There have been many gun forum threads debating the safety of keeping your home defense weapon loaded and easily available. People with children must take different options than the rest of us. However, most agree that a unloaded gun is no better than a paper weight and that's the side I take since my kids flew from the nest long ago. Recently I saw a old American Justice rerun about Richard Rameriz (sp?) , the "night stalker" who killed about fifteen people in Kalifornia. The fourth victim was a lady that he had tied up while he ransacked her house. She managed to work lose of her bindings and retrieve a shotgun from under the bed that they kept for home protection. She lowered down on Rameriz and pulled the trigger,.... twice (they didn't say, but it was probably a double barrel shotgun). Nothing happened, it just went click.... twice! Rameriz shot and killed her with a 22 pistol then proceeded to try to cut her heart out, but couldn't get past the breast plate, so he cut her eyes out and took them with him. He went on to kill about eleven more people before he was caught. The reason the night stalker was able to kill the fourth victim, and eleven more people, is that her husband had unloaded the shotgun when their grandchildren had come to visit several weeks before. Apparently he never remembered to reload it. I can't imagine how that poor woman felt when she heard those clicks or the guilt her husband must feel. All my home defense guns are loaded and within easy reach while I am at home. When company comes over I taken the necessary precautions, but when they leave, things return to normal quickly. Oh yeah, as a side note the brilliant Diane Fienstien, who was Mayor of San Francisco at the time, held a press conference where she disclosed clues the police were using to try to track down the night stalker. The police were horrified! Rameriz made adjustments and went on killing people. The good citizens of Kalifornia thought Fienstien was so brilliant they went on to elect her to the Senate. Way to go Kalifornia!!
I've told my wife you need to be able to transition from gun to club in seconds. Definately have to make adjustments with kids around.
i dont keep any of my guns loaded. for some reason, my dad wont let me. he absolutely REFUSES to tell me why. theyre in a keypad entry safe about 8ft from my bed. but i hav an open box of 20ga shells and 12 rounds of .357 sitting in one of the shelves and i periodically test myself to see how quickly and efficently i can make it to my weapons and load them. sometimes i practice with the .357 and sometimes with the scatter gun. drill and practice is extremely important if you're serious about home defense.
Good Lord yes they are loaded. Loaded and stashed around my house so I don't need to run around looking for one. I grew up in a house with guns and was instructed to keep my hands off as a child and taught how to use them as soon as I could prop one up.
I always kept several guns loaded around the house, until I had children. Now with a 3 yr old running around I just can't do that. Hard compromise to make. Now I keep my H&K .45 in one of those lock boxes with the finger slots next to the bed.
All my weapons are loaded & chambered. My carry weapon is my home defense weapon. weapons not being carried are locked in safe. In my home & on my property I always carry.
Unloaded weapons are obviously useless. The only debate I have is to put one in the chamber or not. I decided to carry +1 and leave the shotty without for HD (assuming here I have time to rack a shell in place but our nightstand gun is always chambered and ready). To be honest with no kids I think we should have one ready at all times. No kids, keep em loaded...
There is a loaded gun in every room. I live in an area where home invasion is a great possibility. If the grand kids come by the guns are locked up but I carry. I am blessed that all my grand kids are well versed in guns and gun safety. Two of my grand kids live with guns daily; their mother is an LEO. Loading...