? for people with kids.

[Lurch]

I have a 10 year old daughter that knows enough about gun safety for me to feel comfortable around when we go to the range. I want to have a gun ready for unexpected guest and don't want to leave it in a desk draw that one of her friends may find. So I have a small safe that will keep the kids out, but that is about all. I really don't want to mount it to the wall or floor in my bedroom since any thief could easily just pull it out and I don't want to have to repair the walls or floor when we move.

So how does everyone else keep and gun ready to go for that unexpected knock at the door?

[Dunecrazzy]

I have a 9mm in the closet in a old coat next to the front door.

[Gunner]

I don't have kids and my dog knows better than to touch my guns.


Do you have a high place they can't reach?

[DD977GM2]

I keep a pistol on me when I am home. It either is within arms reach or in a holster on me.
I have a rifle next to me every where I go as well.
If you take the curiosity out of the picture, kids are rather responsible.
My 3 older kids' friends are used to me having a gun in sight. I tell them when they come to
my house, the rules about firearm safety and that they are never to touch without my permission.
I ask the parents permission to show them and let them handle an unloaded firearm
in my supervision. All my kids' parents have said yes that is fine. So that
the friends will understand how serious I am with firearm safety.

My kids are 15,14,12,6 and almost 1. I have brought them all up around firearms
and safety and when Im cleaning, I incorporate them into it if they want.

Take the curiosity out of it, they have no desire to sneak around wanting to take a peak.
Very simple IMHO. Dont over think this. You know your child and wether they
can handle this or not.

I have Col. Cooper's 4 rules posted all over the house FWIW. Good luck[Beer]

[ronaldrwl]

This might work
http://www.harborfreight.com/gun-safe-vault-93473.html
http://www.floridaarmory.com/image.php?type=P&id=213

[Lurch]

This might work
http://www.harborfreight.com/gun-safe-vault-93473.html
http://www.floridaarmory.com/image.php?type=P&id=213

That is basically what I have besides the the actual gun safe in the basement. I just don't want to mount it to anything.

Plus at some point I figure she should be able to get to as well and take care of a problem on arises.

[glock21]

My 5 year old has been around them since birth. She knows not to touch it with out my permission. i either have it on me or on the coffee table in front of me. When she askes i let her hold it and she helps me clean the pistols. Very responsible for her age.

[Holger Danske]

I carry at home. The wife uses a safe like the one pictured. It is not attached but keeps the kids safe and provides quick access. My kids get the firearm safety lecture often and the shoot for 4H and scouts so they get training on safe handling of forearms.

[StagLefty]

My being an NRA Instructor and working Scout ranges for years with my son present took out the curiosity factor. He knows no other way but the safe way.
The guns at the house were always secured except for my HD which was always in my control. [Beer]

[colorider]

Have one very similar to the one at Harbor Freight. However, the one I have is from a reputable brand name and was only $15 more. I would never trust a Harbor Freight item when my life or safety depended on it.

[ray1970]

During daylight hours everything is locked in the safe. At night, one of the handguns come out and up to the room with me. The wife and I keep the bedroom door closed at night so the little ones don't come into the room.

Of course the little ones are now 20 and 24 years old. No worries about them popping into our bedroom in the middle of the night. They wouldn't want to be traumatized by catching me and their mother bumping uglies.

[Coffee]

[Big Wall]

I have a 9 and 13 year old. I keep my handgun locked up during the day and in a night stand at night. They know what to do if they ever find a gun somewhere. They know that if they ever want to see or handle either my guns or their .22 rifles all they have to do is ask. I will make the time, no matter what else is going on. I don't want them to have any reason to try to sneak around and touch a gun without supervision. My brother and I both will randomly quiz them about gun safety rules, not just when we are headed to, or at the range.

[JohnnyEgo]

I have a two year old who is into everything. I have a VLine mechanical lockbox in the foyer and another in the bedroom. They won't do anything to stop a theft (the one in the foyer is just sitting on the coat shelf), but they do an excellent job keeping out little fingers and the idle curious. Also, I tend to take my carry gun off in the house, so it is a convenient way to keep gun and keys by the door.

The boxes are very fast and don't require batteries. However, a few bumps in the night have shown me the merit of leaving the bedside box open when I go to sleep.

[kwando]

I have a 19 month old and he will be around guns as well, but right now he is too young. Great info in this thread!

[DD977GM2]

I am saddened by the folks who carry on a daily basis get complacent once they get home.
Leaving your firearm in your firearm in your bedroom or by the front door etc
isnt going to do a whole lot of good when someone comes into the house and your in
the basement etc. [sad emoticon]

[HoneyBadger]

I know this is a well known saying in these parts... but 100% of home invasions happen in somebody's home. What if it is your home? What if you are there when it happens?

"Hold on, I need to go grab my gun from the nightstand..."



ETA: Running to a safe room may be the best option for you... Whatever the case is, it's best to have a plan!

[spqrzilla]

Remember that kids figure out how to open things about three or four years earlier than you think.

[mtnrider]

I have 3 kids. 1, 2, and 4. Right now I feel comfortable enough in my neighborhood/home that I don't need to leave any guns out. There may come a time when that changes but for now they are all locked up or on my person.

With that said for those that have kids and do have guns out, Never under estimate the curiosity and resourcefulness of your kids. What you might think is a good hiding place or up high enough to be out of reach can very easily be accessed by your kids.
I remember as a kid myself my Dad hiding his guns in the closet or up on a shelf. I knew exactly where they were and on occasion remember climbing up and bringing them down. He never kept them loaded and he tought me gun safety at a young age but I was still a curious kid and that's what kids do.

I guess what I am saying is no matter how responsable you think your kids are they are still kids and curiosity will get the best of them at some point so be safe.


.

[kwando]

Tell me about it! My family never owned a gun ever...

Remember I knew nothing about guns, but had common sense...

I remember my first encounter with a gun, it was at a friends house. If i remember correctly it was a .22 semi ruger. We found it, somehow released the mag, and thought it was empty.

Our other friend even put it to his head, when we freaked out and someone took it away from him. My friend (whos house it was) took the gun and aimed it at the ground and pulled the trigger. BANG! Talk about being scared shitless....

When we didn't find a bullet hole in the carpet we started shooting more rounds into the ground when suddenly we hear water rushing and filling the craw space... I ran home because i knew he was in deep shit... later on his dad came over and asked for my side of the story, i was honest... to this day i never knew what the consequences of his actions were

[JohnnyEgo]

I am saddened by the folks who carry on a daily basis get complacent once they get home.
Leaving your firearm in your firearm in your bedroom or by the front door etc
isnt going to do a whole lot of good when someone comes into the house and your in
the basement etc. [sad emoticon]

My gun room is in the basement. I am probably safer there than anywhere else in my house.

We take calculated risks all the time. We get behind the wheel knowing that there is a non-zero likelihood of being involved in a fatal accident. And yet we drive anyway.

It isn't exactly comfortable, nor arguably safe, to be rolling around the floors with my 2-year old playing dump trucks with a loaded handgun on my side. I also consider the risk of my curious little domestic terrorist getting his hands on a loaded firearm, and find it concerns me more than the risk that I will be involved in a violent home invasion without sufficient time to get to one of the handguns on each floor of my house.

I applaud you for your OpSec around your own house, but find it to be not conducive to my own lifestyle. However, I appreciate your concern for my well-being.

[mofuknfamily]

For what it's worth I have a 7 year old son who has been around guns since he was 3 and he owns a .22 rifle and a .410 shotgun, he goes shoting with me all the time and loves it to death. But besides all the gun safty talks the thing i think has had the biggest impression on him is a ducks and bucks event. (very pleased with the level of learning taught by the instructors there. And on a final note he shows no intrest in handling them when they are out or being cleaned. But as stated before never put it past them.

[HBARleatherneck]

delete

[DD977GM2]

My gun room is in the basement. I am probably safer there than anywhere else in my house.

We take calculated risks all the time. We get behind the wheel knowing that there is a non-zero likelihood of being involved in a fatal accident. And yet we drive anyway.

It isn't exactly comfortable, nor arguably safe, to be rolling around the floors with my 2-year old playing dump trucks with a loaded handgun on my side. I also consider the risk of my curious little domestic terrorist getting his hands on a loaded firearm, and find it concerns me more than the risk that I will be involved in a violent home invasion without sufficient time to get to one of the handguns on each floor of my house.

I applaud you for your OpSec around your own house, but find it to be not conducive to my own lifestyle. However, I appreciate your concern for my well-being.

How is a firearm on your side unsafe?
I have not in all my years had a spontaneous discharge while the firearm was in the hoslter.
In fact in May when I was ejected from my motorcycle, my pistol didnt magically go off
when I impacted the car then the ground and rolled for about 100'-150'.
Also I play with my kids on the floor, outside and everywhere in between.

I have 5 kids. If you hide the firearms from your kids....that is when they get into trouble later in life.

I do understand not condusive to your lifestyle, but then again that arguement would
negate the idea of CCW. I guess I just dont understand the CCW when its convenient idea is all.
I do understand to each their own. Am glad though your on our side and not the other folks.


i have 7 kids. 6 of them are 8 and under. I wear my j frame at minimum all day everyday. i roll around on the floor, crawl around, give piggy back rides. just wear a smaller gun in a comfortable holster around the house and lock up the rest if you feel you need to.

i have shown my kids the eddie the eagle series many times. i quiz them on gun safety. the mystery is gone, because guns are an everyday part of life for us. they see guns everyday. they see me wear guns everyday.

Im not saying to leave your pistol on the kitchen table loaded.

my dad allways kept his guns loaded, also. he kept a loaded 357 under his pillow my entire life. we knew not to touch it. maybe kids who get spankings understand consequences better. i know we got plenty. it never occurred to me to mess with his firearms.

Well said. Take the curiosity out of the equation. Also kids need spankings.
I already tap my 1 year olds hands when she is doing things she shouldnt.
Hilarious to me when she gets that pitty face and then starts balling!!!!!

[HBARleatherneck]

delete

[DD977GM2]

My gun room is in the basement. I am probably safer there than anywhere else in my house.

We take calculated risks all the time. We get behind the wheel knowing that there is a non-zero likelihood of being involved in a fatal accident. And yet we drive anyway.

It isn't exactly comfortable, nor arguably safe, to be rolling around the floors with my 2-year old playing dump trucks with a loaded handgun on my side. I also consider the risk of my curious little domestic terrorist getting his hands on a loaded firearm, and find it concerns me more than the risk that I will be involved in a violent home invasion without sufficient time to get to one of the handguns on each floor of my house.

I applaud you for your OpSec around your own house, but find it to be not conducive to my own lifestyle. However, I appreciate your concern for my well-being.


Just so you know I am not trying to start a pissing match. I respect a persons rules for thier lifestyle.
I am just trying to understand is all since its diffrent then what I do.

[mtnrider]

Do you guy's that carry in your house feel that unsafe in your neighborhood or is it just a lifestyle thing?

I know if I ever get to the point where I feel I have to carry my gun around inside my house 24/7 I am moving!

.

[Danimal]

Honestly this problem went away when I got my CCW. The gun is on me, or is next to me as I sleep. If I have to go somewhere that the gun cannot, then in the safe it goes and I have no problems. I don't have kids, but 90% of my friends do and when they come over I never have to worry. I hate bedside safes, to me they just seem like a thief grab box that lets them get all the expensive stuff in one nice easy to carry package.

[HBARleatherneck]

delete

[Danimal]

[Rant1]
Do you guy's that carry in your house feel that unsafe in your neighborhood or is it just a lifestyle thing?

I know if I ever get to the point where I feel I have to carry my gun around inside my house 24/7 I am moving!

.

No not really, I live in a safe neighborhood. I carry all the time because you never know when you will need it, and the longer you carry the more you feel like the gun is a part of you. When I first got my CCW I felt like everyone could see my gun and there was this paranoia that I was going to screw up and flash it accidentally. But as time when on that feeling faded and I got to where I feel a little naked without it. When I wake up I put on my pants, a shirt socks, shoes, my work knife and my gun. Missing any one of the items would make you feel weird and uncomfortable all day.

You know that feeling when you reach in your pocket for your keys before you drive home and they are not there? You swear to God that you put them in your pocket but they are gone and you have no idea where else they could be. That is the feeling I get a couple times a day when I notice my gun is not there because I didn't carry. So I just make it easy on myself and carry all the time if I can.

[DD977GM2]

Do you guy's that carry in your house feel that unsafe in your neighborhood or is it just a lifestyle thing?

I know if I ever get to the point where I feel I have to carry my gun around inside my house 24/7 I am moving!

.


Not at all. I fee, very safe in my home. My neighbors are kickass.

Wether its a good neighborhood or not is inconsequential.
Good and bad neighborhoods are burglarized all the time. I have no way of choosing
the time and place which I will be forced to handle a badguy.
Hence the carry all the time or dont carry at all mantra I mention to folks.

Either carry it or dont. Not much in between. Just like my safe is unlocked when I am home regardless
of the time of day. Look up the stats on a home burglaries. Its during the day when they happen the most.
My safe is in a part of the house that I will hear them gain entry from another part of the house
so there is virtually no way of sneaking into the room with the safe in it.

I even keep my doors locked when I go mess around in the gargae and Im the only one home.
One less headache to deal with if I walk into the house with a retard wanting to steal my crap.

Home invasions can happen anytime, anywhere and to anyone.

I certainly dont want to fight my way to where my firearm is. Im not afraid of fighting
or taking a few hits, I just choose not tohave to do that if I can possibly help it.

[HBARleatherneck]

i love when they interview idiots on the news.

it usually goes something like this.

"we never thought it would happen here, its such a great neighborhood"


I guess they dont realize bad guys have cars, feet or public transportation.

bad things can and do happen anywhere anytime

[james_bond_007]

I'll try to address your original question, if I might reword it a bit.

Q: How can I secure a small gun safe to :


Allow me to have quick access to its contents
Mount it so the safe and it's contents cannot be easily stolen
Mount it so I do not have a lot of repair work due to the mounting scheme if and when I decide to move somewhere else

Note: Nothing is 100% "thief-proof". With enough tools and motivation, ANYTHING can be stolen. What needs to be done is to create enough work to cause the thief to not want to spend significant time trying to defeat the mounting mechanism and steal the safe.


A: Attach a steel cable to the safe and cable/lock it to an immovable object such as:




Plumbing, such as cold water pipe (Can be defeated with a pipe wrench and a lot of water mess)
Post, such as a heavy banister (can be defeated with a sledge hammer or ax)
Furniture frame, such as part of the bed headboard or couch frame (can be defeated with a saw or by stealing the couch)
Floor joist, if access to an unfinished basement is available, a piece of baseboard can be removed, holes for the cable drilled in the floor, the cable run through the holes and locked around a floor joist, and the baseboard replaced (perhaps only with some very small notches for the cable). (Can be defeated with a saw)

No, this method is NOT "thief proof", but it will greatly deter a thief and provide you the access you desire. It is not likely that they will arrive with bolt cutters or cable cutters, unless "they have been in your house before" and know what they have to defeat ahead of time ...

[JohnnyEgo]

Just so you know I am not trying to start a pissing match. I respect a persons rules for thier lifestyle.
I am just trying to understand is all since its diffrent then what I do.

Didn't think you were. My guess from your screen name is that we have a lot more in common than not. For instance, we've both spent a fair amount of time 'haze gray and underway'.

As an individual, I am very comfortable with the idea that my opinions on many things are not the same as those around me. In deference to your question, I will take a crack at explaining exactly why I feel the way I do.

For a long time, risk assessment and management was my profession. It has influenced the way I think about certain things. The odds of a home invasion are real and non-zero. So are the odds of my toddler getting hold of a gun. It is difficult to determine the specific statistical likelihood of suffering a violent home invasion, because they are classified as crimes such as burglary and robbery, without additional distinction. My odds of being victim of a violent crime anywhere are pretty low; much lower than my odds of being involved in a car accident. I make a calculated guess that my odds of being involved in a home invasion as a subset of a violent crime are even lower. The odds of my kid getting hold of a gun are pretty low, too, but the perceived risk of myself and my wife is much greater. Ergo, lock boxes.

I take precautions to minimize the probability and severity of risk in balance with my quality of life. I choose to carry concealed whenever I have that option. At home, I have good lighting, good locks, an alarm system that alerts me when people open a door or window, and reasonably quick access to a firearm on every level of my house. I also have a 2 year old and a 14 year old, both of whom I love, both of whom know better, and neither of whom I trust. Since I find it uncomfortable to lie on the couch watching 'Sprout' with a sidearm, and I believe the odds of a home invasion to be low (but non-zero) and the consequences of kids and unattended firearms to be high, I find the best solution for myself to be lock boxes.

[earplug]

Surround the kids with guns and reloading stuff and they get bored about them pretty fast.
Its when your hiding stuff and trying to limit there access that they get interested.

[HBARleatherneck]

delete

[JohnnyEgo]

I think you are just jealous that your contemporaries can both ask and tell. ;)

[HBARleatherneck]

delete

[ray1970]

I am also one of those avid firearms enthusiat that does not feel an overwhelming need to be armed 24/7. In fact, I am 42 years old and still do not have a concealed carry permit. If you have met me or been around me there is a very high likelihood that I was unarmed. While I understand that something could potentially happen at any time, I feel the odds of me ever needing to use deadly force in my lifetime are very,very low.

[rockhound]

I am also one of those avid firearms enthusiat that does not feel an overwhelming need to be armed 24/7. In fact, I am 42 years old and still do not have a concealed carry permit. If you have met me or been around me there is a very high likelihood that I was unarmed. While I understand that something could potentially happen at any time, I feel the odds of me ever needing to use deadly force in my lifetime are very,very low.

My house is protected, but most of the guns are locked away, I do not feeble the need to carry all the time, but am legal when I want to be, for instance I went down to Tucson last week to pick up a used truck, traveling with a lot of cash and a buddy who was also heavily armed,

[Danimal]

I am also one of those avid firearms enthusiat that does not feel an overwhelming need to be armed 24/7. In fact, I am 42 years old and still do not have a concealed carry permit. If you have met me or been around me there is a very high likelihood that I was unarmed. While I understand that something could potentially happen at any time, I feel the odds of me ever needing to use deadly force in my lifetime are very,very low.

I have to say that you are putting too much emphasis on what it means to CCW. You are thinking that the only possible condition to which you would deploy a weapon would be in a life or death situation. That is not completely true. The second day that I had my CCW I saw a lady hit a deer with her car. She was crying and all upset and we were half way between Monarch summit and Gunnison. The deer was still alive and kicking but had a broken back and there would be no other LE there for quite some time. I dragged the deer off of the road and when she drove away I put it down. I tell you this because I look at the gun in the same way I look at my multi-tool that I carry for my work. It has a thousand uses beyond life and death situations involving humans. This would not have to be a CCW situation if you happen to have a gun in the car, but I find that I am a million times more likely to bring a gun where I go if I know that I don't have to leave it in the car.

Another example was on a few months ago at my parents house I was stepping out onto the carport and I hear this woman yell something. It was about dark so I started to look around to see what was going on. Turns out her 100 lb Rottweiler was running right toward me and she was yelling at it to come home. I almost crapped my pants. I did not have a gun with me and I would have been unable to get back in the house before it got to me by the time that I realized what was going on. Fortunately it turned around and ran back into the darkness. But my parents told me that the dog was just recently put down because it bit their trash guy. That could have been me and that was one mean ass looking dog.

Im not trying to badger you ray, but I get a little upset when I hear people say that they don't CCW because they don't think that they will need to kill anyone. CCW is about being able to, and trusted to carry a tool capable of lethal force, but along with that comes other protections and responsibilities.

[Goodburbon]

I keep a pistol on me when I am home. It either is within arms reach or in a holster on me.
I have a rifle next to me every where I go as well.
If you take the curiosity out of the picture, kids are rather responsible.
My 3 older kids' friends are used to me having a gun in sight. I tell them when they come to
my house, the rules about firearm safety and that they are never to touch without my permission.
I ask the parents permission to show them and let them handle an unloaded firearm
in my supervision. All my kids' parents have said yes that is fine. So that
the friends will understand how serious I am with firearm safety.

My kids are 15,14,12,6 and almost 1. I have brought them all up around firearms
and safety and when Im cleaning, I incorporate them into it if they want.

Take the curiosity out of it, they have no desire to sneak around wanting to take a peak.
Very simple IMHO. Dont over think this. You know your child and wether they
can handle this or not.

I have Col. Cooper's 4 rules posted all over the house FWIW. Good luck[Beer]

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