firearm choice and location for home defense

[Guest j12thomas]

So, what do you have at the ready and where?

I have read and heard many different ideas on this. I am sure you have heard the debates. Gun safe vs quick access. Some even say trigger-locks (hysterical IMO).

I am in the process of acquiring a Remington 870. Don't know where I'm gonna put it but I have to put it away somewhere (cause of my kids) and I have to have quick access to it (cause of my kids).

Thoughts?

j12thomas

[Guest JeepMonkey]

Back home there's a Mossy under every bed (except mine and my youngest brother's), a tactical 590 12ga. under Mom and Dad's and a tactical 500 20ga. under my sister's. Mounted on the wall up on my loft the few times I am home is my Winchester 1400 semi-auto 12ga. and my SP101 is under the loft on my desk. The brother understands and knows gun safety back and forth, so he is not a worry, and the bedrooms stay locked and guns are unloaded when other kids are over. Here in Knoxville I keep the Winchester under the bed and the SP101 on the nightstand.

When the three of us were younger, Dad kept his 590 in the master bathroom up on a shelf out of our reach.

My former LE German Shepherd who sleeps at the foot of my bed here and under my loft when we go back home is also a great source of lethal home defense.

Edited March 5, 2009 by JeepMonkey

[Guest truthsayer]

If I'm awake, it's whatever I carried that day on my hip and an 870 by the bed. Once I go to bed, the handguns go in the safe and it's just the scattergun.

[Guest Traumaslave]

:tough:I got nothin. Come on in!!

[frankmako]

around the house it is what's in my pocket. then at night it is the shotgun next to the bed. home defense is best with a shotgun.

[Guest j12thomas]

Thanks JeepMonkey,

anyone else with kids (particularly toddlers) wanna chime in? "under the bed" wont work for me.

[Guest dwrd]

I have seen some folks who will mount their shotty inside their closet on hooks above the door frame. It is out of reach of little ones, and still allows for easy access.

[RoDan]

Mount it on hooks above the bedroom door (assuming you don't have really tall doors). I'm 6'2 and have no problem doing that. Noway a small kid can get at it. Or the closet idea that dwrd posted is probably a good option as well.

[Guest betobeto]

The wife and I keep our carry guns on our night stands, a 1911 and a FNP 40. A Mossberg 590 sits against the wall with a 300 lumen light on her So I can make sure I don't miss. All other guns are locked up tight.

[Guest canynracer]

I have 3 kids, ages 13, 7, and 3...I keep my handgun on me, when I go to bed, its in a cheap holster that I have mounted behind my nightstand....

If necessary; I would use my handgun to get to the shotgun which, when I am in bed, stays OUT of the safe, and no round in the chamber right inside the master closet, I grab the shotgun, leave the HG with the wife, and I go gather up the kiddies and bring em back to hunker down in the master bedroom.

during the day, the shotgun stays in the safe, my HG is on the top shelf in my closet (when I am not carrying it)

[TK47]

I don't have kids to worry about, so on the nightstand is a Glock 21sf, with a light. Standing in the corner 5 feet away is the Remington 870 also with a light.

TK47

[Guest nraforlife]

Close at hand no matter where at in house. Where isn't anybodies business

[Guest mustangdave]

We don't have kids to worry about....and we have a 3 dog alarm system to boot...as it stands right now there is a Bennelli Nova Tactical 12g under the bed...an SP 101 in a "bed rail" holster on the wifes side...and a Bersa 380 in the nightstand(also on her side)...on my side we have a Taurus Tracker in the night stand and a FNH P-40 in the bed rail holster....now for that HDR...makin up my mind...

[Guest j12thomas]

You guys are all wackos, and when I say wackos I mean awesome. (especially you Jeepmonkey).

This helps a lot. Anyone have a quick-combo type of gun safe for your handgun by the bed? I'm thinking that this would put me at ease with a toddler in the house.

[Hooker771]

I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old and I do keep a pump shotgun under the bed without one in the chamber. I dont think they could manipulate the slide at this point but I am rethinking this as my son is getting a bit older. After reading this I think I am going to go to hooks on a door. Could someone post a link of exactly what you are talking about?

Thank you.

[Guest JeepMonkey]

This is what I have back home on the wall. They might be for "show", but they do their job and don't look rigged when the Winchester isn't in them. If you go this route, don't use the screws that come with it. Go get some longer ones with a more aggressive threading that are Phillips head. The ones that came with it were too short for me to trust them should the SHTF and I have to grab it quickly without ripping drywall off the studs.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0006548210361a&navCount=2&podId=0006548&parentId=cat601048&masterpathid=&navAction=push&cmCat=MainCatcat602007-cat601048_TGP&catalogCode=XJ&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601048&hasJS=true

On a side note, my sister just got a new tactical 590 12ga. The brother now has the 500 20ga. under his bed. Dad couldn't feel safer. The best thing is, she's a cheerleader and fills the stereotype of a high school cheerleader, yet she can outshoot my Dad, her boyfriend, and a lot of my buddies. I feel bad for her boyfriend at times...

Edited March 6, 2009 by JeepMonkey

[threeshot]

... Could someone post a link of exactly what you are talking about?

Thank you.

Google search "wall gun racks" to get ideas for your needs.

[Guest DylisTN]

Pockett, Nite stand

[Guest JeepMonkey]

It's not a "wall mount" per se, but my cousin uses this in his house to keep his shotguns close but out of the reach of his toddlers.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0017127225635a&navCount=2&podId=0017127&parentId=cat20121&masterpathid=&navAction=jump&cmCat=MainCatcat21412-cat20121&catalogCode=XJ&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20121&hasJS=true

[Guest Boomhower]

2 young'uns here..........Mossy 500 sits on a shelf that I mounted high in the closet. My second opt. was to use some of those plastic coated bicycle hooks used to hand a bicycle from the ceiling and screw them into the wall just over the door header on the inside of the closet. My mossy has an 18" brl and a pistol grip though.

Also have a few other places around the house that even my wife has trouble getting to.... but can

[Guest VolMickey]

Close at hand no matter where at in house. Where isn't anybodies business

DITTO.

[Guest Boomhower]

Anyone have a quick-combo type of gun safe for your handgun by the bed? I'm thinking that this would put me at ease with a toddler in the house.

Like this?......

[Guest VolMickey]

" "All you need for happiness is a good gun, a good horse, and a good wife." - Daniel Boone "

Two out of three ain't bad!

[bubbiesdad]

870 in a linen closet during the day, under the bed at night. Always something on my waist.

[nightrunner]

keep a xdM-9 on mynightstand at all times