Safe but accessible way to store home defense shot gun

[swinokur]

In MD it is a felony to leave a firearm accessible to anyone under the age of 16. I don't believe hanging on a door covered by a towel no matter the height would qualify as compliance.

In answer to the question of how a child could gain access to something you thought was safe my 3 year old grand daughter moved a kitchen chair and climbed up on the kitchen counter to get peanut butter to make a sandwich. Lucky thing P.B.&J isn't a weapon. Not seven feet off the floor but illustrates their ability to do things you didn't think they were capable of.

Maybe you wouldn't know that if you don't have children.

 

[dogsoldier0513]

Both my wife's Benelli M1 Super90 and my Beretta 1201FP are stored with the chambers empty, (5) rounds of Low Recoil 00 in the magazines, and the safeties ON....one on her side of the bed, one on mine. However, unless one knows the specific manual of arms for each weapon you are not going to be able to chamber a round, much less fire the weapon.

 

[Skribs]

Dog, that would work in the situation that someone breaks into your house and picks up the weapon, but don't count on kids not figuring it out. My mom has had her friend's kids over that are in the 5-8 year old range that - with no prior experience with our home theater setup - are able to not only turn on the TV and get to their channel, but are able to teach my mom how to do it. This isn't just push the button on the TV and then push the channel up button...it's turning on the projector, turning on the tuner (different remote) and setting it to the right receiver (we have 2) for the third remote, which you use to change the channel.

It's not rocket science, but it's not simple either, especially if you don't know the configuration. I'm sure with enough poking around a kid could figure out how to turn off the safety, just by pushing different buttons. That said, I don't think they could figure out a combination lock, just because once they've turned all the dials they'll probably lose interest.

 

[waterhouse]

A year ago, before I had a kid, I would have agreed with leadcounsel. Having seen what a non-walking 10 month old is capable of getting into, I disagree strongly with the "hang it on a wall hidden and out of reach and use education" approach. I agree with Jorg . . . it really is a been there and done that kind of thing. Again, I'm talking about a 24" kid that can't walk, and she is freaky fast and can literally climb the pantry shelves and push the heavy ottoman around the living room in order to climb onto taller objects. I doubt my kid is currently capable of defeating the 7' tall hook approach, but given a few years I bet she could do it. Compared to some I'm super new to the parenting game, but you learn shortly after they become mobile that their intellect and curiosity should not be underestimated.

I also lock up things like the circular saw and other power tools, but as Jorg mentioned I don't need to get to it quickly so it is in a cheap box with a master lock. If I misplace the key I'll open it with bolt cutters and get a new lock. For HD guns I prefer no key entry.

Back to the OP: my home defense guns stay in a V-line lock box. Not cheap, but in my opinion they are worth it for quick access while being fairly child proof. Most guns stay in a heavy safe, the HD stuff stays either on my person or in lock boxes that can be opened with a few button presses. I really like the V-line size and design.

 

[Skribs]

Waterhorse, just be sure you don't lock the bolt cutters in the cheap box as well

 

[waterhouse]

Waterhorse, just be sure you don't lock the bolt cutters in the cheap box as well

You laugh, but I do lock them in one of the cheap gun safes. If someone steals my tools they are buying their own bolt cutters to get them out

 

[dogsoldier0513]

Dog, that would work in the situation that someone breaks into your house and picks up the weapon, but don't count on kids not figuring it out. My mom has had her friend's kids over that are in the 5-8 year old range that - with no prior experience with our home theater setup - are able to not only turn on the TV and get to their channel, but are able to teach my mom how to do it. This isn't just push the button on the TV and then push the channel up button...it's turning on the projector, turning on the tuner (different remote) and setting it to the right receiver (we have 2) for the third remote, which you use to change the channel.

It's not rocket science, but it's not simple either, especially if you don't know the configuration. I'm sure with enough poking around a kid could figure out how to turn off the safety, just by pushing different buttons. That said, I don't think they could figure out a combination lock, just because once they've turned all the dials they'll probably lose interest.

If you are familiar with the Benelli M1 Super90 and the Beretta 1201FP you will know that once the magazine tube is loaded, (3) separate ADDITIONAL functions MUST occur BEFORE either weapon will fire. Sure, given TIME, any unescorted/unchaperoned individual might figure out how to fire either.

 

[Six]

That said, I don't think they could figure out a combination lock, just because once they've turned all the dials they'll probably lose interest.

Uhm, a three digit lock only has 1000 combinations. At a very slow three seconds per turn of a wheel and tug of the lock, it'll take less than an hour to get it open.

Working out the combinations for stuff was a good way to waste a rainy afternoon when I was a kid.

In the end, there is no absolutely safe way to store guns while keeping them reasonably accessible.

It's all about increasing the odds that they won't be able to get to it in time. Somewhere there's a balance between putting it in a corner and encasing it in a block of concrete.

 

[jerry0]

I would NEVER store with a round chambered. You could get into a LOT of trouble...

 

[Balrog]

I would NEVER store with a round chambered. You could get into a LOT of trouble...

So you don't keep a loaded gun in the house?

 

[Jerry68]

An unloaded gun becomes a really crappy club in a home invasion scenario...

 

[vaherder]

Lead Counsel's problem

never mind

 

[Skribs]

Balrog, you can have rounds in the magazine but not have a round chambered. Personally, I'd keep a semi-auto pistol/rifle/shotgun chambered (with manual safety on if necessary) and a pump-action shotgun with an empty chamber (if I grab the pump shotgun, it's for the sound effects as well, why pump out a shell just to get that?).

Empty chamber =/= empty gun. Just like hitting the magazine release doesn't mean your gun is empty, either.

 

[SKILCZ]

Any consensus on the Mossberg loc-box or Gun-Vault Breech Vault? I can't justify spending the money on the ShotLock with so few combinations possible. I'd prefer an electronic lock or manual lock with more combos possible.

How are people with kids on THR storing their HD shotguns?

 

[oneounceload]

How are people with kids on THR storing their HD shotguns

Hammer down (fired) on an empty chamber with the mag tube full.......all that is necessary is to work the slide...........most very little kids can't work that......

education is paramount, they need to know what it can do, how it works, a real-time firing lesson (even if you do the firing), so they get an idea of how dangerous it is.

If you can't trust your kids, then lock it up during the day and take it out when you go to bed

 

[PR-NJ]

I don't trust kids...especially boys.

I was one.

 

[GigaBuist]

How are people with kids on THR storing their HD shotguns?

I went with the Breech Vault. I put the keys in the GunVault safe next to the bed that contains a couple of pistols. Grab handgun, grab keys, make way to shotgun if time provides. If not, hey, I got a handgun!

 

[texas bulldog]

leadcounsel:

I'm with you on education and discipline. I put a lot of time into both, and my oldest is only two. But just as you are a person with your own freewill and will make decisions, both good and bad, on your own, so do children. And if you think you can keep a child in your sight for 24 hours a day until they go to school, you're in for a serious reality check one day, especially if you have more than one. You know you can't just strap 'em to a chair, right?

My oldest can already easily drag a chair, and I am amazed by what she can climb. She's pretty bright, and if she sees you do something even just once, she'll figure out how to do it herself. Their brains are like sponges. 7' would certainly be out of reach for now, but how many years before she figures out to use a broom, bat, whatever?

All I know is that I knew everything that was in the top of my parent's closet way before age 12. And before you start railing on about education, responsibility, discipline, blah blah, blah, let me just say that I was an honor roll student my whole life, had a paper route by age 12, had a wide assortment of household chores, and so on. I got plenty of education and responsibility. The thing is...kids are curious and they will seek to satisfy that curiosity. They go through stages where they challenge rules. It's a natural part of development and finding their place in the world.

Like anything, there are layers of security. Education is one. So is a lock.

And seriously...
Please never try to tell people about raising kids until you've started doing it yourself. It's embarrassing.

 

[Dobe]

My son was under two when he would climb onto the top of his baby bed and fall to the carpeted floor at 2 in the morning. He would then proceed to pull a chair up to the kitchen counter, and begin running the length of that kitchen counter. I have pulled him from the top of counters in the wee morning, from the inside of a stove ( that one called for drastic measures), and from other places where he should not be so early in the morning.

I prayed to God, that he would make it to adult status, and he did. Yet, I took all but a few guns from my home (couldn't afford a safe back then), and never kept one loaded in the house. Boys are very courious.

I taught my son gun safety as he got older, and he understood it. I just never completely trusted the youth and curiousity in him. I remember being young.

Now I have a grandson. He reminds me of my son.

 

[xcgates]

^What's the saying? "Kids are God's way of punishing us for what we did."

 

[figment]

I have a shotlock with a 590 "cruiser ready" mounted in my xxxxxxx xxxxxx. Works fine. Can't rack it or get to the trigger. Single or multiple key combos.

 

[rondog]

I don't trust kids...especially boys.

I was one.

Oh man, the things I did with guns when I was a kid.....I'm amazed I've lived 54 years.

 

[Dobe]

I hunted with a group of guys when I was much younger and in high school, who did not always consider safety as an item which needed to be considered when packing for a hunting trip. There was the rifle, ammo, the boots, and of course the dogs...not enough room for safety on this trip.

I was caught is a cross fire once on a pipe line. I doe crossed next to me. "Friends" were on each side; guns a' blaz'n. I'm still not sure how I managed to live through that, but I'm grateful.

 

[zoom6zoom]

I don't know why you couldn't use the trigger guard locks on a pump action too. That would allow the gun to be loaded up with one in the chamber,

Trigger locks should NEVER be used with a chambered round.

 

[xcgates]

I've been told that, and I don't, but haven't ever asked why.

Is it because of the possibility of the "fingers" (pardon the language, but only one gun I have has a trigger lock) working the trigger on installing/removing?