To rack or not to rack.....

[Bullrock]

pull the gun under your bed covers and rack it there it wont take much time at all.

And shoot my wife in the leg if it catches in the bedding on the way out from under? I don't think so!

If you're not going to prepare a gun for bedside HD, then why keep one!

[Topthis]

Oh..you are all talking about Racking your guns!!! My bad!!

[stephen426]

Originally Posted by johnnymenudo

I am not going to give them any information that they can use against me. Yelling you are armed is giving then information that they can use against you, and in fact more or less tells them that:1) I have guns, come back another time and take them when I am not home 2) if you can kill me you can take my guns now.

JM

Johnny,

I am looking at this from a liability standpoint. If call 911 and yell that I have a gun and will use it if necessary, there is a much lower chance that I will be prosecuted and a much lower chance of losing a civil case from the deceased scumbag's family. Yes, he may return but that can happen anyways. You might be thinking if you kill him, he won't return. I think killing someone, even in self defense will complicate your life much more than want. I would do it without hesitation if my life or my family's lives are in danger. As for him taking your guns if he can kill you, I don't think stealing guns are that high on the priority list for robbers. Fencing stolen jewelry or electronics is much easier since there are no serial numbers to be verified.

Here is what to do if you are concerned about being broken into again and having your guns stolen. Unless you are home all the time, you can get broken into. Smart criminals can knock on your door and pretend they are lost if someone answers. Why risk getting shot? This is why I am very leery of door to door sales people (unless they are cute little kids with cookies!) Get a good alarm system that is monitored by the central station. Set up a neighborhood watch if you live in a bad area. Reinforce your house to minimize easy access points. Get a big dog. This will do the trick for most criminals. If you have a professional after you, stick you head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbbye. They can watch you for a while and monitor your patterns. Then when you least expect it, you get a .22 in the ear from close range or you get sniped as you are walking out your front door.

For an intruder other than a typical robber (rapist, murderer, druggie) you may have to shoot them. It is much easier to shoot them with a loaded weapon than an unloaded one. Announcing the police are on the way and that you have a weapon may make them choose another victim (except for the druggie).

[spacemanspiff]

have you been consuming drinks at the bar TODAY, Spaceman?

including the liquid lunch?

[Dwight55]

TJ, . . . put yourself in the shoes of the intruder. Remember, you are a thief, a rapist, perhaps a murderer, a meth-head, . . . in other words: you are not a normal person. Non-normal persons don't act/react like normal people do.

Normal persons hear a 1911 or an 870 go "slip - slide" and their first inclination is to find somewhere else to go to: now. These other people are either there to rob, rape, or worse.

Yes, . . . they "may" elect to leave, . . . but if they don't, . . . you have revealed your position, the fact that you are alert, you are alert to them, and you have a gun or two.

I don't plan on doing any such thing, . . . my plan is that when the bg is coming into the premises, . . . my wife is in the bathroom on the cell phone (we keep it unplugged, turned on, and the security lock is off at night), . . . I am sitting beside my bed on the floor with my 1911 covering the obvious door to our bedroom, . . . and anyone who comes into that bedroom may only hear the 1911 safety going off, . . . if they even hear that. I will probably scream at them when they open the door, . . . or otherwise breach the opening, . . . but that is the signal for my wife to get down low in the shower just in case the lead starts flying.

Get a plan, . . . walk through the plan with all family members, . . . make sure all know who does what, . . . when, . . . where, . . . how, . . . and where all meet up when the bullets quit buzzing.

Most importantly, . . . get a friend to walk it through with you, . . . you try to out think him by playing bg, . . . and vice versa. That is how you find the chinks in your armour and your plans.

May God bless,
Dwight

[OBIWAN]

I suggest a tape recording of you racking the slide along with the sound of barking dobermans.

Who needs a firearm

[tjhands]

Good advice everyone. Thank you, Dwight.

OBIWAN, nice suggestion! How about I tape some loud music with people partying and laughing, and then have a voice say, "welcome, friend! The beer is in the fridge downstairs! Help yourself!" Then when he goes downstairs, I push the button for the trapdoor. He falls into my pit, then I can torture him Silence of the Lambs style! "It puts the lotion in the basket...."

[Any .45]

Cocked and Locked, always ready to Rock

[stephen426]

I hate to do this but lets complicate the situation further. I'm sure at least a few of you on this forum have kids. If your kids are in their rooms, you will need to give away your position when you go and check on them or move them to the safe room. Accidents happen when people fail to check on the kids first and then end up blasting them. It almost happened to me a long time ago.

I heard some noise downstairs very early in the morning. I checked my parents' and sister's room to make sure it wasn't them downstairs. I didn't check my other sister's room, which is connected to my room (she actually has to pass through my room to go downstairs) since I was actually awake for a little while and didn't hear her go downstairs. I am very lucky I was taught to keep the gun at low ready and my finger off the trigger. If not, I might have ended up shooting my little sis as she rounded the corner. CHECK TO MAKE SURE WHERE EVERYONE IS FIRST!!! If you are nervous and the adrenaline is pumping, you may just react and pull the trigger at anything that moves.

Another story but different sceanrio. A father shot and killed his daughter when she jumped out of the closet to suprise him for his birthday. She was away at school and came back for his birthday. He noticed things weren't the way he left them and he cleared the house. Had he announced he had a gun and that he had already called the cops, his daughter would probably be alive today.

Forget the whole tactical thing for a moment and use common sense please.

[Struckin Fuggle]

Empty chamber in a safe.

But my situation is a little different than any I read above.

The Kids: Boy 8 and a girl 11, both are familiar with my pistols and I've taught them gun safety. They sit with me sometimes while I clean. As my boy hasn't had an interest yet, neither shoots or has access to the guns.

The Wife: I love her, but prone to panic and not great in an emergency. She has access to the gun and knows how to use it in the event I wasn't home and there was a break in ... but no 'immediate' access like in the nightstand with one in the pipe. [/shudder]

A paperweight? You're entitled to your opinion but this setup is a happy medium between safety and defense for our family.

My wife can't wake up, see a dark shadow, panic and shoot my ass. If she has to enter a safe code and rack a round, she's awake enough not to cap me. And my kids can't have an ND 'showing off' to their friends.

The home is alarmed and we have a dog that sleeps downstairs. I expect a little notice and I, from a sound sleep, can have the gun out of the push button safe and a round chambered in less than five seconds. I know that to be true because I had the wife set off the alarm at 3am one morning to see how I'd do.

I couldn't agree more with the suggestion of an emergency response plan. We practice ours once every two months. There's a "Dad Home" version and a "Dad Away" version. In the event of an alarm, we scoot!

There is, I suppose, a trade-off for the security of the safe. A BG could bypass my alarm, sneak past my dog, float up my creaking stairs and be in a bedroom without waking me.

In which case it wouldn't matter if I had a round in the chamber or not.

Fire away with the what-ifs if you wish but you're pissin' in the wind. This is the deal that works best for us in our situation. I'm completely comfy with it.

[Dre_sa]

And shoot my wife in the leg if it catches in the bedding on the way out from under? I don't think so!

a little caution will work with my theory. i know in the 'heat of the moment' things might go wrong but try it out (practise i mean)

[kirkcdl]

Quote-"I am looking at this from a liability standpoint. If call 911 and yell that I have a gun and will use it if necessary, there is a much lower chance that I will be prosecuted and a much lower chance of losing a civil case from the deceased scumbag's family."

GOD,I'M GLAD I LIVE IN OREGON!!

[redhawk41]

870 cruiser ready (no round chambered, safety on)
1911 cocked-n-locked

[Bullrock]

a little caution will work with my theory. i know in the 'heat of the moment' things might go wrong but try it out (practise i mean)

You are kidding? If you read my reply it's cocked and locked with 17 in the magazine, and 1 in the chamber, within arms reach, on my night stand. That way I don't have to practice not shooting my wife in the leg, and the BG is going to get taken down allot sooner.

BTW, what you do under the covers is your business, but I wouldn't trust the defense of my home and family to anyone's theory. You are kidding, right???

[OBIWAN]

TJ...SSSSHHHHH........We could market this

[Avid Concealer]

I always have one in the chamber whether I am carrying it or if it is in my home. My gun is DA and SA so I could just go DA for the first shot and I carry it uncocked for safety ; )

[chris in va]

One thing most people are not thinking about are the people such as myself that wake up after a weird dream and aren't quite out of the 'dream' just yet.

I like to think it takes a bit of conscious effort to rack the slide, and I certainly wouldn't trust myself with a 'ready to go' weapon sitting on my nightstand.

[NSO_w/_SIG]

LOL!
The way some of you sound you keep your guns locked and loaded and in your hands as you sleep. I can you see you now dosing off a min. then jumping up every few mins. and coming on target at the door. If it takes a second or so to get the gun in your hands from nightstand or whereever what is another 1/2 sec. to chamber a round.

I keep mine in my nightstand, mag in but not chambered.... if someone is already on top of me when I wake up then no matter what condtion my gun is it won't matter. I plan on having some kind of prior notification that I will need to use my gun before I actually grab it. If they are good enough to be in my room, past several locked doors, alarm, dog barking, with out me waking up then they can have me.

[Dre_sa]

what ever finds your remote bullrock.
thought the perpose of a site such as this was to discuss theories .
besides theories never work for anyone other than he who dreamed it up.

[Russ5924]

They do it in the movies all the time sometimes more than once have never seen a shell fly out yet But a BG in the house after you rack that pump and they are to stupid to run they get what they deserve, me I would be gone very fast

[InToItTRX]

I always have a round loaded in my gun. I don't want to take a chance, it takes enough time to pick up a gun and turn off the safety if your gun has one point and aim. Every second counts.

[oneeyeross]

My pistol is always loaded with one in the pipe.

My SO doesn't shoot my pistol...hand is too small and it bites her. But, she is HANDY with a 12 gauge.

[Topthis]

Well, I sleep with my guns cocked and loaded, one in each hand and one on each side of my head. Every single light in the house is on, my stereo blasts that crazy heavy metal stuff (so people think that I am not only home, but awake), I also glue my fingers to the triggers and I tape my eyelids open...that way I will always be ready for something!! I have even hidden loaded magazines throughout my house, along with Claymore mines...just in case my position is overrun. Oh yeah, to be even more clever...I sleep underneath my bed or sometimes in the closet. Gotta be ready! GOTTA be Ready!

[GunsnRovers]

To my mind, the biggest reason you can afford ti leave a shotgun cruiser ready versus a handgun is the manual of arms.

To rack the slide of a handgun, the pistol goes out action, your weak hand comes off the grip, and the weapon comes off target.

This is not the case with a shotgun. Once shouldered, you can rack the slide to chamber a round and fire without ever losing your sight picture or losing your firing position. It's a much quicker operation then racking a slide.

[tjhands]

LOL at Topthis.

I think this thread has just about exhausted itself. Thanks for the input everybody.