Just Curious What You'd Do

ddavelarsen

ddavelarsen

Joined
Dec 7, 2000
Messages
5,179
This one's still out to the jury for me.

Last night my wife came downstairs with the upstairs guns and told me they had to be put away. Our granddaughter is almost five and Jeanie figures it's only a matter of time till the little girl gets her hands on one and goes to experimenting.

I think she has a point.

On the other hand, I'm not particularly in favor of backing myself into a corner on the second floor, unarmed. Maybe I've read too many serial killer books. And there's no way in hell a kid could chamber a round on the 45. My wife can't do it, how could she think a child could? Also, her father is a gun owner and has taught her how to respect guns as much as a five year old can. When I ask her questions about gun responsibility she has the right answers. But pop culture has romanticised shooting to the point it almost doesn't seem real; I think that makes guns far more dangerous, at least with kids. See, I just go round-and-round with this.

I'm not sure whether I'm really going to lock them up or sneak the 45 back to my bedside table. Not asking for advice, just wonder how other folks would handle this. I'll figure it out for myself pretty soon and live with the consequences.
 
I would lock them up when she is at your home, but as so as that door open for her to go home I would put the back. I also have a load gun in most of the rooms.
 
My sis's two kids were both pre-schooled in my home by my pa, and this issue came up, Dave. Sis was liberal then, before she grew up; nowadays she's got her own .38 "EDC". ;) I cut it back to one gun out at night which I dutifully put in the safe every morning. The kids were carefully instructed that it was very scary and if they should EVER find it out, they needed to get one of us immediately. Sad to admit my own failure, they actually had to tell me about it once. :(

One of those little gun boxes isn't a bad idea. In not too many years a "safe" gun with a chip and id braclet will be available to the public.
 
I've read the same scary stories, I guess, because I would never want to be caught between a hard place and a rock when I could have, with some forthought, negated the situation. How you solve the delima of the young ones access, to your selfdefence gun, will just take a bit of study and application on your part.

I know my neighbors would like to have another chance to rethink their self defence strategy. Around midnight, early this month, someone kicked there front door in, then ran off into the night.
Four days later they came back with ski mask and guns. They duct taped the husband, wife and 20 year old daughter . There were two infants in the room that were roughed up. They pistol wipped the wife, stole what they coud carry and fled. This is one of those scary stories we are speaking of.

Those adds I see on the tube about being protected by A.D.T. They are selling victimization. A people who feel they can't stand up for themselves.

"Warriors don't predict they prepare" This is posted on the wall of the dojo were I teach, Old school, I guess Fred
 
I have the ADT, Fred. Cut the phone lines and they're worthless. When I bought into this the lying bastid salespeople said that ADT would know if the line was cut. Pure lies. What it does offer is a nice inside alarm so you can know they're coming so you can let Mr. Mossberg greet them. :) Other than that all it does is perhaps give the wannabe's a moment's hesitation. One can get a door alarm a lot cheaper at Radio Shack.

I'm a firm believer that my home is sacrosanct, my sanctuary. Intruders will meet their demise.
 
These are pretty well thought of. Mount one to the nightstand or the wall and you have defense close at hand stored safely away from little ones.

Most better alarm companies these days have a cellular option that solves the cut wire problem. In my neighborhood all the phone wires are underground and the point of contact with the house is in a small box in the wall.

Fortunately for me, the only kid we have is a Navy trained armorer, so it's safe to leave guns around when he's visiting :)

I like old school protection, a couple furry four legged alarms and a loaded .45.
 
J. MacDonald said:
These are pretty well thought of. Mount one to the nightstand or the wall and you have defense close at hand stored safely away from little ones.

Most better alarm companies these days have a cellular option that solves the cut wire problem. In my neighborhood all the phone wires are underground and the point of contact with the house is in a small box in the wall.

Fortunately for me, the only kid we have is a Navy trained armorer, so it's safe to leave guns around when he's visiting :)

I like old school protection, a couple furry four legged alarms and a loaded .45.
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ADT offers a radio option, also, John. I got feisty because they don't tell you about the costly options when you initially purchase. Sorta like how a cable TV hookup adds ala cart items until the bill's ridiculous. We have overhead lines for phone so the box and wires are exposed along the side of my house. I've been thinking of armoring them with some kind of halfpipe.

I'll count on that door alarm, the secondary pitbull alarm to buy me the few seconds I need, and then we can "dance". I am one of those who believes that anyone invading my home deserves whatever I dish out. Like i told someone the other day, I may be a jackass, but not a liberal bleeding heart pansy. :)
 
Oops! I guess it would help to actually post the link I meant in my last post. A Gunvault might be your answer Dave:

http://www.gunvault.com/

Fitzo, I agree about home protection. If you bust my door down or sneak in my window, then you've just threatened my family's safety. All bets are off after that. I'm likely to take a Federal approach. I'll start with a baker's dozen of Federal .45 Hydra Shoks and follow up with a half dozen Federal Tactical 00 Buck rounds brought to the party by Mr Benelli.
 
Soon, I will have to get one of the quick combination gun safes for my bedside for when my new daughter starts walking around and getting curious. Normally my guns are locked in a safe and the house gun is only out when I or my wife are in the room.

Now, if you don't think that a child can rack a slide on a .45 I would like to point out that children can go whatever they want if their mind is set.

From http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_kids_guns_kopel.html, a story on a child proof gun. I don't know about it's authenticity or not, but does have that subtle irony that life is full of.

During the 1880s, Daniel Baird Wesson, head of the Smith & Wesson gun company, ordered his engineers to produce a child-proof gun, after he read a newspaper account of a child killed in a gun accident. The new gun, with a safety lever in the grip, and a very hard trigger pull, was brought to market as the New Departure Model Safety Hammerless. It is said that one evening Mr. Wesson was entertaining guests in his mansion, and seeking to demonstrate his safety innovation, handed a boy a loaded Safety Hammerless and told him "Go ahead and pull the trigger." The boy did, and a bullet instantly tore through an expensive Persian carpet, lodging itself in the floor underneath Mr. Wesson's feet.

edited for grammar
 
Well I don't have this problem since my boy has grownup but I never did worry much, always left guns under the bed, in the closet and in the unlocked gun case. But he was educated about guns, shot them at a very young age and learned what could happen if one was mishandled. But someone elses kid coming into my house and the guns are locked up, kids are curious and like to fiddle and fool around with things there not suppose to, especially when they have little knowledge of what could happen. Nothing would be worse then to know that my ignorance caused the death of a little person, and when they're around you are the adult.


Its a tough call Dave, but I would either get a trigger lock or a gun safe if the kids were around a lot. I have a double barrel 12ga standing in the bedroom corner, but the shells are laying on the closet shelf. Probably about 1.2 seconds away from the chamber when and if the adrenalin kicks in. My biggest worry would be the kids picking up knives, man there everywhere.:D Bow and arrows are close and theres a tomahawk in my dresser drawer, I'd hate to break into my house, I'd probably get shot, arrowed, stabbed, and hacked in under 30 seconds.

Bill
 
I would get one of the keypad quick access safes just to ease any fears your wife has. I don't really think its necessary to change anything you are doing though other than for peace of mind.
If the gun stays in a reasonable area, out of sight/reach of your granddaughter, and you regularly remind her of gun safety there is very little chance you will ever have a problem.
I'm sure I'm not the only one here who grew up with guns around, and it was never a problem.
Also, like you said, its very doubtful that she could chamber a round. I follow the same princinples with my guns. They're easily available to me, but they are not ina room that any visitors go in, and they're out of sight and reach for young ones.
Hiding it from your wife is a bad idea. I think you know that or you wouldn't have posted this :D And locking it away where you can't use it is a bad idea also. Keeping it unloaded, or in a quick access safe is a decent compromise. A few seconds delay is much better than not having it at all!
 
Thanks John, that's exactly what I had in mind. Price is right too, I'll see what I can find locally now that I know what it should cost.

Iowa has some pretty funky laws. More than two holes in an intruder and it's attempted murder regardless the provocation. Pays to go to the range! :D Hopefully it wouldn't take two unless I was really shaking or in a big hurry but he'd get both just for the hell of it.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to keep em locked up during the day until I get a safe by the bed. Matt, you're right, if I was willing to lie to my wife I'd have just done it. The hard part is going to be to teach her how to operate a safe. Don't know how much luck she'd have doing that under stress.
 
No matter what you decide, a least you are doing something..........its when we ignore the potential danger that it can become such.
 
ddavelarsen said:
That's a good idea IG, I've been thinking about a small quick gun safe by the bed too.
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That would be my advice, Dave. Maybe one of those fancy fingerprint-recognition safes?
 
Any of these ideas is good, but educating them about guns is far better than any safe or trigger lock. Take them to the range, let them shoot a gun and take away all the questions. You might even get them their own gun that stays put up until you both can handle it together. If there's no mistery involved in something, it's not as much fun to sneak around and get into trouble with. I tried this myself with my nieces and nephews, never had a single problem except affording ammo.:thumbup:
 
Dave
educating them yes but this has it's faults too..
my kids are grown and no grand babys as of yet:grumpy:
I'm a firm believer that if your fire arm is not at arms reach it should be emty
even in your glove box in the car if the keys are or are not in the car..
I'll tell you why some day..:(
with that said for me a safe is a safe and if some bozo is standing at my bed side I don't think he's going to let me go for the safe or the time to mess with it with the lights out.
why not make yourself a holster for your night time arm and keep it at the head of the bed out of sight from anyone, down just below the top of the bedding for just while your in bed?
unless the kid sleeps with you, knows it's there and knows
how to operate it
I think you'd be safe as long as you remember to safe it once you get up, so it can't be found during the day. most bad guys like to collect
guns too..sure would hate to have my own gun used on me..:eek:
nothing wrong with a edc just for the house durning the day..:D also
for a holster keeper strap
they have those snaps that will only come open one way and will
slow the unknowing down also that want to get into it...just postion the snap so you have to open it
back a$$-wards:) they are called lift the dot snaps..yes it all can be figured out in time,,
but at night,to find it, work it, all in the dark, while you're there , I don't think so..just more ideas to add to the good ones here..:)
 
As far as alarm systems goe http://www.safemart.com has good prices and excellent customer service for those who want to install their own system. Monitoring companies always fail to mention the charges for "extras" and never tell customers that an autodialer(hooked to land-line or cellular) can be hooked up and programmed with the numbers of whoever you want the alarm to call if there is a break-in. You can even have it dial the police. Most departments have a number specifically for this although there are a few that do require the call to goe through a monitoring company most don't. You can also turn almost any drawer or cabinet door into a child-secure gun storage with a electronic key pad and lock. Easy access for you to your guns, cheap and easy to put one in everyroom in the house.
 
If I had small children in the house the guns would be locked up or on me at all times. I think I would check into the quik safe thing, looks like it wouldn't be to hard to access if your alarm and dog give you a few seconds. I don't have any kids in the house so there's guns everywhere. And knives. And tomahawks. And a couple swords. If someone breaks down the door there in for a surprise.:D Hopefully the blue healer will be a deterant allso.

Anouther posibility is to keep a night gun in your bedroom and keep it locked, but I like the idea of the small fingerprint safe. I don't know how well it works, but it would be worth checking into.

I think it was Dan who suggest a personal carry? Any way why not a personal carry that you just take the gun and holster off and hang on the bed board when you go to bed?
 
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