2nd Amendment food for thought

[HK4U]

I agree. I don't care how much I teach them, no way would I ever have loaded guns in the house with children unless they were locked away. No matter how much I teach them, you can't watch them 24 hours a day. Having loaded guns in the house while I'm gone and they're there would make me nervous. Besides, even now, I don't have any kids, and I still don't keep any of my guns loaded. In my case, what worries me about loaded guns is mice. Sure, I've been living in my apartment for well over a year now and have never seen a mouse, but what if? If a mouse is running around, isn't it quite possible that one could run over the trigger of a loaded gun, and you'll be wondering how in the world it discharged? The only time any of my guns is ever loaded is when I'm carrying it.

Don't know. I think that would take either a pretty strong mouse or a hair trigger'
Guns don't kill, mice kill.

[frank.macher]

I would never expect a mouse to be able to run over the trigger and set it off, that would have to be a really low trigger pull or one friggin big mouse...

I keep several loaded, I lock them up when others are over, including adults. I have several relatives I don't particularly trust that visit. When that happens, they all go into the safe except the one I'm carrying. Yes, I carry around them too.

My kids have all been trained too, but, as stated before, when I go off to work they are generally out of their ability to get to, fire safe that the wife has a key to, in the gun safe, lock boxes or trigger locked, etc.

I would really be delayed in reacting if I had to find the ammo, find the pistol, load and chamber... Bad setup for me good for the BG...

Another thing I always arrange for is the one avail at night has night sights on it to allow me to reference the sights, lord knows the fuzziness that comes from awakening from sleep can cause issue with target acquisition, I want to know I'm aiming where I believe I am. I do a lot of practice targetting at night after the kids and wife are in bed.

She kind of frowns on me pointing a pistol (even when I clear it and put the safety plugs in) at the TV, the picture frames, etc.

[kwo51]

My safe has pistol holders,six pistols with grips up ready to go. 2 home defense guns have mags in them but not all the way.At night safe is open I can grab gun seat mag rack slide and go.This and all house guns have lights installed.Shotgun in rifle rack just below in safe . Day time gun on side and safe on day safe key away from grandchild.She would love to shoot but only 3.

[tattedupboy]

Well, better safe than sorry, right? And what about pets? Sure the answer is probably to keep them in a safe, but then, you sacrifice accessibility. Since I don't have any kids, I don't plan on purchasing a safe any time soon, but even in the meantime, I just don't like the idea of keeping my guns loaded. Too many things could happen that could press the trigger and cause them to discharge.

BTW, before anyone says that an unloaded gun is useless, that is not true; this is true only if you can't chamber a round quickly, and I can. The only time any gun of mine is ever loaded is when I'm carrying it on my person outside the home.

[capo2186]

[QUOTE=tattedupboy;34398]Well, better safe than sorry, right? And what about pets? Sure the answer is probably to keep them in a safe, but then, you sacrifice accessibility. Since I don't have any kids, I don't plan on purchasing a safe any time soon, but even in the meantime, I just don't like the idea of keeping my guns loaded. Too many things could happen that could press the trigger and cause them to discharge.

I do agree with you on better being safe, than sorry.

I am sure you can chamber a round very quickly, not doubting that at all. However, my question is, in a situation where you have maybe seconds to react, how would being able to chamber a round quickly help, that alone can take a couple of seconds and by then may be too late. I am not saying leave loaded weapons around your house, I wouldn’t do that myself, but at night I do load my 500 with 00 buck shot and leave it in my safe, which is opened. The safe is right near my bed. All I have to do is aim and fire. Now I suppose if I did not chamber a round, I could simply leave the gun with rounds in the tube, and then chamber a round (making the great shotgun being loaded sound which I love).

Another question...

Do you leave your guns totally unloaded or just not one chambered? For instance, is your mag full and on your night stand out of the gun, or is it full and in the gun waiting for a round to be chambered? IMO these are two different things. If your mag is in your gun, I think that’s fine. I do however think that not having the mag at least in your gun is a mistake. Are you fast at chambering a round under pressure with your adrenalin pumping? Just something to think about. I am not flaming you by any means, just stating my opinions. Thanks and enjoy your day man!

[tattedupboy]

[QUOTE=capo2186;34459]

Well, better safe than sorry, right? And what about pets? Sure the answer is probably to keep them in a safe, but then, you sacrifice accessibility. Since I don't have any kids, I don't plan on purchasing a safe any time soon, but even in the meantime, I just don't like the idea of keeping my guns loaded. Too many things could happen that could press the trigger and cause them to discharge.

I do agree with you on better being safe, than sorry.

I am sure you can chamber a round very quickly, not doubting that at all. However, my question is, in a situation where you have maybe seconds to react, how would being able to chamber a round quickly help, that alone can take a couple of seconds and by then may be too late. I am not saying leave loaded weapons around your house, I wouldn’t do that myself, but at night I do load my 500 with 00 buck shot and leave it in my safe, which is opened. The safe is right near my bed. All I have to do is aim and fire. Now I suppose if I did not chamber a round, I could simply leave the gun with rounds in the tube, and then chamber a round (making the great shotgun being loaded sound which I love).

Another question...

Do you leave your guns totally unloaded or just not one chambered? For instance, is your mag full and on your night stand out of the gun, or is it full and in the gun waiting for a round to be chambered? IMO these are two different things. If your mag is in your gun, I think that’s fine. I do however think that not having the mag at least in your gun is a mistake. Are you fast at chambering a round under pressure with your adrenalin pumping? Just something to think about. I am not flaming you by any means, just stating my opinions. Thanks and enjoy your day man!

I agree with you that pets could also run around and run over a trigger, causing a loaded firearm to discharge unintentionally. That, however, is a moot point for me, because I'm not allowed to keep pets in my apartment.

When I say that my guns aren't loaded, I mean that the mags are full, but no round is chambered, and the safety is not on. Because it's likely that it'll be dark when I try reaching for my firearm in the event of a break-in, I want to be sure that if I unintentionally touch the trigger while fumbling around for it, that it won't discharge. I'm confident that I'll be able to chamber a round quickly enough to face the threat.

[capo2186]

[QUOTE=tattedupboy;35037]

I agree with you that pets could also run around and run over a trigger, causing a loaded firearm to discharge unintentionally. That, however, is a moot point for me, because I'm not allowed to keep pets in my apartment.

When I say that my guns aren't loaded, I mean that the mags are full, but no round is chambered, and the safety is not on. Because it's likely that it'll be dark when I try reaching for my firearm in the event of a break-in, I want to be sure that if I unintentionally touch the trigger while fumbling around for it, that it won't discharge. I'm confident that I'll be able to chamber a round quickly enough to face the threat.

With that said, I agree with you being able to chamber a round quick enough to face a threat. I was unclear on that before when I made my post.

[kwo51]

All my guns are loaded. This means even if I set a gun down in the safe unloaded and pick it up later I still treat it as loaded.Teach all people all guns are loaded until you have cleared it yourself.

[HK4U]

Any gun that is on me, beside me while watching T.V. or reading or on the nightstand while sleeping has a round chambered. I have only DBL action and DBL only autos. I do not own or carry a single action auto so there is no danger in having one in the pipe. It may take only a second to rack the slide but that second may be the difference between my life or death. When you are dealing with a criminal most of the time your are already behind the curve. He knows what he plans to do and probably has his gun on you already. You are workiing from a disadvantage. By the way the DPS officers here in Texas that teach the CHL Instructors course recommend having a round chambered.

[wuzfuz]

I have to agree totally with Bubba. I was a corporal for a sheriff's dept in Arizona, and to get from one side of our district to the other took over half an hour running code. Our nearest back-up was often an hour away. When asked I re-affirmed that a citizen has an absolute right to defend oneself, and that the police were even realizing they could not protect everyone. It is so true: 911 - When Seconds Count, the Police are minutes or More Away. High five, Big Bubba.