How many is TOO many?

tjhands · January 26, 2005, 03:09 PM

Up until a year ago I had only a Mossberg 12 gauge with 00 buckshot as my home defense gun. Then I bought a Taurus 24/7 9mm for target shooting, so I now keep that loaded next to the bed and I have the shotgun on the landing next to the front door. -I should include that I am unmarried, with no children....my girlfriend is the only person in my house on a regular basis. Never any kids in the home.-
I just bought a Ruger P97 .45 ACP last week, and figured that since I have it, I may as well keep it loaded in the basement. My girlfriend is well-practiced with handguns but she is laughing at me, calling me paranoid by having all these loaded guns on every level of the home. I rationalize that since you never know where in the house you will be when a "situation" arises, it's best to employ all of my guns at strategic locations throughout the house. She jokes that "if you get the .38 you want, you oughtta velcro it to the wall in the shower....just in case." Funny woman.

Bottom line: am I paranoid or prudent?

U.F.O. · January 26, 2005, 03:14 PM

"velcro it to the wall in the shower"...........hmmmmmmm. Not a bad idea......

U.F.O.

reildeal · January 26, 2005, 03:21 PM

are any of these weapons in plain sight? Wouldn't want a BG to find one if he broke in, like maybe that shotgun.

knightkrawler00 · January 26, 2005, 03:24 PM

I think it would be best to keep the loaded guns in a secure location and carry something on you wherever you go. This is where the velcro in the shower would come in handy.

What if somebody breaks into the house through the front door? That shotgun is going to be the first thing that they see, now they are better equipped that you are with a handgun. There is no sense in arming an intruder that may have not been in the first place.

Edited to add that reildeal got the submit button faster than I did.

HighVelocity · January 26, 2005, 03:31 PM

Guns that I have accessible have combination trigger locks on them. I have practiced getting the locks off until my fingers hurt. I can get one from a drawer, remove the lock and fire it in under 4 seconds. (practiced with snap caps) I preset the combination so even in the dark I know what to turn and how far to get the lock off. This way, if a BG gets to a gun he will not be able to use it for anything but a club.

CB3 · January 26, 2005, 04:14 PM

You are not paranoid. You are on the right track for arming yourself for home defense, just terribly misinformed or misguided.

I fail to see the wisdom of keeping any gun near an obvious point of entry for a criminal. If I were that bad dude, upon breeching the door and seeing a valuable commodity like a shotgun sitting there, I would grab it and be gone with a big smile, saying, "That was just TOO easy!"

I'd probably be back a few days later to see what else this homeowner has left lying around--especially after verifying that he left the dwelling 10 minutes before.

Locking up guns does not just mean someone can't fire them, it means someone can't STEAL them! Trigger locks are an absolute waste of time, effort and money. If you have enough $$$$ to buy three or four guns, you have enough $$$$ to buy a real safe or locking system that protects the whole gun and still allows it to be accessible.

I know this because . . . back in 1972 when I had a beautiful, new Beretta O/U shotgun and my grandmother's custom made English Churchill side-by-side (two sets of barrels, gold inlaid) 12 ga. shotgun securely hidden under the bed in my apartment, both were stolen. I lived on the third floor walk-up of an old home. The dude broke in the back stairs, alerting the elderly lady on the first floor who owned the home. By the time she got to the back door, he pushed past her leaving the home with my two custom gun cases. He had been upstairs about 1 minute. He was looking for things he could carry and fence. He got 'em. Never again!

I have loaded handguns in various lockboxes around my home. The 5-button Simplex locks allow quick access. The handgun I carry is for immediate use when surprised, or as a defense while I get to the similarly protected shotgun, which is not going to be placed where the BG is likely to be!

CB3

tjhands · January 26, 2005, 04:27 PM

Thanks, guys.

The shotgun is behind some "junk" on the landing, so unless a crook were looking for it he wouldn't find it. The .45 is on a rafter downstairs, the 9mm is in a drawer by the bed (obvious place, I know). Oh, and I forgot to mention the Beretta Tomcat (.32) which is usually in the bathroom.

Yikes, I'm forgetting my own guns.........maybe that answers my own initial question?

Thanks to some of your comments, I think maybe random guns laying around can be a definite liability.....

tjhands · January 26, 2005, 04:30 PM

CB3....didn't see your post. Thanks for the words; maybe a safe is in my future.

HighVelocity · January 26, 2005, 04:30 PM

CB3, trigger locks are not worthless. I have a 9 year old. I also have a safe and all the valuable hardware stays in there. I don't know what kind of safe you have but mine takes about 20 seconds to open and that is way to long in an emergency.

Para Bellum · January 26, 2005, 04:45 PM

I have two Glock 19s. One on my belt (24/7) one in my safe. Thats enough for me. I think I should be 100000% familiar with my gun in a defence situation. Thats why I don't even have two brands, systems or sizes (or external safties :barf: )

leaving guns all over the place might be a disadvantage. Imagine you surprising a burgler who already has put your home upside down. He confronts you with all of your 456889 guns at once.

FirstFreedom · January 26, 2005, 05:22 PM

Quote:

She jokes that "if you get the .38 you want, you oughtta velcro it to the wall in the shower....just in case."

Damn good idea! Tell her I said thanks, I'm going to use that one - with a nickely-plated gun of course. I can hardly think of time that you are more vulnerable than in the shower on on the pot.

seb5 · January 26, 2005, 05:25 PM

I, like many others I am sure , have enough training and experience to be competent with different action types. No biggie. I live in the country and have kids and a full gun safe. But I still have 3 firearms available by the 3 doors leading outside(or inside

). I'm not sure that a large number of guns has anything to do with paranoia. I buy them because I can and I WANT to. It's better than the stock market. Rock on.

XavierBreath · January 26, 2005, 05:28 PM

I have a couple of HD 12 gauges at either end of the house ready to go. To me, it only makes sense. My place is on bicycle hooks over closet doors (inside, of course). Unless you know it's there, you never see them, even if you open the closet.

Then, I have my carry gun of the day.

You are not paranoid, you are prepared.

U.F.O. · January 26, 2005, 05:30 PM

Ya know.....I was just thinking about what these two activities have in common:

Quote:

"I can hardly think of time that you are more vulnerable than in the shower on on the pot."

Exposed butt cheeks.
Maybe we can invent an adhesive where we can just stick the gun directly to our posteriors. A new mode of carry.....Cheek Carry. However, the toilet trick might make cleaning the gun a little dicey. :barf:

U.F.O.

tjhands · January 26, 2005, 05:51 PM

LOL

Hiney Holsters! You, my friend, are ONTO something.

LAK · January 27, 2005, 03:14 AM

Quote:

I rationalize that since you never know where in the house you will be when a "situation" arises

This is very rational and logical. Wear one when you are at home. Handguns are designed to be carried or kept at hand at all times, a long gun being the weapon of choice if you know trouble is at hand. The handgun is the weapon of convenience.

Nothing wrong with having others stashed around the house, but do not forget where they all are, and don't count on being able to get to any of them if trouble unexpectedly comes your way.

qfadder · January 27, 2005, 04:39 AM

Why have the .38 in the shower? I keep mine in the safe.
I keep the Remington 870 Marine Magnum in the shower.

Ozzieman · January 27, 2005, 05:58 AM

To get hold of one.
I keep two guns loaded in the house. One is a 12 gage hidden in a closet. Its on a rack that I made above the door and easy to get.
Granted if some one is in my bedroom it will be hard to get, but if some one sets off the alarm breaking into the house, he will be the recipent of numerious little balls of lead.
My carry gun is always within 30 of where I am standing.
A shower gun, I think that might be going a little to far, but not nessessarly a bad idea, depended on where you lived.

LAK · January 28, 2005, 03:17 AM

A speargun is really handy when you're in the tub - just make sure you observe the Four Rules

beenthere · January 28, 2005, 10:49 AM

There's never enough. I'll date myself now. I was looking at my wife knitting the other day and she was knitting scarves for the girls for Christmas. They were all done with a #6 needle so I asked her "why do you have short, medium and long needles and some plastic, others aluminum and a couple pairs with a plastic rope connecting them". I was told they work different for different yarns etc.

Works for me! Now it's "Yes, I know it's another 357, But this one is a long barreled single action" I'll let you know how long that works.

HAWKIN · January 28, 2005, 03:11 PM

If you are seriously asking...

I would say that you are displaying characteristics that may indicate that require your settling yourself down right now.

1. Are you living in a high risk situation that reliable and constantly demonstrates to you and warrants this behavior? In other words..at night do you here doors being broken down and dwellings being forceably entered?

2. Have you any idea of what it really means to engage with a predator in an armed response? Are you really capable of it? Based on what I'm reading I would say you haven't and may be mistaking one all-time carry weapon with some less rational run-to-my-double-secret-hideaway-gun concept.

I get up, I get dressed, I get armed, I go to work, I practice, I don't risk others with loaded weapons laying around, I don't arm suspects by letting them gain access to my weapons.

Yes, I would say you need to sit yourself down and ask yourself some important questions. But only...if your seriously asking. If your not....your girl friend is seriously at risk and needs to buy more guns.

dfaugh · January 29, 2005, 08:26 AM

I'm never more than 20 feet from a gun....I do NOT keep then loaded, however they are all magazine fed, and the magazines are close to the gun. Both the guns and magazines are semi-concealed.

I didn't buy any of them specifically so I was always close to one, but since I have 'em, I figure I'll just keep them strategically spaced about the house....

I don't worry about them being stolen, that's what the 5 German Shepherds are for!

too many choices!? · January 29, 2005, 09:40 AM

speeking of which I think it is time to go to Wall Mart

lol

abelew · January 29, 2005, 10:18 AM

Unless you work for the CIA, or some other clandestine organization, the chances of a daytime robbery of your home is next to nil. Yes, it may happen, but I am just curious when being prepaired becomes being paranoid of everything that walks on 2 feet? When are you going to start wearing tin foil on your head, and turning the thermostat up to 98.9deg so that the aliens cant see you with their thermal scope? Carrying a CCW I can see, but leaving guns all around your home seems to me, to be a detriment to your cause, BG could find and use, or prevent you from getting to them, through the safe in time. I keep mine handy near my bed at night (within arms reach, out of sight), because I know thats when most people will try to enter my house will choose. The rest of the day, I dont have a gun around me, except when I am in my car (for obvious reasons...I live in not so good part of town). Discretion is the better part of valor, and If I knew I was getting attacked, You know I would be prepaired, but untill that day, I choose to remain cautiously alert, and paranoia free.

hmchardy · January 29, 2005, 03:35 PM

Your home IS your castle and you should be able to relax in it. Instead of spending money on more hideout guns, spend some cash on security doors, securing your windows, planting mean thorny things around your windows, good lighting, putting in a burglar alarm, a good dog, things like that. That way, when you come into your home, you can take off your armour and relax. Being able to relax and stand down is extremely important for a warrior's mental health.

The whole idea is not to make your home impregnable, but to be able to give yourself time to prepare for an attack. Once the element of suprise is lost, home invasion is practically a suicide mission. Think about how the cops have to do it to be successful.

January 26, 2005, 03:09 PM	#1
tjhands Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2005 Posts: 1,718	How many is TOO many? Up until a year ago I had only a Mossberg 12 gauge with 00 buckshot as my home defense gun. Then I bought a Taurus 24/7 9mm for target shooting, so I now keep that loaded next to the bed and I have the shotgun on the landing next to the front door. -I should include that I am unmarried, with no children....my girlfriend is the only person in my house on a regular basis. Never any kids in the home.- I just bought a Ruger P97 .45 ACP last week, and figured that since I have it, I may as well keep it loaded in the basement. My girlfriend is well-practiced with handguns but she is laughing at me, calling me paranoid by having all these loaded guns on every level of the home. I rationalize that since you never know where in the house you will be when a "situation" arises, it's best to employ all of my guns at strategic locations throughout the house. She jokes that "if you get the .38 you want, you oughtta velcro it to the wall in the shower....just in case." Funny woman. Bottom line: am I paranoid or prudent?

January 26, 2005, 03:14 PM	#2
U.F.O. Senior Member Join Date: October 22, 2004 Location: TN Posts: 513	"velcro it to the wall in the shower"...........hmmmmmmm. Not a bad idea...... U.F.O. __________________ "But today you just read that the man was shot dead By a gun that didn’t make any noise But it wasn’t the bullet that laid him to rest was The low spark of high-heeled boys" ~Traffic - Stevie Winwood~

January 26, 2005, 04:45 PM	#10
Para Bellum Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2005 Location: right there Posts: 1,882	one, two I have two Glock 19s. One on my belt (24/7) one in my safe. Thats enough for me. I think I should be 100000% familiar with my gun in a defence situation. Thats why I don't even have two brands, systems or sizes (or external safties :barf: ) leaving guns all over the place might be a disadvantage. Imagine you surprising a burgler who already has put your home upside down. He confronts you with all of your 456889 guns at once. __________________ Si vis pacem - para bellum If you want peace - prepare for war

January 26, 2005, 05:25 PM	#12
seb5 Senior Member Join Date: November 28, 2004 Location: NW Arkansas Posts: 477	I, like many others I am sure , have enough training and experience to be competent with different action types. No biggie. I live in the country and have kids and a full gun safe. But I still have 3 firearms available by the 3 doors leading outside(or inside ). I'm not sure that a large number of guns has anything to do with paranoia. I buy them because I can and I WANT to. It's better than the stock market. Rock on. __________________ Home is where you dig it

January 26, 2005, 05:28 PM	#13
XavierBreath Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 2002 Location: North Louisiana Posts: 2,800	I have a couple of HD 12 gauges at either end of the house ready to go. To me, it only makes sense. My place is on bicycle hooks over closet doors (inside, of course). Unless you know it's there, you never see them, even if you open the closet. Then, I have my carry gun of the day. You are not paranoid, you are prepared. __________________ Xavier's Blog

January 26, 2005, 03:21 PM	#3
reildeal Senior Member Join Date: December 11, 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 115	are any of these weapons in plain sight? Wouldn't want a BG to find one if he broke in, like maybe that shotgun.

January 26, 2005, 03:24 PM	#4
knightkrawler00 Senior Member Join Date: May 28, 2004 Location: Prosser WA Posts: 103	I think it would be best to keep the loaded guns in a secure location and carry something on you wherever you go. This is where the velcro in the shower would come in handy. What if somebody breaks into the house through the front door? That shotgun is going to be the first thing that they see, now they are better equipped that you are with a handgun. There is no sense in arming an intruder that may have not been in the first place. Edited to add that reildeal got the submit button faster than I did.

January 26, 2005, 03:31 PM	#5
HighVelocity Senior Member Join Date: January 1, 2005 Location: DFW, TX Posts: 220	Guns that I have accessible have combination trigger locks on them. I have practiced getting the locks off until my fingers hurt. I can get one from a drawer, remove the lock and fire it in under 4 seconds. (practiced with snap caps) I preset the combination so even in the dark I know what to turn and how far to get the lock off. This way, if a BG gets to a gun he will not be able to use it for anything but a club.

January 26, 2005, 04:14 PM	#6
CB3 Member Join Date: December 27, 2004 Location: Utah Posts: 39	Gun positioning You are not paranoid. You are on the right track for arming yourself for home defense, just terribly misinformed or misguided. I fail to see the wisdom of keeping any gun near an obvious point of entry for a criminal. If I were that bad dude, upon breeching the door and seeing a valuable commodity like a shotgun sitting there, I would grab it and be gone with a big smile, saying, "That was just TOO easy!" I'd probably be back a few days later to see what else this homeowner has left lying around--especially after verifying that he left the dwelling 10 minutes before. Locking up guns does not just mean someone can't fire them, it means someone can't STEAL them! Trigger locks are an absolute waste of time, effort and money. If you have enough $$$$ to buy three or four guns, you have enough $$$$ to buy a real safe or locking system that protects the whole gun and still allows it to be accessible. I know this because . . . back in 1972 when I had a beautiful, new Beretta O/U shotgun and my grandmother's custom made English Churchill side-by-side (two sets of barrels, gold inlaid) 12 ga. shotgun securely hidden under the bed in my apartment, both were stolen. I lived on the third floor walk-up of an old home. The dude broke in the back stairs, alerting the elderly lady on the first floor who owned the home. By the time she got to the back door, he pushed past her leaving the home with my two custom gun cases. He had been upstairs about 1 minute. He was looking for things he could carry and fence. He got 'em. Never again! I have loaded handguns in various lockboxes around my home. The 5-button Simplex locks allow quick access. The handgun I carry is for immediate use when surprised, or as a defense while I get to the similarly protected shotgun, which is not going to be placed where the BG is likely to be! CB3

January 26, 2005, 04:27 PM	#7
tjhands Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2005 Posts: 1,718	Thanks, guys. The shotgun is behind some "junk" on the landing, so unless a crook were looking for it he wouldn't find it. The .45 is on a rafter downstairs, the 9mm is in a drawer by the bed (obvious place, I know). Oh, and I forgot to mention the Beretta Tomcat (.32) which is usually in the bathroom. Yikes, I'm forgetting my own guns.........maybe that answers my own initial question? Thanks to some of your comments, I think maybe random guns laying around can be a definite liability.....

January 26, 2005, 04:30 PM	#8
tjhands Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2005 Posts: 1,718	CB3....didn't see your post. Thanks for the words; maybe a safe is in my future.

January 26, 2005, 05:51 PM	#15
tjhands Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2005 Posts: 1,718	LOL Hiney Holsters! You, my friend, are ONTO something.

January 27, 2005, 04:39 AM	#17
qfadder Junior Member Join Date: January 4, 2005 Posts: 6	.38 in the shower? Why have the .38 in the shower? I keep mine in the safe. I keep the Remington 870 Marine Magnum in the shower.

January 27, 2005, 05:58 AM	#18
Ozzieman Senior Member Join Date: December 14, 2004 Location: Northern Indiana Posts: 6,117	Paranoide, NAW but I would worry about some one that you wouldnt want handling a gun To get hold of one. I keep two guns loaded in the house. One is a 12 gage hidden in a closet. Its on a rack that I made above the door and easy to get. Granted if some one is in my bedroom it will be hard to get, but if some one sets off the alarm breaking into the house, he will be the recipent of numerious little balls of lead. My carry gun is always within 30 of where I am standing. A shower gun, I think that might be going a little to far, but not nessessarly a bad idea, depended on where you lived.

January 28, 2005, 03:17 AM	#19
LAK Junior member Join Date: May 14, 2002 Posts: 2,251	A speargun is really handy when you're in the tub - just make sure you observe the Four Rules

January 28, 2005, 10:49 AM	#20
beenthere Senior Member Join Date: November 16, 2004 Location: NE Indiana Posts: 460	How many is too many There's never enough. I'll date myself now. I was looking at my wife knitting the other day and she was knitting scarves for the girls for Christmas. They were all done with a #6 needle so I asked her "why do you have short, medium and long needles and some plastic, others aluminum and a couple pairs with a plastic rope connecting them". I was told they work different for different yarns etc. Works for me! Now it's "Yes, I know it's another 357, But this one is a long barreled single action" I'll let you know how long that works.

January 28, 2005, 03:11 PM	#21
HAWKIN Senior Member Join Date: January 26, 2005 Posts: 132	If you are seriously asking... I would say that you are displaying characteristics that may indicate that require your settling yourself down right now. 1. Are you living in a high risk situation that reliable and constantly demonstrates to you and warrants this behavior? In other words..at night do you here doors being broken down and dwellings being forceably entered? 2. Have you any idea of what it really means to engage with a predator in an armed response? Are you really capable of it? Based on what I'm reading I would say you haven't and may be mistaking one all-time carry weapon with some less rational run-to-my-double-secret-hideaway-gun concept. I get up, I get dressed, I get armed, I go to work, I practice, I don't risk others with loaded weapons laying around, I don't arm suspects by letting them gain access to my weapons. Yes, I would say you need to sit yourself down and ask yourself some important questions. But only...if your seriously asking. If your not....your girl friend is seriously at risk and needs to buy more guns.

January 29, 2005, 08:26 AM	#22
dfaugh Senior Member Join Date: January 17, 2002 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 1,715	From anywhere in my house 2 up, 2 down I'm never more than 20 feet from a gun....I do NOT keep then loaded, however they are all magazine fed, and the magazines are close to the gun. Both the guns and magazines are semi-concealed. I didn't buy any of them specifically so I was always close to one, but since I have 'em, I figure I'll just keep them strategically spaced about the house.... I don't worry about them being stolen, that's what the 5 German Shepherds are for! __________________ "If you Listen to Fools, the Mob Rules" "No one has the answer, but one thing is true. You'e got to turn on evil, when its coming after you. You've gotta face it down,and when it tries to hide, you've got to go in after it, and never be denied. Time is running out...Let's roll. Let's roll for freedom, let's roll for love. We're going after satan, on the wings of a dove. Let's roll for freedom, let's roll for truth. Let's not let our children grow up fearful in their youth."

January 29, 2005, 09:40 AM	#23
too many choices!? Senior Member Join Date: December 19, 2004 Posts: 371	If you have more guns in the house than underwear you might have too many... speeking of which I think it is time to go to Wall Mart lol

January 29, 2005, 10:18 AM	#24
abelew Senior Member Join Date: November 29, 2004 Location: Florida Posts: 778	Over-paranoia Unless you work for the CIA, or some other clandestine organization, the chances of a daytime robbery of your home is next to nil. Yes, it may happen, but I am just curious when being prepaired becomes being paranoid of everything that walks on 2 feet? When are you going to start wearing tin foil on your head, and turning the thermostat up to 98.9deg so that the aliens cant see you with their thermal scope? Carrying a CCW I can see, but leaving guns all around your home seems to me, to be a detriment to your cause, BG could find and use, or prevent you from getting to them, through the safe in time. I keep mine handy near my bed at night (within arms reach, out of sight), because I know thats when most people will try to enter my house will choose. The rest of the day, I dont have a gun around me, except when I am in my car (for obvious reasons...I live in not so good part of town). Discretion is the better part of valor, and If I knew I was getting attacked, You know I would be prepaired, but untill that day, I choose to remain cautiously alert, and paranoia free. __________________ "Where the choice is between only violence and cowardice, I would advise violence." ~ Mohatma Gandhi

January 29, 2005, 03:35 PM	#25
hmchardy Junior Member Join Date: January 20, 2005 Posts: 11	Your home IS your castle and you should be able to relax in it. Instead of spending money on more hideout guns, spend some cash on security doors, securing your windows, planting mean thorny things around your windows, good lighting, putting in a burglar alarm, a good dog, things like that. That way, when you come into your home, you can take off your armour and relax. Being able to relax and stand down is extremely important for a warrior's mental health. The whole idea is not to make your home impregnable, but to be able to give yourself time to prepare for an attack. Once the element of suprise is lost, home invasion is practically a suicide mission. Think about how the cops have to do it to be successful.