Where do you keep your handgun at night?

[joeseabee]

I got one with a push button combination lock for my dad. Basically you feel for the hand outline and push the correct sequence of buttons and it pops open. Got it for when all of the grandkids go to his house.

At my place, my ccw weapon goes on the dresser at night with the flashlight and cell phone. My kids have been around guns their entire life and know the rules. Whenever their friends come over, everything goes into the armory...

[EL34]

My loaded 6" 357 stays in the middle drawer of my bedside nightstand, barely covered with socks, with the grip positioned for instant access. My wife has the same setup on her side. The kids are grown and gone so there are none of those concerns. It's impossible to describe the comfort/confidence when pulling either one as a part of investigating an unusual nightime noise.

Bill

[Stevie-Ray]

Right next to me on the nightstand. For a great many years, now. Also a flashlight and E-muffs.

[Puntmefar]

my area isnt persay bad but we have our share of shootings and a house or 2 raided in the past 3 years and for those reasons i keep my Glock unloaded on the end table by the bed loaded mag out of the gun near it but not with it. i have a 2yr old in my home so i dont keep it loaded unless its on my hip. at night it can b ready to fire just by slaping the mag in releasing the slide.

[chatman_55]

Probably gonna get chewed out for this one. When alone i keep my glock with clip and nothing in the chamber under my pillow, when the gf is over I keep it on the floor next to the bed as I do not have a night stand atm.

[orionengnr]

Right next to the bed, on the floor next to the nightstand. As soon as I open my eyes I can see the three green eyes that never sleep...the night sights of my 1911.

[cubesmoothie]

Loaded 20 gauge by my bedroom door if I have to get up but my 357 and flash light is on my bedside table. Everything else is put away.

Thats how us real men do it. But instead of a .357 my pistol is a .40 smith and weakling.

[earlthegoat2]

I guess I am one of those guys that falls into the category of being "prepared" as opposed to "paranoid."

I have two primary carry guns. They are a Smith Model 60 and a Browning Hi Power.

Whether I carry it that day or not the Hi Power goes on the tabletop of the nightstand next to an LED flashlight. The significant other has a Smith Model 38 on the table on her side. I keep the Model 60 in my top drawer of my dresser for the night on the off chance I need a NY reload.

The following morning I will hang out in my sweatpants for a little while and during this time I will have stashed the 60 or the Hi Power (whichever one I am not carrying that day) in an accessable but hidden location (unlocked). I then carry the other one arround the house with me with the gun in its holster until I put on some real pants (sigh) and conceal it properly.

I am working on modifying my Mossberg 20 gauge to fit an HD role

[LafeHubert]

My wife went to spirit a few years ago, so, living alone with no children around, I am careful these days. I keep a 1911 .45 ACP on the headboard and a 12 ga. Remington 870 that's been given the full Scattergun Tech treatment leaning against the nightstand; both firearms have loaded magazines and empty chambers. I keep extra ammo, a KABAR, my cell phone and Surefire light in easy reach, and my bathroom is a "safe room". I have a really good alarm system on the doors and windows with motion detectors, and a second alarm system in the form of my female Border Collie/Chow mix that sleeps on the bed. NORAD would be hard pressed to come up with a better set of ears, and being jet black with a purple tongue she would be invisible to an intruder. I can sleep soundly because I live in a quiet little town, and have my dog, perimeter and weapons. I think all of those elements are basic and necessary. YMMV.

Good Luck!

[biohazurd]

I keep my 3 HD pistols on my stand to the right of my bed, they consist of my ruger gp100 6" revolver, my 1991 Gov't slightly modified, and my glock 17 with a 33 rd mag in it. as well as my 590 A1 leaning against the wall about 4 steps away and my AK up on the opposite corner of my room... I think im good to go. That and a 100+ lb doberman who would fight to the death to protect me, But at the same time shes the sweetest dog on the face of the earth...

[skydog1979]

I keep my Springfiled XD in a holster attached to the bed rail . I can reach to my right side and reach it while in bed, and with my attached light am ready to go in the dark

[semi_problomatic]

May not work for everyone, but I don't have kids so my sig p229 stays red direct on the night stand next to me with a surefire flashlight. When I leave it leaves with me. I live ON an Army base, with armed gate gaurds and fences etc etc... But I still keep a locked and loaded pistol within arms reach. Not in a safe, or drawer, or closet, but at hand. I also have 3 mags for this gun and rotate the loaded mag weekly.

[Shotgun Don]

I keep a 12 gauge beside the Bed leaning up against the wall....all i gotta do is pick it up

[CC1]

G19 with a TLR-1 light and extra 33 rnd mag loaded up with Golddots. I also have a little ankle biter in bed with me just in case it gets really dirty..

[Don P]

On the night table right next to me. No kids at home, just the wife and I.

[dmac2572]

I keep my S&W model 60 .38 special on top of the gun cabinet that's beside my bed along with a 3 cell mag light or a 1,000,000 candle power spot light. I've been thinking about loading my old J.C. Higgins model 20 12 gauge for backup and keeping it locked in the cabinet as well. The kids can't reach the top of the cabinet. Also they are about grown and have had the fear of God put in them about even thinking about touching my guns.

[Satanic Toaster]

I keep my revolver in the bedside table drawer and a mag-lite next to the bed.

[orionengnr]

I'm not sure you are getting answers to the question you asked, but here goes.

I have no kids at home but if I did, I would keep my pistol on/under the night stand and trust the door lock to keep them out while I was asleep.

If a legitimate intruder is in the area, my dogs will advise me of this fact.

[iiwas]

Sig 229 mag in but not chambered, in a holster slung over the bed post, rem 870 marine mag (1st rd skeet rest 00 buck) next to the dresser, in closet 2 ft from bed and opposite corner of room from door. windows on opposite wall, no kidies just a useless pug

[foghorn leghorn]

[GojuBrian]

I don't like leaving a gun laying on the nightstand. Who's to say you are going to wake up in time? The alarm can malfunction, if you have one, and the lazy dog may not care that night,lol.

My mattress has carry handles on the side. I simply put a holster there with my pistol in it and cover it with the sheet. Walah, concealed and easy access.

[TenRing]

I have small kids and I spent a lot of time trying to find the optimal gun location over the years. I have some decent spots but I'm not totally happy with any of them. My kids are at the age where they just started learning to shoot the BB rifles that they got for Christmas. I teach them gun safety and I am strict but kids these days are not like I was growing up and I am not the hard-arse that my dad was and maybe I should be, but that's another topic for another thread. Therefore, I don't always keep a handgun near my bed. However, I do keep a 12 gauge shotgun with tube light and stock-mounted ammo carrier in the top recess of an 8-foot high shelf in my bedroom. The chamber is not loaded and only I know it is there. Neither my wife or kids can reach that high and the shelf is hidden so it is not noticeable at all.

I bought an electronic GunVault about 5 years ago and I have been hesitating to use it because I don't know if I should trust the electronics in an emergency. Every now and then, I check it and it works fine even though the batteries are five years old. So I guess it's about time I started using the GunVault and changing the batteries on schedule with the smoke detector. I guess I'm over reacting but better safe than sorry and the shotgun can take down any threat.

I will probably mount the GunVault in the bottom drawer of the night stand with bolts and lock nuts. Since it could be stolen by simply pulling out the drawer, I will run a cable through it and secure it to bed frame via a small hole that I can drill through the back of the night stand. I could also mount it behind the bed using wall anchors and still cable it to the bed frame and it could be out of sight.

I don't like the idea of leaving a handgun out in the open on top of a night stand. Although it is accessible, if you get surprised or sleep too soundly or if the other security systems fail, the bad guy could be in the room and have easy access to the gun. Maybe that sounds too far-fetched for some people and maybe I'm over-thinking this but that's how I reason it out.

[brucey44]

12 gauge is under my bed, shells in the top drawer nightstand, and my .45 is in the top drawer of my dresser, clip is on the opposite side of the drawer. This is only for when I am home, if I go out I lock them up.
Oh and no kids at my house, and don't have any that come over.

[foghorn leghorn]

hey cousin brucey,
if there's no kids, why the overkill on the safety.
if its just me, I would just keep it at defcon 1, or else leave it in the safe.

Like a wise young gentleman at the range told me once, I don't have collector
guns, if I cant shoot them, I don't need them.

see if you can find the cryptic message there, grasshopper.

[m&p45acp10+1]

I have a holstered .41 mag Ruger Blackhawk haning on the bedpost. My M&P45 and Glock 26 are on top of the nightstand by the wall.