Storage of a firewarm or lack thereof

[BrassMonkey]

Let me preface with the fact that my 3 year old has gone to his mom's for the summer. My home is also as fortified as it can be for a residence with windows.

So since Blake is gone for a few months, I have been shooting every day after work. I shoot, come home, clean, lube and place my pistol in it's holster. I have been leaving it sitting on the bar just behind the kitchen sink as a matter of convinience since I just grab and go in the morning on the way to work.

Being the bachelor that I am, I was sitting at the kitchen counter eating some frosted mini wheats a few minutes ago and looked up. There is a .45 pointing at my head. Yeah, had an epipheny(sp?)

So, when no one is around and there is no apparent need to lock it up, does anyone else just leave it laying on the counter or is it always put away somewhere in the house, say for instance a closet?

I would almost say I need to keep it locked up at all times to get myself into that habit for when Blake comes home, but it is such a pain.... And if I forget it one morning, I don't get to shoot that evening.

[jimlongley]

Unless there are children in the house, which includes my 21 year old stepson who is going on 12, I have one of several places besides my pocket or hip where my gun resides.

Most of the time I can plan around visits where I know that children will be in the house, but there is one young lady, the very gregarious daughter of a friend, who likes to drop in unannounced. Since it is my practice to, when the doorbell rings and I am not expecting anyone (and frequently when I am) to arm myself, it usually isn't too big a problem. She has showed up a time or two when I had gone to the kitchen and the gun was on the table in the family room, but I have recovered quickly. She also knows that we have guns and she is not to touch, but curiosity killed the cat.

[Mithras61]

Well, when it isn't on my side, it's in a secure, undisclosed location...

[Venus Pax]

We don't currently have children, but I tutor two boys (ages 11 & 13) three times a week. We also have friends over occasionally, and some have children with them.

When the boys are over, I simply make sure the guns are put away somewhere, which is always a place in the house the boys don't go. When the boys aren't in the study with me, they are either in the kitchen, den, or restroom. I simply make sure no guns are in these rooms.
They know I have them; they know I carry them. I don't make a big deal over it, neither do their parents, so they don't seem to think my guns are forbidden fruit.

With other children, I'm a bit more careful, as I don't know their habits and personalities as much. Recently, my bunco group was hosted at my house. A friend of another player brought her six-year-old daughter. I don't know this kid. I promptly went to the bedroom and locked up every gun in the safe. I knew I would be too involved in the game to be paying attention to this child's whereabouts at all times, so I just arranged it so that she couldn't get to them, even if she snuck into my bedroom to tool around.

Children are curious. Usually, this is a good thing.

Since you have a young child, I would recommend a finger-touch safe or something similar. You can access the gun quickly, but the youngling can't. I don't have the address bookmarked for the one I have, but I'm happy with it. If your interested, let me know and I'll dig out the info.

[BrassMonkey]

Thanksm,
Yeah, send it to me. I am still waiting for my biosafe. They are now saying 8-10 weeks. Sheesh...

[G.A. Heath]

Each firearm in my house has a secure place and it doesn't get put anywhere else. Here's one reason why:
Imagine its 2 AM and you wake up hearing glass break, you go over to where your gun is secured, reach in and find nothing. Its at this point you realize your primary weapon is in another room and the window that was just busted out is between it and you. At this point your primary weapon being out of place has cost you valuable time that could have been spent preparing to defend yourself and your intruder may very well be armed with your gun by now.

[tornado]

I have small boys, so last week I bought a small Stack-On Security+Plus electronic safe at Sportsman's Warehouse for $70. I first bought another brand for $50, but there was no way to turn off the button beeps.

[stevie_d_64]

We don't have any kids, and when we do have some over, I am not fearful of any access to any of my firewarms because they are all locked up and unloaded (save for one I have on my person) in the gunsafe...

[stevie_d_64]

BTW, Brass...

I think those biometric safes are kinda neat...I think thats a good buy, and obviously you swung the cost of one...Good job!

I also tend to have my firearm within reach most of the time...If someone else is over, other than my wife, it'll go on the hip and be concealed for the most part, depending on whom it is...

I think your doing a agood job...Keep the little one interested in the subject and create that respect of firearms as a tool paramount...

I believe that effort will keep that image of a .45 pointed at you, as that, only a dream...

[BrassMonkey]

Thanks Steve,
I appreciate the words :-) I still want a safe with a retinal scanner though :-)

[HighVelocity]

I have a young son so leaving firearms out and unnatended is not an option. Even if he goes to visit relatives, I don't change my weapon handling/storage routine.

[Venus Pax]

Okay, here it is:
http://www.handgunsafe.com/

They have a touch combination so that you can access in the dark. They also come with bolts so that you can bolt them down to a shelf or larger gun safe.

According to my dad, Gun Tests magazine rated them well.