I’ve got a revolver (.856 Taurus Ultralite) that I keep for home defense, but I’m pretty unsure about how I should store it. Right now, it’s unloaded and locked in a Pelican case, with the key kept somewhere else in the house. It feels irresponsible to keep it loaded, but I also know it wouldn’t be much help if I had to load it in an emergency.
I thought about keeping it loaded in the case, maybe with the first chamber empty as a sort of ‘safety.’ My spouse knows all about gun safety, and we don’t have any kids or roommates. Is there a good middle ground for both safety and readiness?
If it’s a home defense gun, it should be within reach and ready to use. Imagine fumbling for keys while someone’s breaking in. Not a good plan, right?
Keep it close, keep it accessible, and practice with it until you’re confident. Reinventing the wheel in the name of safety isn’t going to help you here.
There’s a difference between being safe with guns and being overly cautious. Lock it up, but keep it loaded. In a real emergency, nobody’s going to wait for you to unlock and load your gun. If that makes you uncomfortable, maybe some more training would help.
Colby said: @Nova
Ideally, you’d have a quick-access lock box close to where you sleep. Since you don’t have kids, you have a little more flexibility.
I get that. That’s why I have security glass on my windows. Gives me a bit of time to wake up and get a sense of what’s happening. Plus, with kids, I don’t want to panic and accidentally hit the wrong person. It’d take a lot of banging and shattering before I actually need to worry.
Ideally, anyone trying to break in would just give up once they realize they can’t get in. Worst-case scenario, if they really try to force their way, then I’ll be prepared. But yeah, hopefully just watching the security camera footage of them running off is all I’ll need to do.
Mine’s loaded and within arm’s reach. If someone kicked down my door, I wouldn’t want to mess around trying to get into a case. To each their own, though.
Rio said:
Mine’s loaded and within arm’s reach. If someone kicked down my door, I wouldn’t want to mess around trying to get into a case. To each their own, though.
My front door’s reinforced enough that kicking it in would take time. I should have a few minutes to get to my gun safe by my bed.
@Wren
With a plow, it’d only take seconds to break through ground-level doors. That’s why building raised floors is good, but even then, a fast truck could go right through the wall.
Tavis said: @Wren
With a plow, it’d only take seconds to break through ground-level doors. That’s why building raised floors is good, but even then, a fast truck could go right through the wall.
Not an issue here. We don’t get snow and the local threats aren’t exactly driving trucks. Not building for Seal Team 6; just enough to keep out the usual intruders.