"Be responsible, keep your gun in a safe."

[Jaylock]

While I agree with the premise of the argument of being responsible, I would like to ask a simple question with regard to this statement:

Whats the point in having a gun for self defense if you have to open a safe to access it when the burglar is already in your house? Those precious moments / minutes it would take you to open your safe (quietly so the intruder doesn't hear you opening it) could mean the difference between life and death.

Just some food for thought.

[Gamdwelf]

There is almost no point in having a gun for self defense. About the only legitimate reasons to have one are hunting so lock it up when you aren't hunting, and range shooting, and keep it locked up when you aren't at the range or on your way there.

[dense]

maybe just keep it safe when you don't have it on you, so kids / other people don't have access? Otherwise, why have a gun if you don't wanna have it on you most of the time?

[RICH1471]

While I agree with the premise of the argument of being responsible, I would like to ask a simple question with regard to this statement:

Whats the point in having a gun for self defense if you have to open a safe to access it when the burglar is already in your house? Those precious moments / minutes it would take you to open your safe (quietly so the intruder doesn't hear you opening it) could mean the difference between life and death.

Just some food for thought.

Takes me 10 seconds from my bed to having a loaded weapon out of my gunsafe. The only people I fear are the fucking SAS.

[TradewindNQ]

Oh look it's one of these threads...

[Didactic]

Oh boy, another Jaylock thread. I'm sufficiently bored to bite.

First, what Gamdwelf said. The guns you keep in your primary safe are generally not for home defense.

Second, many people who do use guns for self-defense and need them on-demand buy smaller safes that are easy to open but secure enough to keep the casual bitch from nabbing the contents.

[Jaylock]

Its kind of an oxymoron. Be responsible implies that you ARE responsible and you deflect the intruder from harming your family, yet it can be seen as irresponsible locking your gun away in a safe having to spend precious time opening it and loading it etc etc.

[Darsithis]

Oh look it's one of these threads...

Post constructively.

I agree with the OP but the other side of the issue is kids. If your gun isn't safe secured they can get it and cause some serious harm. How many times have you heard of children accidentally killing themselves or each other with a gun that daddy left laying around?

And seriously quit with the damn "Oh it's Jaylock" stuff. Really, grow up. I've about had it with the people who consistently come into threads he creates just to post how much they don't like him. Don't read his threads if you don't want to.

[Didactic]

Its kind of an oxymoron. Be responsible implies that you ARE responsible and you deflect the intruder from harming your family, yet it can be seen as irresponsible locking your gun away in a safe having to spend precious time opening it and loading it etc etc.

As Rich said, the time it takes to get a gun from a safe is miniscule.

[Gentlemahn]

It takes me a solid minute to sneak upstairs, open the cupboard drawer, get my cereal, my bowl, my spoon, and my milk, pour me a bowl of cereal, pour the milk into the bowl, put all the stuff back where it came from, and then sneak back downstairs to my room to bed so I can enjoy my frosted flakes. At three in the morning, with none in my house being the wiser. Getting a key to a safe, going across my room to my hiding spot, opening it, and loading my weapon would take me half that at most. Remember that a burglar is going to try and be quiet to.

Takes me 10 seconds from my bed to having a loaded weapon out of my gunsafe. The only people I fear are the fucking SAS.

Yeah seriously, it's not that big a deal.

[Gamdwelf]

Its kind of an oxymoron. Be responsible implies that you ARE responsible and you deflect the intruder from harming your family, yet it can be seen as irresponsible locking your gun away in a safe having to spend precious time opening it and loading it etc etc.

ok so what if you get robbed when you are not there and they just take your gun because it is lying out?

[Darsithis]

As Rich said, the time it takes to get a gun from a safe is miniscule.

If the safe is in your room, probably is pretty fast provided it's, say, a pin-locked safe. A rotatory one might be a bit slower but remember if you're woken out of a deep sleep the seconds it takes you to even clear your head and realize something is wrong could be the end.

Not that a safe would necessarily change that, of course.

[Didactic]

It takes me a solid minute to sneak upstairs, open the cupboard drawer, get my cereal, my bowl, my spoon, and my milk, pour me a bowl of cereal, pour the milk into the bowl, put all the stuff back where it came from, and then sneak back downstairs to my room to bed so I can enjoy my frosted flakes. At three in the morning, with none in my house being the wiser. Getting a key to a safe, going across my room to my hiding spot, opening it, and loading my weapon would take me half that at most. Remember that a burglar is going to try and be quiet to.



Yeah seriously, it's not that big a deal.

Burglars better fear you and your frosted flakes.

[Darsithis]

It takes me a solid minute to sneak upstairs, open the cupboard drawer, get my cereal, my bowl, my spoon, and my milk, pour me a bowl of cereal, pour the milk into the bowl, put all the stuff back where it came from, and then sneak back downstairs to my room to bed so I can enjoy my frosted flakes. At three in the morning, with none in my house being the wiser. Getting a key to a safe, going across my room to my hiding spot, opening it, and loading my weapon would take me half that at most. Remember that a burglar is going to try and be quiet to

Just where do you live that you have to steal frosted flakes?

[dense]

If the safe is in your room, probably is pretty fast provided it's, say, a pin-locked safe. A rotatory one might be a bit slower but remember if you're woken out of a deep sleep the seconds it takes you to even clear your head and realize something is wrong could be the end.

Not that a safe would necessarily change that, of course.

Not sure if it's good to hold a gun when you're not clear in the head xD

[Didactic]

If the safe is in your room, probably is pretty fast provided it's, say, a pin-locked safe. A rotatory one might be a bit slower but remember if you're woken out of a deep sleep the seconds it takes you to even clear your head and realize something is wrong could be the end.

Not that a safe would necessarily change that, of course.

The one I keep my handgun in by my bed is one of those five button combination safes.

[Deadvolcanoes]

Its kind of an oxymoron. Be responsible implies that you ARE responsible and you deflect the intruder from harming your family, yet it can be seen as irresponsible locking your gun away in a safe having to spend precious time opening it and loading it etc etc.

Precious time opening it and loading it??

Are you under the impression that it takes a few minutes to open a safe, and then load your firearm. I can do it in about 15 seconds from a dead sleep.

Plus I have alarms on every door and window, plus motion detectors, giving me ample time to do what's necessary.

[Faroth]

There is almost no point in having a gun for self defense. About the only legitimate reasons to have one are hunting so lock it up when you aren't hunting, and range shooting, and keep it locked up when you aren't at the range or on your way there.

There was a recent article about a man shooting someone who had broken into his home, was naked, and strangling the home owner's dog. Perhaps he could have called the police and waited for them to arrive. Perhaps he could have scared the intruder off. Or perhaps they were drugged out of their mind and would have attacked him and eaten his face off.

I dunno that it's easy to dismiss and say there's no such thing as a need for a gun for self defense. I don't own one myself. Then again, I've also spent the night in a lesser reputable apt complex with the door unlocked multiple times and left my house unlocked overnight by accident a few times with no ill result. I live life on the edge. Rawr.

Alternative to a safe that I saw suggested and was amused by:

Keep your gun on the nightstand, disassembled and be capable of assembling and having ready to fire, in the dark, in under 8 seconds.

[WarFalcon1]

I'm just going to add any thief that tries to steal things WHILE SOMEONE IS IN THE HOUSE, is a terrible thief.

[Kasierith]

Its kind of an oxymoron. Be responsible implies that you ARE responsible and you deflect the intruder from harming your family, yet it can be seen as irresponsible locking your gun away in a safe having to spend precious time opening it and loading it etc etc.

I have several safes, for various reasons... the one that takes the longest for me to open takes all of 8 seconds to retrieve and open. That time frame is very unlikely to be a factor between life or death.

It's also noteworthy that the best deterrents for intruders are not guns, but dogs, lights, alarm systems, darkened/shuttered windows, and the like... guns are only to protect you from those that are not deterred by other defenses. If you have an alarm system go off, or you can hear things like a window or door breaking open from your room, you're going to have plenty of time to open your safe and respond. Robbers and such do not teleport into your toom.