[hermanpj]

I view my handguns that are outside the safe as my first line of defense until i can get to the safe, which is nearby but not in the bedroom... so yes i keep loaded weapons in the safe. In the event one of them was needed, it would be foolish to count on having time to unlock the ammo locker, select the appropriate rounds for the situation, load magazines, and so forth. all weapons i keep loaded are tagged with a 3 inch by 2 inch red warning label that tells me unequivcoably which ones are loaded, and of course i always consider every gun to be loaded in the manner of how i handle them.

I do hear the arguments on fire safety and i don't have a response. I Have to think on that but right now i still feel that the benefit of having higher capability weapons at the ready outweighs the risk associated with fire, and realize firefighters may have to watch it burn in order to avoid risk. Tough call.

On the point as to some guns outside of the safe being loaded, but not having any guns in the safe loaded due to small kids around, i dont get that. All of my guns are in some form of a safe or another. i have 2 young children in the home so if i feel safe having handgun safes with loaded weapons why would one feel unsafe having a standing safe that has loaded guns in it? If the concern is forgetting which ones are loaded, tag them as i describe above of course always treat everything like it is loaded, check and check again and again... anyway, my point was i didnt get what the link was to having kids around or not. you either have crossed the bridge where you are going to have loaded guns in your home, or you have not.