Multiple loaded guns in the house

[skoro]

what warzone do you reside in? ive never before in my life heard of someone breaking into someone elses house with any form of "assault" weapons in my community.

Probably most of you aren't aware of this, because for some reason, it never makes the national news reports that I see on TV or hear on the radio. But our "friendly" neighbor to the south has devolved into a chaotic war between rival drug cartels, and it's getting more violent and out-of-control all the time. I suppose it isn't news because it isn't happening in the good ol' USA (yet) and besides, the latest scoop on Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan has higher priority.

Being here in Texas, I'm a lot closer to this action and I can tell you that the Mexican government has thin odds of gaining the upper hand, largely because the rival drug cartels have bought and paid for factions of both the civil government and the military. So, this on-going drug war splits even the opposing combatants into rival camps. It's like a war within a war, and the numbers of people killed daily oftentimes eclipse anything happening in Iraq or Afghanistan.

How much longer do any of you think it will be before one cartel starts to gain the upper hand? When that occurs, where do you suppose the "losing" side will migrate to in order to carry on their business?

These drug gangs tend to use full-auto AK-47s and other assault-type weapons. Many bystanders and innocents have been killed and wounded in the crossfire. Kidnappings in Mexico have increased greatly.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lapl...iolence-c.html

So, do those travelocity ads touting low rates on airfare and motel rooms in Mexico still sound like a great getaway?

Seriously though, it's a terrible situation that's continually spiralling downward. And most of you probably have little idea. Keep in mind also that these drug cartels now have thousands of acres of drug crops planted and under constant watch in our national forests, far from the border. You may think that this is a problem only for the border states, but it certainly isn't. We're closer, but we're also more aware.

Like I mentioned in my previous post: be prepared.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/08/pot.eradication/

[fjk1911]

Google "home invasions". Google "Petit family Connecticut". Broad daylight invasion no less, three innocent females dead, house set on fire. Has caught on in this leftist state it seems - now a trend.

I live just off the I95 drug corridor, gated community on LI Sound. If you were BGs going to hit a house, would you hit mine or a dump? Very sophisticated alarm system including a driveway sensor, safe room, vault, and yes, loaded guns throughout the house. Cheapo Mossberg Nightwatch 12's at each bedside in a rack between mattress and boxspring covered by bedspreads, standardized Wilson 1911's with 8 shot mags plus one in pipe and spare mags strategically placed throughout house.

Call me (and my family - wife and three sons) paranoid. I call us prepared and aware and realistic. Calling 911 is just to get the bodies bagged imho or to report a vehicle accident.

No offense meant to anyone. We are just all different in different scenarios of life.

[CMichael]

I have my 12 gauge under my bed, a glock 19 under clothes in my wifes bedroom closet, a .22 revolver in my office and a 20 gauge in 1st fl laundry room closet .

[Dre_sa]

I keep my EDC on me at all times when at home. during the day, it's in my holster, at night when on the couch with my wife in our pajamas, I have it on the coffee table in front of me, when transitioning between rooms, I carry it in my hand.

I would not keep loaded guns stashed around for two reasons; my four year old son, and I don't want any possible intruder being more armed than they already are. They may be unprepared, but I am not...

[CMichael]

I have no kids, just a wife and a cat.

I don't want to risk being cut off from my guns when I need it most.

[BillCA]

Besides the Petit family, Google the name Byrd or Melanie Billings.
Or you can just start here and Google more if you want.

Multiple attackers armed with semi/auto weapons? All you have to do is watch this video to see that it's not necessarily an odd occurrance.

A layered defense is best but it cannot always protect your or give you the time to react. At best, it can provide some warning in time for people to reach safety.

Strategic arms placement around the house is only one option of many one can consider using. Obviously the dynamics of children (and/or their child guests) can change if/where/how you use this solution. In the video above, it only takes about 5 seconds for the all of the suspects to enter the garage of the victim. At least two breached the door into the home before the first shots were fired.

Reaching your gun box and getting it open in 7 seconds may be just barely in time. Have a friend start at your front door (unlocked) enter the house and move as quickly as he can through to the kitchen and bedrooms. Use a stopwatch and then realize how fast someone violently invading could do the same.

Larger homes with few people in them (i.e. retired persons, just one couple or a single person) means there is a chance that you may be separated from your normal HD gun at some point in time. Perhaps the worst possible time. say, when going into the living room to adjust the thermostat or tossing laundry into the dryer.

I used to scoff at a friend who kept a snubby .38 holstered up under the sink cabinet in his single bathroom. But guess where he was when someone kicked in his front door at 7am one morning? A former coworker's family had once been invaded. He kept a sheathed knife velcroed in the sofa cushions in case his hands were tied. A revolver was concealed close by as well.

Burglary / Homicide suspects often head for the kitchen. Knives there are easily obtained and are good weapons for intimidation or worse. Burglary suspects thus prowl the house armed and before leaving replace the knife so if the police catch them outside then may suffer only a lower felony charge (than armed burglary).

A Warning: The more guns you place around the house, the more effort it takes to safely maintain that system. Consider the ramifications of a burglary while you (and/or your spouse) are away from home. It requires time to gather all the guns up and lock them away and to then re-install them around the house each time you return. And you have to put each one back every time, lest you rely on one location in a crisis and find it missing.

Think about what a thug might want based on observing your house. Are all your vehicles newer models? Do you have a Lexus and a Mercedes? Are there ATV's and Jet Skis in the garage? Or expensive mountain bikes? All these could indicate someone who might have valuables to steal.

So what room are the likely to force you into for these valuables? Don't plan on being the first one into the bedroom even if your family is hostage. One person will likely inspect nightstand drawers, under pillows and dresser drawers. You're there to open safes or jewelry boxes.

[CMichael]

Also in a high panic and stress situation, I think it may be hard if not impossible to get the safe unlocked in time. Just remembering the combination might be very difficult.

[briandg]

You would have to see my house to understand the numerous loaded guns. 2 story and a full basement, with the front door opening into almost every area of the house. I keep one in the living room, in a closet by the door, master bedroom, upstairs office, basement office, and so forth. They are all concealed well enough.

The problem is, if someone comes into my front door, no matter where I am, I am completely cut off from the rest of the house. You can't move. You are either trapped upstairs or downstairs, or completely trapped and exposed in the ground floor rooms.

Without a gun right at hand, that ground floor is a trap. Period. the second floor and basement are at least defensible. Nobody, not no way, not no how, will make it either up or down the stairs in that home.

[CMichael]

I still have concerns what to do with my 12 gauge that I have under my bed.

That' may be an obvious place for an intruder to look for a gun...

Any ideas?

Obviously, it needs to be close to me.

[old bear]

On every level of the house there is a smoke detector, fire extinguisher, phone; and as I don’t like to wear a weapon, a loaded revolver. Additionally I will not answer the door after dusk without a revolver in hand. To answer the O.P's question NO.

[DiscoRacing]

Usually have three or four loaded handguns next to the bed...but they are all in the same place together, because that is where I keep them.

[Miketodd04]

I don't know about strategic placement but I have my edc near me during the day, than at night i keep it next to my bed, my wife has the .38 in the drawer and the shotgun ready to go in the closet.

[Malamute]

Not much home invasion around here that I've heard of. One happened a while back about halfway across the state, maybe last year, but the half wits that did it were caught quickly. I just keep everything loaded all the time, so I know whatever I pick up is ready to go. Critters are more likely to be a problem than people. The cloest neighbor came home a few weeks ago in the midle of the night to find a black wolf in his yard. I asked if he'd seen anything else, and he said he'd seen bear and Mt lion tracks in the yard.

Not much of a problem reaching a gun in my house, it's a one room cabin.

[Old Grump]

357 at bedside for immediate access, a loaded scoped 20 gauge pump loaded with turkey loads, (#4), and a short barreled 12 gauge semi-auto loaded with goose loads, (#3), by my bedroom door if I have to get up. No small kids in the house and when we have company with little munchkins that door gets locked. All 3 get shot often so they are known working guns with a fresh load of ammo in them.

[Nnobby45]

Are you concerned that a bad guy might find one and use it against you during a home invasion?

No. I'm concerned that, during a home invasion, I might be cut off from a weapon. That's why they're strategically placed so I can go in at least two directions and have access to a tool tht could save my life.

Not an expert, but It's my understanding that home invaders bring their own weapons, and that things happen very fast. Perhpaps they bust down the door and rush in, or try to con you in to letting them in by needing to use the phone, or even posing as cops. Once you open the door, they can then force their way.

Maybe you have them confused with burglars, although, there may be a fine line between a burglary and a home invasion. I don't think the words are interchangeable.

[OldMarksman]

If I'm home, I have one loaded gun--all I need.

I thought the same thing for decades---but then, I had not really thought about it much at all, until fairly recently.

It would have been all I needed--but only if I had been able to get to it in time (possibly in seconds) when I actually needed it.

A couple or three years ago, I read a review of the Charter Arms .44. The author mused about getting a second or third to stash somewhere 'in case' he couldn't get to another.

That opened my eyes. I had been keeping a gun near the bed since about 1964, and relying upon it.

I considered the layout of my house, the points of likely ingress, and the path to the bedroom for me and my wife from places we might be likely to be. I quickly realized that, for most contingencies, the gun in the bedroom would be useless. Why I had never thought that out before, I do not know.

I briefly considered the idea of placing guns in other places. My first thought was about added risk--risk of an accident and risk of theft. I was not concerned about the possibility of someone using it against me.

My second conclusion was that, for my particular situation and home layout, placing more guns around would be an ineffective and highly inefficient solution.

While I was wrestling with the problem, someone here posted a question about carrying while at home. Several people responded with comments about paranoia, and several said that they do just that. My initial reaction was to come down on the side of the former.

It took me a day or two to reason through it objectively.

[CMichael]

I completely agree. What if I hear a scream from upstairs from my wife where the intruder is, who happens to be in the same room with my firearms? I am screwed.

However, I now have a 20 gauge on the 1st floor, and I can defend her.

[ir3e971]

Your houses geography matters! I live in a split level. A kicked in front door means that you are in one of four quarters of the house. Two of those do not have exits, and require passing through the front entry way (where someone would access the house). So having a gun in each quadrant of the home means having the ability to access a firearm regardless of which section of the home you are in. Without multiple guns, you are cut off from a firearm in 75% of the house.

Also a burglar alarm is a big plus, it identifies where the window or door breaks.

In addition, I no longer have children at home. That would make me rethink this strategy.

Three years ago, there were a series of home invasions near here that involved kicking in the front door, and multiple assailants raced into the home. This made me rethink the single gun theory.

[dhowie]

Yes, I have loaded guns throughout my house. They are not "strategically" placed; rather, wherever I was the last time I handled them, that's where they are. Most are locked up in one of my safes. Probably twenty handguns in relatively plain sight, and a bunch of long guns in a vertical rack by the bed. I live alone, I'm middle-aged, and I'm not paranoid; I just don't give a s...

[BillCA]

There seem to be really 3 camps here.

1. Gun(s) in the bedroom/safe, secured or semi-secured.
2. Gun worn/carried or kept nearby inside one's own home.
3. Stragetically placed guns in different areas of the house, just in case.

Complacency is a problem we all face. We live in "nice" areas with few problems. Or we are confident our risks are low. Yet, when it happens, it often happens much faster than anticipated.

For those with guns secured, have someone 'randomly' set an alarm clock during a visit, so that it goes off sometime during your waking hours. If they're there when the alarm rings, invite them to follow you, screaming in panicked way to hurry up, move faster, etc. Any noise or screaming they want to interfere with your thinking. See how long it really takes you to acquire your firearm and be ready. A stop watch is handy for this too. Remember, you have to recognize what the alarm (sound) means, react to it, and obtain your weapon quickly.

If you're going to place weapons around the house, keep their locations consistent so you always know where they are located. I'd hate to run to a good location only to find I'd move the thing to some random place that I couldn't instantly remember under stress.

[DanThaMan1776]

I just keep my G17 loaded and in the closet. An AR mag is full in the safe as well. Some time in the near future I will upgrade to a Rem 870 to leave out at night.

[Edward429451]

You might think its a bad guy when it's really little Suzy.

Well what was little Suzy doing in my house, in this neighborhood, with a Quantam Physics book then? It was a good shot though right?

[CMichael]

That was funny.

[rdmallory]

I grew up with guns sitting next to every door. We lived in the country and we never knew when dad or mom would have to shoot a opossum out of a tree that the dogs have treed. Or kill a chicken snake in the chicken house.

Me and my sisters knew not to touch them. A 22Lr and a 12 gauge pump always for varmints. Except during deer season and the 30-06 would show up just in case that big buck shows up to eat out the the chicken pen. The coon dogs and Ginny hens kept the two legged kind on notice.

Doug

[booker_t]

Assuming you don't have kids around, you could always leave a nice shiny .44mag revolver out in plain sight, loaded HOT +P+ with a plugged up barrel.

Let 'em take it!!