buster81
Regular Member
On my hip, in a spot high enough that it cannot be reached, or in a safe.
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For those with small children - where do you keep your home defense firearm?
- Thread starter Aaron1124
- Start date
Toad
Founder's Club Member
There is a lot of truth in the phrase I heard a while back:
Gun proof your children don't child proof your guns.
My little one is 'gun proofed' and I could leave it anywhere and she would do nothing with it. The mystery is completely gone for her.
We have even tested her <avoid_idiot_response> yes it was unloaded </avoid_idiot_response> by leaving them in areas around the house. She just left it where it was and thought nothing of it or let us know.
Gun proof your children don't child proof your guns.
My little one is 'gun proofed' and I could leave it anywhere and she would do nothing with it. The mystery is completely gone for her.
We have even tested her <avoid_idiot_response> yes it was unloaded </avoid_idiot_response> by leaving them in areas around the house. She just left it where it was and thought nothing of it or let us know.
heresyourdipstickjimmy
Regular Member
Excellent answer Rod! That's what we do with our nephew and niece. He's actually old enough to get chairs and investigate, so we take the next step and lock it in either the big safe or the nightstand safe. The only one(s) that are ever loaded are the one on my person and/or my wife's which would also be on her person. Everything else has barrel flags and is locked in a safe somewhere.
We've taught him that if he happens to somehow find one or gets in my range bag:
Stop.
Don't touch.
Leave the area.
Get a responsible adult.
Ask to lock it up.
He's really good about this and once he figured it all out he wanted to show his dad what he had learned. Such an intelligent and proud little guy.
Eddie Eagle videos have been a wonderful tool to reinforce these concepts too.
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Beretta92FSLady
Regular Member
Nopers, that would be child abuse IMO.
Someone asked what age is old enough for a child to use a firearm in a home defense situation...someone had answered this a time ago on here. I would say the "right" age is when the individual child is competent with a firearm.
In a holster, or in a lock box or safe..
My kids at 22 and 24 are all grown up, or at least they think they are. When they were smaller, the self-defense handgun of the moment was always kept either in a holster on my belt, or in a lock box bolted to the bed or in the safe. I never left guns out loaded or unloaded. I also taught firearm safety to the kids at a very young age. When they were about 9 and 11 I started taking them to the range and let them shoot the .22 Ruger and a .22 rifle, larger caliber guns at they got older. They also helped with cleaning the guns from time to time. Learning a healthy respect for firearm at a young age is a major plus in life, IMHO.
Now that they're out of the house, at night I move the handgun and ammo from the belt holster on the pants to an identical holster on a Velcro belt near the bed. I can quickly put this on over PJ's or whatever if the need so arises.
My kids at 22 and 24 are all grown up, or at least they think they are. When they were smaller, the self-defense handgun of the moment was always kept either in a holster on my belt, or in a lock box bolted to the bed or in the safe. I never left guns out loaded or unloaded. I also taught firearm safety to the kids at a very young age. When they were about 9 and 11 I started taking them to the range and let them shoot the .22 Ruger and a .22 rifle, larger caliber guns at they got older. They also helped with cleaning the guns from time to time. Learning a healthy respect for firearm at a young age is a major plus in life, IMHO.
Now that they're out of the house, at night I move the handgun and ammo from the belt holster on the pants to an identical holster on a Velcro belt near the bed. I can quickly put this on over PJ's or whatever if the need so arises.
wrightme
Regular Member
Well, other than "what are PJ's?", I like this idea! Had not thought of it. Know of a good source, or a reasonable suggestion for one?
kwikrnu
Banned
I keep my firearms locked up all of the time. I keep all ammunition stored seperately and locked too. That way when the JBTs break down my door I know they won't bust me on child endangerment charges like they did jp49911, then later drop all charges. 
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rodbender
Regular Member
PJ's=pajamas?
wrightme
Regular Member
It was a rhetorical question....
confedneck
Regular Member
On top of the cabinet and under the mattress. Sometimes IN the cabinet. Our bedroom door is always locked if we're not in there.
rodbender
Regular Member
I didn't think so by the tone of your voice.
wrightme
Regular Member
that is a limitation of the typed word.
Sonora Rebel
Regular Member
BULLSNORT! The psychological effect of racking a 12 ga within earshot of a BG has an IMMEDIATE effect. 'Having done so on several occasions, it gets their full and undivided attention. Whatever mischief they were contemplating dissapates in an instant. You may take your chances against a handgun or even a rifle, but at close-range, the 12 ga pump shotgun is the most lethal small arm ever devised.
since9
Campaign Veteran
"small children" = "little or no sense of what's dangerous and what's not and/or routinely fail to follow directions or warnings"
Result: Firearm will ALWAYS be either in my holster AND on my person or locked in a safe incapable of being opened by the youngin'(s) even with the key.*
It will NEVER be laid down anywhere in the house, regardless of location or duration of time. The only exception to that might be "under my pillow while I'm sleeping," but I'm a light sleeper. I wouldn't recommend this for heavy sleepers, as little ones love to crawl into bed with their parents. I always stuck my hands beneath Mom's or Dad's pillow to keep my hand warm.
*My gun safe has two keys, one physical, and one memorized (keypad)
Result: Firearm will ALWAYS be either in my holster AND on my person or locked in a safe incapable of being opened by the youngin'(s) even with the key.*
It will NEVER be laid down anywhere in the house, regardless of location or duration of time. The only exception to that might be "under my pillow while I'm sleeping," but I'm a light sleeper. I wouldn't recommend this for heavy sleepers, as little ones love to crawl into bed with their parents. I always stuck my hands beneath Mom's or Dad's pillow to keep my hand warm.
*My gun safe has two keys, one physical, and one memorized (keypad)
HankT
State Researcher
Good conclusion. Kids are unreliable. They do stoopid stuff all the time. If we are talking about a group of children, it is probabalistically certain that some will do something fatally stoopid.
Keep kids away from the home self-defense armament. They cannot shoot themselves in the head if they can't get at the ole pistolas.
This is what is called: "a poor sample of one."
Dangerous to generalize from...
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wrightme
Regular Member
Nope. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here. It isn't "probablistically certain" at all.
HankT
State Researcher
Of course it is, wrigthtme. Here's some support for my statement.
To paraphrase ole Art Linkletter, "Kids do the darndest things."
I hope and pray the kid doesn't lose his arm . . .
7-Year-Old Boy Accidentally Shoots 3-Year-Old Brother
Posted: 12/6/2010
The worst case scenario happened at a Cadillac apartment complex Monday morning, a 3-year-old accidentally shot by his older brother.
Police say the 7-year-old boy climbed into a kitchen cupboard where his parents hid ammunition. He took the ammo and went into a separate room and loaded a long arm hunting rifle. While playing with his father's rifle, he accidentally shot his younger brother in the arm.
The 3-year-old is currently in a Grand Rapids hospital. His parents say he's in stable condition, but they're not sure if he'll be able to keep his arm.
This is obviously a scary situation for the family, but the good news is the boy will survive.
Police say the parents did take steps to keep the rifle out of their children's reach. They kept the rifle and ammunition in separate rooms and areas of the apartment, but one issue--they didn't have a gun safe or a gun lock.
9&10's Cali O'Rourke and photojournalist Jeff Blevins spoke to police about the shooting
http://www.9and10news.com/Category/Story/?id=275266&cID=1
wrightme
Regular Member
None of which makes it "probablistically certain," which was your hyperbole.
HankT
State Researcher
Wrightme, have you ever heard of the law of truly large numbers?
wrightme
Regular Member
It doesn't matter. We aren't speaking of a "truly large number."