How many is TOO many?

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tjhands

New member
Up until a year ago I had only a Mossberg 12 gauge with 00 buckshot as my home defense gun. Then I bought a Taurus 24/7 9mm for target shooting, so I now keep that loaded next to the bed and I have the shotgun on the landing next to the front door. -I should include that I am unmarried, with no children....my girlfriend is the only person in my house on a regular basis. Never any kids in the home.-
I just bought a Ruger P97 .45 ACP last week, and figured that since I have it, I may as well keep it loaded in the basement. My girlfriend is well-practiced with handguns but she is laughing at me, calling me paranoid by having all these loaded guns on every level of the home. I rationalize that since you never know where in the house you will be when a "situation" arises, it's best to employ all of my guns at strategic locations throughout the house. She jokes that "if you get the .38 you want, you oughtta velcro it to the wall in the shower....just in case." Funny woman.

Bottom line: am I paranoid or prudent?
 
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reildeal

New member
are any of these weapons in plain sight? Wouldn't want a BG to find one if he broke in, like maybe that shotgun.
 
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knightkrawler00

New member
I think it would be best to keep the loaded guns in a secure location and carry something on you wherever you go. This is where the velcro in the shower would come in handy. :) What if somebody breaks into the house through the front door? That shotgun is going to be the first thing that they see, now they are better equipped that you are with a handgun. There is no sense in arming an intruder that may have not been in the first place.

Edited to add that reildeal got the submit button faster than I did.
 
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HighVelocity

New member
Guns that I have accessible have combination trigger locks on them. I have practiced getting the locks off until my fingers hurt. I can get one from a drawer, remove the lock and fire it in under 4 seconds. (practiced with snap caps) I preset the combination so even in the dark I know what to turn and how far to get the lock off. This way, if a BG gets to a gun he will not be able to use it for anything but a club.
 
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CB3

New member
Gun positioning

You are not paranoid. You are on the right track for arming yourself for home defense, just terribly misinformed or misguided.

I fail to see the wisdom of keeping any gun near an obvious point of entry for a criminal. If I were that bad dude, upon breeching the door and seeing a valuable commodity like a shotgun sitting there, I would grab it and be gone with a big smile, saying, "That was just TOO easy!"

I'd probably be back a few days later to see what else this homeowner has left lying around--especially after verifying that he left the dwelling 10 minutes before.

Locking up guns does not just mean someone can't fire them, it means someone can't STEAL them! Trigger locks are an absolute waste of time, effort and money. If you have enough $$$$ to buy three or four guns, you have enough $$$$ to buy a real safe or locking system that protects the whole gun and still allows it to be accessible.

I know this because . . . back in 1972 when I had a beautiful, new Beretta O/U shotgun and my grandmother's custom made English Churchill side-by-side (two sets of barrels, gold inlaid) 12 ga. shotgun securely hidden under the bed in my apartment, both were stolen. I lived on the third floor walk-up of an old home. The dude broke in the back stairs, alerting the elderly lady on the first floor who owned the home. By the time she got to the back door, he pushed past her leaving the home with my two custom gun cases. He had been upstairs about 1 minute. He was looking for things he could carry and fence. He got 'em. Never again!

I have loaded handguns in various lockboxes around my home. The 5-button Simplex locks allow quick access. The handgun I carry is for immediate use when surprised, or as a defense while I get to the similarly protected shotgun, which is not going to be placed where the BG is likely to be!

CB3
 
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tjhands

New member
Thanks, guys.

The shotgun is behind some "junk" on the landing, so unless a crook were looking for it he wouldn't find it. The .45 is on a rafter downstairs, the 9mm is in a drawer by the bed (obvious place, I know). Oh, and I forgot to mention the Beretta Tomcat (.32) which is usually in the bathroom.

Yikes, I'm forgetting my own guns.........maybe that answers my own initial question? :) Thanks to some of your comments, I think maybe random guns laying around can be a definite liability.....
 
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HighVelocity

New member
CB3, trigger locks are not worthless. I have a 9 year old. I also have a safe and all the valuable hardware stays in there. I don't know what kind of safe you have but mine takes about 20 seconds to open and that is way to long in an emergency.
 
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Para Bellum

New member
one, two

I have two Glock 19s. One on my belt (24/7) one in my safe. Thats enough for me. I think I should be 100000% familiar with my gun in a defence situation. Thats why I don't even have two brands, systems or sizes (or external safties :barf: )
:D

leaving guns all over the place might be a disadvantage. Imagine you surprising a burgler who already has put your home upside down. He confronts you with all of your 456889 guns at once. :eek:
 
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FirstFreedom

Moderator
She jokes that "if you get the .38 you want, you oughtta velcro it to the wall in the shower....just in case."
Click to expand...

Damn good idea! Tell her I said thanks, I'm going to use that one - with a nickely-plated gun of course. I can hardly think of time that you are more vulnerable than in the shower on on the pot.
 
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seb5

New member
I, like many others I am sure , have enough training and experience to be competent with different action types. No biggie. I live in the country and have kids and a full gun safe. But I still have 3 firearms available by the 3 doors leading outside(or inside :) ). I'm not sure that a large number of guns has anything to do with paranoia. I buy them because I can and I WANT to. It's better than the stock market. Rock on.
 
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XavierBreath

New member
I have a couple of HD 12 gauges at either end of the house ready to go. To me, it only makes sense. My place is on bicycle hooks over closet doors (inside, of course). Unless you know it's there, you never see them, even if you open the closet.

Then, I have my carry gun of the day.

You are not paranoid, you are prepared.
 
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U.F.O.

New member
Ya know.....I was just thinking about what these two activities have in common:
"I can hardly think of time that you are more vulnerable than in the shower on on the pot."
Click to expand...
Exposed butt cheeks.
Maybe we can invent an adhesive where we can just stick the gun directly to our posteriors. A new mode of carry.....Cheek Carry. However, the toilet trick might make cleaning the gun a little dicey. :barf:

:p U.F.O.
 
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LAK

Moderator
I rationalize that since you never know where in the house you will be when a "situation" arises
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This is very rational and logical. Wear one when you are at home. Handguns are designed to be carried or kept at hand at all times, a long gun being the weapon of choice if you know trouble is at hand. The handgun is the weapon of convenience.

Nothing wrong with having others stashed around the house, but do not forget where they all are, and don't count on being able to get to any of them if trouble unexpectedly comes your way.
 
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qfadder

New member
.38 in the shower?

Why have the .38 in the shower? I keep mine in the safe.
I keep the Remington 870 Marine Magnum in the shower.

:)
 
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Ozzieman

New member
Paranoide, NAW but I would worry about some one that you wouldnt want handling a gun

To get hold of one.
I keep two guns loaded in the house. One is a 12 gage hidden in a closet. Its on a rack that I made above the door and easy to get.
Granted if some one is in my bedroom it will be hard to get, but if some one sets off the alarm breaking into the house, he will be the recipent of numerious little balls of lead.
My carry gun is always within 30 of where I am standing.
A shower gun, I think that might be going a little to far, but not nessessarly a bad idea, depended on where you lived.
 
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LAK

Moderator
A speargun is really handy when you're in the tub - just make sure you observe the Four Rules ;)
 
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beenthere

New member
How many is too many

There's never enough. I'll date myself now. I was looking at my wife knitting the other day and she was knitting scarves for the girls for Christmas. They were all done with a #6 needle so I asked her "why do you have short, medium and long needles and some plastic, others aluminum and a couple pairs with a plastic rope connecting them". I was told they work different for different yarns etc.

Works for me! Now it's "Yes, I know it's another 357, But this one is a long barreled single action" I'll let you know how long that works. :D
 
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