Home Safety.....

[tacmansgirl]

Is it better to keep a loaded or unloaded gun in the house when you have little ones??? We always keep something in the house, and do keep it put way up, but I was told that it did not look good on me as being a parent....

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[claude clay]

safety of the little ones from the gun vs the safety the gun may provide if the family is threatened...

averages do not work when one speaks of a specific situation but....from the time you detect danger you either have a gun on you ready to respond or you have to get it.

your involved with the "little ones" so likely you will not have it on you.
so its put up such that you can get to it from any part of the house in under 30 seconds, load and be ready.

one reason i most often suggest a Browning High Power cause of its magazine interlock.
keep the ammo seperate and the gun is rendered safe.

practice bringing the 2 together, the gun in a lock-box of a design that suits your style
(in a draw, attached to the headboard....) and the loaded magazine up high and close by.

your protecting the family in a well thought out and safe mannor makes you a better parent than them that trust in
others when seconds count

---though not as fast as having the gun on your person---30 seconds to go from "i think i hear someone at the door/window to armed is a
whole lot better than 911.

[SpencerB]

I don't care what other people think because it's my home and my family to protect. Just be responsible. Get a little handgun safe or keep it on your person when at home.

[barstoolguru]

good parenting is teaching your kids about things and guns are one of them. What if they found a gun somewhere; they would want to play with it because they didn't know any better. It’s better to teach them at home and start a healthy respect for a gun early.

my kids grew up with guns and when they seen them they knew all they had to do was ask and they could touch and shoot all they wanted. Real fast it became normal to them

[DanielC]

Amazon.com: GunVault NV200 NanoVault with Key Lock, Fits Full Size 1911 Style Pistols: Home Improvement

I have several of these, I keep them bedside, in the car, in the truck, I swear by them. There's options for keyed or combination lock too.

[violinjim]

I use height to my advantage. My 2 & 4 year old are short, my wife and I are not. If I don't have my gun on my person, it is up high out of reach or in the safe.

[Harryball]

Is it better to keep a loaded or unloaded gun in the house when you have little ones??? We always keep something in the house, and do keep it put way up, but I was told that it did not look good on me as being a parent....

IMO you would be a bad parent not keeping it loaded. It sounds to me that you are doing what you need to, to keep you and your little ones safe....

[Smitty901]

Keep them locked up in quick access safes. The BIO type are easy to open when needed day or night.
Lot of options. In Wisconsin if a minor just touches a load handgun even in your own home you could spend many years in prison.

[JDE101]

Is it better to keep a loaded or unloaded gun in the house when you have little ones??? We always keep something in the house, and do keep it put way up, but I was told that it did not look good on me as being a parent....

You were told it didn't "look good" on you being a parent!!! The fact you are concerned about your family's safety tells me you are a pretty good parent! Who cares what some liberal sheep thinks about how it "looks" if you are armed. And I can assume that the individual that said it didn't "look good" was a liberal sheep, because anyone else would NOT have made that type of a statement!

Keep the gun on your person and don't worry about what others think about how it "looks" as long as it is secured and the little ones can't get it. I carry at home all the time (except in the shower or in bed). If you don't have it on you, have it in a secured safe that is easily, and rapidly, accessed. And teach the little ones about guns and gun safety. Take the mystique out of it.

I would venture to bet that there are more gun "accidents" today, even with all the safes and gun locks, than there were a hundred years ago when virtually every home had at least one gun and many had several. The difference is people taught their children gun safety back then, guns were considered a normal household "tool", and more children new how to handle them safely. Now, the liberal media and the anti-gun sheep "demonize" firearms and blame the inanimate object for the evils of society! They use to talk about gun safety in schools! Imagine that! Can you imagine the uproar the Brady bunch would make over that today?

[babarock]

I use height to my advantage. My 2 & 4 year old are short, my wife and I are not. If I don't have my gun on my person, it is up high out of reach or in the safe.

If not in a holster on your person under your direct control, up high is better than nothing. Do not, however, underestimate the curosity and creativity of a small child when it comes to getting to something they want. Let them see you put a bag of cookies on top of the fridge, walk off and see how long that lasts. I've seen my now 15 year old turn into Spidergirl to get to the potato chips and nothing short of my gun vault would stop her.

If I still had little ones (or little visitors) I'd feel better about Amazon.com: Gunvault GV1000C-DLX Mini Vault Deluxe Gun Safe: Home Improvement if the firearm isn't in my retention holster.

[kudzu]

Loaded, either on your person or in a fast-access safe at all times.

[retsupt99]

Keep a gun on your person...gun-proof your children, and they are never too young to start.
My grand children were well aware of guns and 'what to do about them' from ages 3 and up...

[Burns]

I keep mine in a safe with keys on me, mags loaded but not in the gun. In a home defense situation you rarely will have time to load up your mags, I'm not a parent, but I don't take any chances of someone getting a hold of my gun. If your child/children know how to put the mag in the gun and cock it, I'm sure they would have no problem knowing how to put a bullet in the mag, so I don't think it would be logical to keep it unloaded. Just make sure they don't have access to the safe (keep the safe out of their reach/keep your keys on you)

[ericb327]

My son is sixteen now, I keep it loaded and close. We go to the range and he can shoot. Our area has had numerous breakins and home invasions. I've been struggling with if I should buy a shotgun for him while I'm out. He's responsible with firearms but he's still only sixteen.

[BigStick]

An unloaded gun doesn't do much good. Keep it ready to use, and either on you, or secured somewhere out of reach wether by lock or location. Make sure your kids are safe, and don't worry about what other people think. Frankly, they really don't need to know, so they shouldn't have to think anything about it.