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Ever hear of anyone firing a gun during a dream.

5K views 38 replies 29 participants last post by  SteveinNEPA 
#1 ·
I'm no geriatric expert but let me first say that, my Dad lived to be 89 years old. In his later years he was taking quite a few meds, had some level of dementia, apparently had dreams so vivid he'd argue that they really happened. Earlier on, as his mental stability began to falter we were afraid he'd get confused, get a weapon and hurt someone or himself, so we moved them out of his range of travel in his house.

On to my story. An elderly cousin of mine, that lives alone told me this story as it happened to himself.

This cousin is in his late 70's, sharp as a tack, seems to be in very good mental and physical shape for his age. No drug/alcohol problem or background. Just a good guy, one you'd easily trust and a man of his word type of guy.

He told me he sleeps with his revolver nearby, and one night he had a dream that a gang of people were going around breaking into houses. In his dream they came to his house and he fired at them. The next morning he got up, instantly remembering the vivid dream and thinking how real it was. He started to leave his house then went back, opened the cylinder to his revolver and there was one empty cartridge case !!!!! He actually fired his gun in his sleep, shot through his bed and through the wooden floor. THE GUNFIRE NEVER WOKE HIM UP.

I admit this is hard for me to believe, but he is a trustworthy guy, and I believe his story. He has the bullet holes in his bed to prove it, and he told me he has very vivid dreams. It made me think of my Dad, and I knew we made a good decision at the right time.

This is SCARY, he was scared too. I suggested he get himself a bedside lockbox, maybe he'd fully wake up while trying to input the combination the next time he has some dream.

I guess one reason I'm posting this story, because some of you may have elderly relatives and this issue could happen to them at some point in their lives.
 
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#2 ·
Never heard of it happening before, however I knew a Fire Capt. who had received a Silver Star for hand to hand action in Vietnam, who would on rare occasions have flashbacks chasing fellow firefighters around the station in his sleep thinking he was being overrun by Viet Cong.

We would come in at shift change on more than one occasion and find one of the guys with bruises starting and a goose egg on his head and say what's up? "Oh, Don had a bad night last night." I felt sorry for those guys, but they all took it in stride.

Good thing he didn't bring any firearms to work with him.
 
#3 ·
I have very vivid dreams almost every night. I do not keep one in the chamber for this reason. I keep my Glock 27 close to me but being how crazy some of my dreams are I cannot risk the chance of pulling the trigger in my sleep.

I love to dream. It is one of my favorite things to do as I can control my dreams a lot of times. It is really cool when you realize you are dreaming and are able to take control of it but some of my dreams are just to damn real to keep one in the chamber. I have never awoke with my Glock in hand but it is something I cannot risk. My dreams are that vivid.

Yes, I could rack one into the chamber but I'm pretty sure that I would wake up at that point.
 
#4 ·
We (Seriously & No Joke) had a forum member on CombatCarry who dreamed that his phone was ringing and he "answered" his firearm which was on the nightstand.
He did not pull the trigger but woke up with his gun alongside his head.

I'm glad that I personally am not a weird, vivid, dreamer like some folks out there. :dead:
 
#6 ·
I hardly ever remember any of mine...of course I hardly ever get much sleep so mine must be like "movie shorts" Cliff Notes Versions. :biggrin2:

Though I have to admit sometimes when I come onto DefensiveCarry in the "wee hours" and read some of the titles of newly posted stuff...I could swear that I must be dreaming. :rofl:
 
#7 ·
I suppose that we all have weird dreams from time to time. Sometimes I am in a gun fight being chased by the bad guys, then Murphy's law sets in - I am out of ammo, my gun jams, etc., and then I always wake up before I am put away - What a relief.

Other recurring dreams are about rattlesnakes that we used to catch when I was a boy. Another occasional re-occuring dream is enduring artillery shelling (a recurrence no doubt from my time on the DMZ in Vietnam). In the long run these dreams are harmless, and sometimes are educational. What is disturbing is hearing about those stories of guys who react to their dreams physically during and after their dreams. Now that is scary.
 
#8 ·
That’s scary. I am just glad my girlfriend does not do anything physical in her dreams. I imagine it would be bad if she dreamed she was being chased by steaks again ( she is a vegetarian) and got out of bed and ran. Anywise I am glad that I usually dream about fishing.
 
#9 ·
I don't sleep well, and I used to sleepwalk a fair amount. So, I keep my guns out of reach when I go to bed (along with my alarms).

Would I shoot it in my sleep? Don't know. But other things have shown it to be wise to play it safe.
 
#11 ·
Most of my dreams where I've had SD scenarios I pull the trigger, but like joshe, the gun won't fire! Strange we've had the same situation in our dreams... I think I can only remember 1 in the last year that actually the gun fired, but in my dream the big dog that was chasing me just kept coming even after emptying my 13 rounds of .40 into it like it was nothing!

Weird.
 
#12 ·
Mines in a Serpa holster beside the bed. I don't like the thought of grabbing for an unholstered gun in the dark. Never thought of shooting it in my sleep though. Interesting.
 
#30 ·
Sie gun is Kaput !
 
#15 ·
I've woke up a couple of times W/ the gun in hand but I've never fired it
 
#16 ·
My wife frequently asks me who I was fighting a war with last night. What's that tell you? I storm the beaches and battle the Japs often.
 
#17 ·
My best friend's uncle was sleep walking/drunk with his pistol and killed his wife when she tried to wake him in their kitchen. The deputies found him behind a tree on their property. He thought he was on guard duty from his days in Vietnam. When he got to the station he kept dialing his wife to come bail him out. Then he was told of the ordeal that got him arrested.He had no idea he killed his wife. He did some time for manslaughter charge and to this day you can see in his eyes he's got pain. Truly sad.
As a Vet and someone who has worked for the VA I know PTSD can be a dangerous and very unhealthy thing.I wish he could have got more help for him and his family's sake.
 
#19 ·
Generally speaking, my wife is a lighter sleeper than I am, though our ears are tuned differently.

I think she could hear a baby whimper 50 yards away. A sudden wind hitting the house, a slight noise at the door and I'm immediately wide awake, we never "hear" the same thing.
 
#20 ·
I very seldom dream, or at least I don't remember most of them. I have on occasion, if the wife or anyone grabs or shakes me while I am asleep, attacked them, I have always stopped as soon as I get my wits about me, which doesn't take very long. My wife now hollers at me to wake up, she does not grab or shake anymore.
 
#36 ·
This thread is a bit spooky. I also have vivid dreams. And in very stressful times, I sleep walk. I've never even considered what that might mean with a weapon in the night stand.....but I am now.

Ditto that! I keep a gun on my nightstand next to my bed. No bullet chambered and the magazine is not fully clipped in either... it's in ... just not clipped in. My dog sleeps in my room and he will bark if he hears anything.... plus I have a deadlock on my bedroom door so a BG isn't getting into my room without me having a little advance notice.

This thread has me thinking I need to move my gun into my dresser drawer, which I would have to walk 5 feet to get to. Between my dog and the deadlock on my door I'm still pretty confident I could get to my dresser drawer in time to get my gun if the need arises.


Good thread...
 
#24 ·
I don't keep a loaded firearm within reach because of my dreams. If I can put my wife in a headlock in my sleep, who knows what else I might do and not realise it?
 
#27 ·
As others here, I have vivid dreams of combat and do not trust myself to keep a gun close to the bed. It is positioned so I must stand up and take a couple of steps and open a draw. I'm no sleep walker, and so far as I know have never moved a muscle during these dreams, but I don't want to take any chance.
 
#28 ·
Very good subject. I could write a book about my dreams but I will spare all of you and not. I fell 14' from a ladder onto a concrete floor and didn't land on my melon but on my hands and knees in 2001 or there abouts. Ever since then I am afraid of heights and am clasaphobic. My dreams don't involve guns but how bad that experience hurt, and oh did it ever!
 
#29 ·
I suggested he get himself a bedside lockbox, maybe he'd fully wake up while trying to input the combination the next time he has some dream.
I keep mine in a lock box next to the bed that requires me to punch in the right numbers, which is easy, but means I will be fully awake to be able to do it. You don't want to startle me if I"m sleeping...... I come up fighting. I have to take 3 steps to get to my knives, that's far enough that I 'will' be fully awake.
 
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