[Samurai]

You want to balance safety against accessability.

If you have children, you might not want to keep a loaded gun around. (And, it depends on the specific children. Are they curious by nature? Have they been taught safety?)

If you live alone, and children never come over, you can go more toward the "accessible" side, cocked and locked.

My fiance lives in a college town (major problems with home invasion are drug-money seekers), and she keeps hers by the bed, with a full mag, but unchambered. Her apartment is small enough that she won't "give away her position" by racking the slide (they'll know instantly upon entering where she is; there are only two rooms!), and the noise might just scare away an intruder without leading to a big shootout.

I keep mine in a top dresser drawer beside the bed, cocked and locked.

It's a judgment call, and it's a personal decision. You have to do what's right for you.