Safest way to store and handle CCW guns at home

[OhioGuy]

I've read the advice that if you're concerned enough about a home invasion to have a loaded gun at home, then you should carry it on your person because it won't do you any good locked away in a drawer or a safe. That makes sense, and for now I'm not going to be carrying while at home. So I'm not looking at options for quick access to a ready firearm.

I already have a very secure pistol safe--a simplex unit made by V-Line that seems fairly well indestructible and unbreakable, so long as I'm not an idiot and forget to twist the knob when I close the lid (because it does not latch automatically).

So here's my situation--I have small kids in the home, whom I've taught the basic rules about "stop, don't touch, and go tell an adult" in case they ever see a gun in any location. The youngest is just turning four. Regardless, I don't ever want to risk anyone coming across a weapon that can lead to disaster. Until now it's not been a concern because the guns are in the safe, ammo is in a different safe in a different location, and never the twain shall meet. Now with my CCW license, I'll have to address the issue of having a loaded firearm at home, even if only briefly.

So what's the lower risk path?

My first option would seem to be to leave the gun loaded and always either on my person (holstered, obviously) or else locked securely. I could transfer the gun from my waist to the safe and back again without ever having to take it from the holster. This would eliminate the chances of any negligent discharge ever occurring when making the gun safe, or reloading. I've had the "four rules" drilled into me for a long time, but I still know that any time I handle an unholstered firearm there's a chance for error, however small. This way, I'd really only ever unload it when doing dry fire practice, etc. So the risk here would be in having a loaded gun away from me--locked, securely, but still loaded, and I've heard enough stories of disaster from friends/family who are doctors, nurses and paramedics to be absolutely paranoid about my own kids.

The other option would be to make the gun safe before it goes into the safe. That eliminates the loaded gun in the house, but it also means I'll be handling a loaded gun IN the house on a semi-regular basis. So I trade the risk of someone accessing the locked firearm, for the risk of myself making a blunder with a loaded firearm.

My brain computes the first option (handle it as little as possible, and keep it safely locked) as being lower risk. My gut still says that having a loaded gun in the house, even in an armored vault guarded by RoboCop, is somehow a risk to my family. Maybe that's a mental hangup, I dunno.

How have other people resolved it?

I've read a lot about negligence, and it seems the overwhelming number of accidents with small kids come when someone leaves a loaded gun unsecured in a place where "I never thought the kids would look." That certainly will never be the case here.

(And a related question...better to tell the kids where the safe is, and what's inside it...or keep it hidden? Again my brain says the first is better, but my gut gets queasy at the thought of them knowing where it is.)

[K_Mac]

Having a gun (or guns) locked securely in a good safe poses no threat, whether loaded or not. If you are going to lock up your defensive weapon there is no need to "make it safe." You have already done so by locking it in the safe! Removing it from the safe and then having to load it in a home defense situation, while under extreme stress, would be far more dangerous.

The better option is to have it secured on your person IMO. This may require a smaller weapon be carried while at home, but it eliminates the need to retrieve a gun when seconds count. In order to comfortably do this you have to carry, train and practice.

Telling the kids or not is a decision that only you can make. One last thought: Being concerned and careful with your weapons is the role of a parent, but don't buy into the idea that having a loaded gun puts you and yours at risk. With proper training and handling just the opposite is true.

[Doyle]

If you are worried about an accident "while handling" a loaded firearm you need to be aware that a significant percentage of home gun accidents occur while loading, unloading, and "cleaning" weapons. Like K_Mac said, locking it in your safe makes the gun "safe" - regardless of whether or not it is loaded. In my opinion, keeping it loaded makes it statistically more safe because you are eliminating the potential for trouble during the loading and unloading steps.

[kilimanjaro]

Put a lock on your hall closet and put your pistol in your coat, hang it up and lock it.

As an aside, I've never put a loaded gun in the safe, either learn to load and unload your weapon without discharging it, or never chamber a round before use.

[OhioGuy]

This article sure points to it being statistically less safe to frequently load and unload a firearm.

http://www.officer.com/article/10711...-or-inevitable

Frequently handling it seems to invite risk. Yes I KNOW how to safely load and unload a firearm without shooting it. I've done it hundreds of times at a range without ever having a slip up. But I'm still inescapably human and I get tired and distracted. Sometimes I get to work and don't even remember driving that morning because it's become so familiar and mundane.

[Oysterboy]

Don't expect kids to obey the rules. That's a mistake that can have a very bad outcome. I carry mine all the time in and out of the house.

If I were to lock up my gun it goes in a metal drawer of a metal desk with two locks.

[TheGunGeek]

Once I'm home and I won't be going out again I lock the pistol in the safe. Otherwise its on my person holstered and concealed. Make sure the safe cannot be opened by curious kids. This is the one nice thing about biometrics.

Regarding NGs the second part of the equation is deciding which gun to carry. For myself, I carry a DA/SA hammer fired gun and would only carry a SA/striker if it has a manual safety. When holstering my thumb is on the hammer. If there is any catching of the trigger you will feel this with your thumb well before its a danger. Everyone has a different opinion with pistol types, however in my opinion this is a good balance worth consideration.

[kraigwy]

The safest way to store a SD Pistol/revolver is on your person.

A self defense pistol/revolver is not a self defense pistol/revolver if its not accessible.

Its not safe if its accessible to anyone else.

I have three safe's and I believe it to be nearly impossible for a child (or anyone else) getting to my guns.

But I have my SD revolver in my pocket and I rather doubt anyone can pick my pocket without me knowing.

My SD revolver is also accessible to me, 24/7.

[TailGator]

Your head is giving you the right answer. More handling means more chances of an accident because it gives you more opportunities to make a mistake. If your safe is secure, your gun is secure in the safe. Changing the combination periodically may be wise if you think your kids might learn the combination. But you can dismiss the idea that a loaded gun when properly secured is a threat. A properly maintained firearm does not "go off" spontaneously.

[joe sixgun]

If I'm dressed my EDC is on my person. Always. At night it gets unloaded and placed on a high shelf but still accessible for HD. My grandchildren are still too small to rack the slide at this point. I will probably need a different plan in the future.

[shootniron]

What has changed?

I grew up in a house with guns in EVERY room...unsecured...never was anyone in our family, adults or children, killed with one of those guns.

And, all of my neighbors grew up the same way...all of them lived, too.

Must have been some kind of miracle.

[DT Guy]

An additional consideration is that loading and unloaded a semi-auto increases the risk of bullet set-back and burrs on the extractor groove; reloading the same cartridge repeatedly can impact reliability when the gun is used.

And I agree; it's safer to put a loaded gun in a safe (I actually leave mine in their holsters, assuming it's still going to be used as a CCW) rather than load and unload them over and over. It's hard to ND with a holstered firearm.


Larry

[jrothWA]

when my daughters came home from hospital.

I took appropriate steps to insure that I had a shotgun and 9MM available,
they were into H.S. and Jr. High before they found one. At that time they had gone thru Basic NRA Rifle and Jr., marksmanship training via 4-H.

I always explained to them that since I had firearms I wanted they to be familiar a safe with firearms and if they wanted to go further into shooting sports that was their decision, I would help not push.

Now they are out the door, the eldest has a Charter Arms Undercover and allowed me to stage a A-5 to try hunting were she lives.

The youngest has a LCP for her apartment.

Think and choose wisely.

[Doyle]

What has changed?

I grew up in a house with guns in EVERY room...unsecured...never was anyone in our family, adults or children, killed with one of those guns.

And, all of my neighbors grew up the same way...all of them lived, too.

Must have been some kind of miracle.

Yes it was. Your family was one of the lucky ones. MANY children and families were not so lucky. The fact is that a child's brain simply doesn't have the wiring to fully understand consequences and then make consistently good choices based on those consequences.

This is probably the only area in which I will side with the libturds - no unsupervised access by young children regardless of how much "teaching" they have had.

[colbad]

I think you are over analyzing the risk, but you know your abilities better than anyone on this site. I carried a gun daily for a living 30 years and simply took it out of holster and put it in quick access security pistol box (provided by agency) each night. Each morning would do mag check and loaded chamber check prior to holstering simply as part of my work routine. Obviously that requires a certain degree of handling, but quite honestly, if you can't do that with utter confidence you should not be ccw. Kids grew up seeing me wearing gun daily and no mystery to them as I taught them safety and to shoot early.

If you are not confident in yourself or abilities, do your unholstering, loading and pre-checks in a private room. I personally think you are more at risk of an AD by becoming complacent carrying it around the house. When I strap on, in my mind its "game time" and go immediately to a sort of yellow alert with a heightened awareness. When I'm laying on the couch, gun is secured but fairly available in box, but my mind is in relax mode.

Of course I do not live in an area where I have to worry about home invasion or someone kicking down my door. If I did, might have to rethink some of my SOP.

[P5 Guy]

What has changed?
I grew up in a house with guns in EVERY room...unsecured...never was anyone in our family, adults or children, killed with one of those guns.
And, all of my neighbors grew up the same way...all of them lived, too.
Must have been some kind of miracle.

Nothing has changed in many, a vast majority, of homes across the USA. All we are seeing is the media hyperventilating over an infinitesimal number of incidents; accidents in law abiding folks' homes. I feel that with a little digging many of these happen in homes of prohibited persons. This is just my gut intuition talking.

[FAS1]

At home I just pocket carry a .380. My primary HD gun is in a handgun safe mounted to my bed. It sits in a holster attached to the door and it is presented to you when you unlock it. Above the camera is a full size 1911 in the holster. These are sitting on the side of the primary when closed. Plenty of room for a CCW and spare magazines.

[Onward Allusion]

Wear it on your person in a good holster. Unless the kids you got are like Bamm-Bamm from the Flintstones, they're not going to be able to knock you over, smack you upside the head, and wrestle the gun away from you.

[Doyle]

All we are seeing is the media hyperventilating over an infinitesimal number of incidents; accidents in law abiding folks' homes.

I view 198 child age 0-11 accidental deaths and 461 child age 0-11 accidental injuries in 2016 as something significantly more than "infinitesimal". Simple solution - lock up your weapons unless they are under your direct control (i.e. on your hip).

[Koda94]

OhioGuy, I have the same situation as you. I grew up around guns and they were always unloaded and locked up. Now that I have my own house and kids its the same, because thats what I learned. But if you CCW every day, then all of a sudden your loading and unloading a gun every day and that adds additional risk of ND

You can choose to store the gun loaded in the safe, or load and unload it every day. The real question to ask is, who else has access to that safe? and if you have a keyed safe vs a combination?

If you have a keyed entry safe there is a risk the kids, or someone, can find the key. If someone else has approved access (regardless of key or combination entry), what is their training and do they expect to pick up a loaded gun from a safe? If any of this is a concern then do not store the gun loaded and secure the ammo somewhere else. If you end up having to load/unload every day then you can use the safe as the load/unload chamber or pin up a bullseye target on a wall or other location that a bullet would not penetrate thru or otherwise safe if you had a ND.

[FireForged]

In my own unique circumstance, there are no kids in the home and there are no codified storage requirements that I know of. I am not going to keep the house gun locked away.. it stays in the nightstand. As I have said many many times, if a troop of criminals can enter your home before you can casually arm yourself, you have obviously overlooked some significant security flaws. I am armed nearly all the time when out in public but I am not going to wear a gun at home. Others may feel differently and that is perfectly alright with me. Each person has their own set of circumstances and if kids are anywhere in the mix, an abundance of caution is usually a good idea.

[OhioGuy]

In my own unique circumstance, there are no kids in the home and there are no codified storage requirements that I know of. I am not going to keep the house gun locked away.. it stays in the nightstand. As I have said many many times, if a troop of criminals can enter your home before you can casually arm yourself, you have obviously overlooked some significant security flaws. I am armed nearly all the time when out in public but I am not going to wear a gun at home. Others may feel differently and that is perfectly alright with me. Each person has their own set of circumstances and if kids are anywhere in the mix, an abundance of caution is usually a good idea.

I still have a three year old who thinks it's funny to dig through the garbage. He needs to be protected from himself. So for the foreseeable future I will have things locked away carefully.

I figure that if someone kicks in my door to launch a home invasion, a gun locked up 10 feet away may not be of any more use than a gun locked away upstairs. Beyond arms reach, and really, I'm unarmed. I don't feel the need to arm myself at home for a variety of reasons and so my concern is to make sure that if a kid (mine, or someone staying in our home, etc) were to come across my weapon, that it would be quicker for him to turn 21 and go buy his own than to get mine out of its safe

[shootniron]

Yes it was. Your family was one of the lucky ones. MANY children and families were not so lucky. The fact is that a child's brain simply doesn't have the wiring to fully understand consequences and then make consistently good choices based on those consequences.

This is probably the only area in which I will side with the libturds - no unsupervised access by young children regardless of how much "teaching" they have had.

You have got to be kidding...I bet there was not a gun safe in my county in those days. No one locked up or "secured" guns in those days...no one...and there were not dead children everywhere.

However, there is a big difference in the quality of parents.

PLENTY of kids today, are raised with guns around...that are not in a safe or locked to the foundation of a house.

Matter of fact, all of my friends have guns...only 3 of them have a gun safe. The others just keep the guns unloaded. It ain't rocket science, with small children...control the ammo, you control the gun.

[Koda94]

You have got to be kidding...I bet there was not a gun safe in my county in those days. No one locked up or "secured" guns in those days...no one...and there were not dead children everywhere.

this chart shows that more kids died from guns in the past than today...


http://www.gunfacts.info/gun-control...dren-and-guns/