This is a personal choice kind of thing many don't like and that is their choice. Only real hassle is when we are going out of town and I have to collect them all to lock up ;)
 
I am in my office and have 6 in here with me. Someone was talking about Americans owning more than one gun on teams call. They said they own one, two or three and I was like, I got more in this room with me that y'all own! :p I don't worry about locking most up as I am almost always home, work and personal.

G17 - loaded to go.
P365 - in its carry holster and ready to go.
1858 - with 45 LC conversion cylinder, not loaded but shells in the closet.
AR15 in 6.8 SPC ready to be loaded, but in load development
Marlin 22 mag - Ground hog killer
12 ga single shot, buck shot sitting around for larger varmints, fox, coyote if they get stupid.
 
Many years ago, I was trying to help a friend who had recently lost her husband, who was a very good friend. She mentioned that she had found at least one gun in several different rooms. That's when I began to wonder.... I asked her to point me towards the rooms where she had not found a gun. After some searching, we found a gun in every one of those rooms too. Then it was on to the three outbuildings!
 
Most non-gun owners simply can't wrap their brains around the concept that many (if not most) American gun owners have multiple firearms, even if they are not opposed to gun ownership on principle. Even many gun owners can be appalled that some of us keep loaded firearms about the house.

I don't sweat this anymore, and I don't disclose my status as a gun owner (though those who know about my careers assume I'm a gun owner) if it's not brought up or I can detect our guests (or audience) are not open-minded about the subject.

Those from many European countries, especially the UK, some Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand are typically quite aghast when they confront the fact that an American owns lots of guns...

This topic came up the other night at our family gathering in Tucson, when one of my sisters discovered I'd brought a pistol to our AirBnB. In front of the entire extended family, the question was asked, "Just how many guns do you own, anyway?" I simply answered, "Some." I did not want to get into a debate with my two leftist siblings (the other two don't have a problem with guns and baby brother is a gun owner).

Then several of us had breakfast the next day at Snooz, Mom couldn't cut her ham slice with the knife provided, I gave her my ZT (0452 CF) folder with the 4" blade to use ... "Ooh, that's scary! How did you get that on the airplane?" Sad to say some in my family are clueless (Mom liked the knife, though). My Arizona niece did say, "C'mon, we're in Arizona, this is America, not California or Illinois (where two of my siblings reside)!"
 
I am assuming that when the OP was talking about having guns stashed all over his living room, he meant that they were unsecured.

I don't know if I've ever read it here but on other forums, most notably pistolforum I think, I've read posts from a bunch of cops who have investigated burglaries and they talk about how the burglar comes into the house and just tears everything apart.

They say they pull out all the drawers and dump them. If you have bookshelves they pull all the books off of them. They flip over your couch cushions.

Bottom line from what I read is that if there's an unsecured firearm in that house they're going to find it and, it goes without saying, if they find it they're going to steal it.

No offense intended but I think leaving an unsecured firearm anywhere in your home is really dumb thing to do.

I remember an incident in Colorado Springs at least 20 years ago in which a homeowner and his family were sitting in the living room watching something on TV. He heard a noise in the basement and when he went to investigate he found a burglar in the basement and the burglar took a shot at him.

I'm pretty sure the burglar had brought his own gun and if I remember right the homeowner shot him and the burglar was arrested in the homeowner wasnt charged.

My point is, if they can get into your house while you're there without you knowing it they can get your guns while you're there without you knowing it.

I said all that to say that any gun in my home is under my direct personal control or it's locked up. What you do in your house is none of my business

I don't think anybody outside of my family knows that I own guns. I'm certain that nobody outside of my family knows that I carry a gun.

I live in an apartment, we have a high turnover rate. I'm pretty sure there's only one person in this complex including the office manager who was here when I was working and who ever saw me in uniform carrying a gun.

youtu.be

Godfather 1 - Never tell outside the family what you're thinking.mpg

youtu.be youtu.be
 
The Night Rider said:
No offense intended but I think leaving an unsecured firearm anywhere in your home is really dumb thing to do
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Well, in the immortal words of the legendary actor Patrick Swayze as "Dalton" in the classic motion picture Road House would say, "Opinions vary."

The Night Rider said:
My point is, if they can get into your house while you're there without you knowing it they can get your guns while you're there without you knowing it.
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Well, not all of us reside in similar circumstances. My house is fairly well-hardened and it doesn't matter if we're home or not in the home. Every door and ground-floor window is hardened and alarmed. It'd be a major hassle just to even break-in through a window, and before anyone even got a leg inside, the alarm will be screeching loud enough to wake the dead, the strobe light on the front of the house will be seen by commercial airliners at 35,000 feet, the alarm company will already have notified the entire family and dispatched law enforcement. The two alarm systems with battery back-up will work (if potential burglars can jam the Wi-Fi, cut my cable internet and landline phone line, they must be targeting the wrong house and be part of the IMF or maybe DEVGRU). There's always at least one trained GSD on duty inside the house, usually two plus the bonus psycho Rottweiler mix. Motion sensors and lights outside, 360 degrees of camera coverage outside and in the living, dining, family rooms and hallways.

In any event, all firearms are returned to the safes (over 1K pounds apiece, bolted down, which will take quite a while to break into) when we leave the house for any extended length of time, if we leave for a weekend or a vacation, we've got family to house-sit. If we're at home, pretty confident we'll know immediately if someone is attempting to get inside.

Anyway, I digress. Obviously, were I ever to go back to being an apartment dweller (not likely), I would radically change my gun storage routine.
 
Old Dog said:
Well, in the immortal words of the legendary actor Patrick Swayze as "Dalton" in the classic motion picture Road House would say, "Opinions vary."



Well, not all of us reside in similar circumstances. My house is fairly well-hardened and it doesn't matter if we're home or not in the home. Every door and ground-floor window is hardened and alarmed. It'd be a major hassle just to even break-in through a window, and before anyone even got a leg inside, the alarm will be screeching loud enough to wake the dead, the strobe light on the front of the house will be seen by commercial airliners at 35,000 feet, the alarm company will already have notified the entire family and dispatched law enforcement. The two alarm systems with battery back-up will work (if potential burglars can jam the Wi-Fi, cut my cable internet and landline phone line, they must be targeting the wrong house and be part of the IMF or maybe DEVGRU). There's always at least one trained GSD on duty inside the house, usually two plus the bonus psycho Rottweiler mix. Motion sensors and lights outside, 360 degrees of camera coverage outside and in the living, dining, family rooms and hallways.

In any event, all firearms are returned to the safes (over 1K pounds apiece, bolted down, which will take quite a while to break into) when we leave the house for any extended length of time, if we leave for a weekend or a vacation, we've got family to house-sit. If we're at home, pretty confident we'll know immediately if someone is attempting to get inside.

Anyway, I digress. Obviously, were I ever to go back to being an apartment dweller (not likely), I would radically change my gun storage routine.
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For somebody who professes not to be at all interested in my opinion on things you sure did spend a lot of time rebutting it.

Don't worry man, if Dev Gru ever shows up at your house just casually open your jacket revealing your gun and badge they'll back right down.
 
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The Night Rider said:
For somebody who professes not to be at all interested in my opinion on things you sure did spend a lot of time rebutting it
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Naw, I'm just a really, really fast typist...

My point was, not everyone lives in the same or similar circumstances, so making a statement that having unsecured firearms in one's residence is "a really dumb thing to do" isn't always the truth.
 
Old Dog said:
My point was, not everyone lives in the same or similar circumstances, so making a statement that having unsecured firearms in one's residence is "a really dumb thing to do" isn't always the truth.
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Congratulations on your first line defense strategy.

Our home is similarly situated, but I'm still nervous about unsecured guns.
 
The Night Rider said:
I didn't make a statement. I stated my opinion
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Not to quibble, nor trying to have the last word, but expressing one's opinion verbally or in writing can be considered a statement.

Statements are not required to contain facts, though typically that's what most seem to believe.

Basically, when you say something (such as your remark about unsecured firearms in the home) is a really dumb idea, you are implying, without saying so, that you consider those who engage in the subject practice are dumb people and it can be construed as an attempt to invalidate the opinions of those with whom you disagree.

I think that most here can discern that use of biased words and qualifiers are a pretty good indicator of an opinion vs. a statement of facts, but nevertheless, I can see how some here (not me, I don't take this stuff personally) might feel that you are calling them out as being dumb if they leave unsecured firearms about their home.
 
shafter said:
I don't leave them stashed. Too easy to find if someone breaks in while I'm gone.
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I have two English Mastiffs, both are less friendly to strangers than I am....and I am not that friendly to non-strangers.

If someone were going to come all the way out to the middle of nowhere, find my home, breach my gate, the security gate to the porch, my security door on the house, then my steel front door....and after all that get past both my dogs, well, they are welcome to anything they want that isn't in the safes and otherwise nailed down.

That's a dedicated SOB right there, and he has earned his loot. Each of my dogs weighs more than an average NFL linebacker, and I have seen them literally tear a coyote apart, as in bifurcate and shred. When I have to retire these two from duty, I am getting a pair of Canes Corso. I like dogs. I don't like people. That's not to say there aren't individuals I like...but as a whole..."people" are icky, smelly, sticky, and nasty as a group.
 
Old Dog said:
Not to quibble, nor trying to have the last word, but expressing one's opinion verbally or in writing can be considered a statement.

Statements are not required to contain facts, though typically that's what most seem to believe.

Basically, when you say something (such as your remark about unsecured firearms in the home) is a really dumb idea, you are implying, without saying so, that you consider those who engage in the subject practice are dumb people and it can be construed as an attempt to invalidate the opinions of those with whom you disagree.

I think that most here can discern that use of biased words and qualifiers are a pretty good indicator of an opinion vs. a statement of facts, but nevertheless, I can see how some here (not me, I don't take this stuff personally) might feel that you are calling them out as being dumb if they leave unsecured firearms about their home.
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Goodbye
 
The Night Rider said:
Goodbye
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And just when I was starting to enjoy the discussion. It ... was ... difficult ... but I even ignored the snark directed towards me in post #17.

Creaky_Old_Cop said:
If someone were going to come all the way out to the middle of nowhere, find my home, breach my gate, the security gate to the porch, my security door on the house, then my steel front door....and after all that get past both my dogs, well, they are welcome to anything they want that isn't in the safes and otherwise nailed down.
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About how I feel; that'd be a pretty talented burglar or team of burglars. But I wouldn't want them taking my baseball card collection...
 
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Old Dog said:
And just when I was starting to enjoy the discussion.


About how I feel; that'd be a pretty talented burglar or team of burglars. But I wouldn't want them taking my baseball card collection...
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I'd be kind of bugged if someone were to get my '68 and '84 Tigers signed game balls. I think the larger issue would be cleaning up the entrails off my nice wood floors.
 
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