Guns Loaded in the House
Dr. John Woods 03.07.16
With any type of firearm in the house, gun safety is paramount. This matters during the regular course of daily activities, the stresses of SHTF events, or even during bug out survival circumstances. Plans have to be made in advance for considerations of keeping loaded guns in the house.
Years ago, a good friend of mine’s wife was hosting a birthday party for a friend’s kid and his buddies. Alan was a trained pistol shooter, so he kept his Colt Combat Commander upstairs in a bedroom night stand, loaded all the time.
Just by accident, he went upstairs to get something and found two of the kids in their bedroom playing with the pistol. A round was in the chamber, but the safety was ON. Nevertheless he never got over that incident and no longer kept a loaded gun in his house.
I face a similar situation with a young special needs child still at home. She has never picked up a gun (unloaded) without my supervision, and she does go to hunting camp with me, but she’s never learned to shoot. I am very careful about where I keep loaded firearms in the house. I am sure others face similar considerations.
In this day and age of increasing social unrest, home invasions, thefts, and assaults, more and more people are buying guns and keeping them loaded at home. This requires some judicious planning and thought about where to keep loaded guns in the house.
Another friend of mine who is a self-professed prepper has bought several of the hollowed out books where a pistol can be hidden inside the cover. He has these placed in several spots around his house for quick access when needed. This is certainly one approach, but again, what if a child finds it?
Hornady makes a handgun safe called the RAPiD safe that can be set out in the open and is operated by passing a security card over the panel. These pistol safes certainly can work well, but they will be located in just one spot unless you buy multiples of them. However, this does solve the issue of keeping a loaded gun in the house.
Other security locks, cables, and such are available and are worthy of consideration. As for long guns, it’s best to keep those in a safe where children and criminals will have a hard time getting at them.
