How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

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How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Put it in the safe when I leave
20
43%
Put a gun lock on it when I leave
2
4%
Keep a gun lock on it, and take the key with me when I leave
0
No votes
Unload it when I leave
0
No votes
Hide it when I leave
5
11%
Take it with me when I leave
0
No votes
Some inconsistent mix of the above
6
13%
None of the above (something else)
13
28%
 
Total votes: 46

Dennisrl
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by Dennisrl »

WAIT!!! WHAT??? You keep your home defense shotgun locked even when your home? What happens when in this panic you drop the key prematurely? Or the key falls off? OR you struggle and stick the key in upside down. OR the most realistic option is your asleep and wake up to see someone elbow deep in your dresser drawer a few feet from you...or on top of your wife OR YOU.


Might want to re think this strategy....IMHO
Libertarian_Geek wrote:The key (painted w/ glow-in the dark paint) is on a biner with the biner's gate pinched on a rung of the shell-holder on the stock. This way, when/if we grab the shotgun out of the scabbard, the key comes with it, and can be unlocked on the move to the bedroom door. Key and lock would be discarded on the bed, or dropped in the floor right before chambering a round.

I'm curious to see what other folks are doing, and if there's a better procedure. If I had to store it in the safe, or take it with me every time, it just wouldn't happen 100% of the time.
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Libertarian_Geek
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by Libertarian_Geek »

Dennisrl wrote:WAIT!!! WHAT??? You keep your home defense shotgun locked even when your home? What happens when in this panic you drop the key prematurely? Or the key falls off? OR you struggle and stick the key in upside down. OR the most realistic option is your asleep and wake up to see someone elbow deep in your dresser drawer a few feet from you...or on top of your wife OR YOU.


Might want to re think this strategy....IMHO
Libertarian_Geek wrote:The key (painted w/ glow-in the dark paint) is on a biner with the biner's gate pinched on a rung of the shell-holder on the stock. This way, when/if we grab the shotgun out of the scabbard, the key comes with it, and can be unlocked on the move to the bedroom door. Key and lock would be discarded on the bed, or dropped in the floor right before chambering a round.

I'm curious to see what other folks are doing, and if there's a better procedure. If I had to store it in the safe, or take it with me every time, it just wouldn't happen 100% of the time.
What do you propose to remedy the situation? Keep in mind that I keep a 9mm Glock on my person or within arm's reach at all times.

The choices I see are:

A>Unlock the shotgun (or take it out of the safe) every time you come home and lock it every time you leave.
B>Some tech(RFID, home alarm system integration etc) based solution that knows/recognizes you when you're home and locks up when you're not.
C>Take the shotgun with you every time you come home.
D>Leave an unlocked shotgun at home to be potentially used against you when you arrive.
E>Something else that Dennisrl would like to suggest that I haven't considered...
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Dennisrl
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by Dennisrl »

Is a gun safe NOT an option? Not saying I have an "easier" solution but that does not make this one a good one!

You don't think this is far too many steps with far too much to go wrong while half asleep or in an extremely stressful situation? That there is like a 96% chance something is not going to go as planned.

Have you practiced this strategy? Lay in bed, in the dark hit the stop watch and time it until you load a round and have the gun pointed horizontal. How long does it take? Now add a ferw seconds because you will likely be asleep and hear a noise and take a second or two to wake up and then process what is going on and how to begin reacting.
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Libertarian_Geek
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by Libertarian_Geek »

Dennisrl wrote:Is a gun safe NOT an option? Not saying I have an "easier" solution but that does not make this one a good one!

You don't think this is far too many steps with far too much to go wrong while half asleep or in an extremely stressful situation? That there is like a 96% chance something is not going to go as planned.

Have you practiced this strategy? Lay in bed, in the dark hit the stop watch and time it until you load a round and have the gun pointed horizontal. How long does it take? Now add a ferw seconds because you will likely be asleep and hear a noise and take a second or two to wake up and then process what is going on and how to begin reacting.
I'm not going to defend a particular strategy. I'm assessing options and best practices.
My current setup is to grab my Glock with the happy stick in and hand my wife the shotgun (with key hanging on it). She can unlock it while I cover her. Yes, we practice. Again, I'll say that the purpose of this thread is not to defend one strategy or another. It's to see what the various options are.

Is your gunsafe in your bedroom? If so, how long does it take you to open it?
Please tell me what your setup is (I don't care about the one that you want to do but don't).
If your gunsafe is across the house and in the garage, then that's not really an option.

If you don't even use a shotgun as a home defense option, then your opinion doesn't fit the purpose of this thread.

Tell us the solution on which you regularly rely. If you're planning to do something else, then hold off until you do it regularly and have enough information to make a contribution to the thread.
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Libertarian_Geek
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by Libertarian_Geek »

Nothing to contribute?

OK. Thanks for playing.
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tsands974
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by tsands974 »

I keep my HD shotgun locked in a safe when I'm away, and when I get ready for bed, I pull it out and set it by the headboard at arm's length, chambered and ready to go. When I wake up and get ready to go to work, I put it back in the safe.

I don't mess around with the whole racking the action to put one in, to scare away the intruder. Chances are, if someone is breaking into a house with cars parked outside, they know there is a good chance we are there, and will probably be armed as a result. All racking the slide will do is alert the intruder as to my general location, giving him time to ready himself to combat me. Thus, I keep it chambered so all I have to do is push the safety off and slide out of bed where I can get into a defensible position without anyone hearing a thing. I also keep my house pitch black at night (windows too), so I have the advantage of knowing where I can move in the dark without bumping into anything, while they do not.
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Libertarian_Geek
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by Libertarian_Geek »

tsands974 wrote:I keep my HD shotgun locked in a safe when I'm away, and when I get ready for bed, I pull it out and set it by the headboard at arm's length, chambered and ready to go. When I wake up and get ready to go to work, I put it back in the safe.
I'll come back to this.
tsands974 wrote: I don't mess around with the whole racking the action to put one in, to scare away the intruder. Chances are, if someone is breaking into a house with cars parked outside, they know there is a good chance we are there, and will probably be armed as a result. All racking the slide will do is alert the intruder as to my general location, giving him time to ready himself to combat me. Thus, I keep it chambered so all I have to do is push the safety off and slide out of bed where I can get into a defensible position without anyone hearing a thing.
I totally agree.
tsands974 wrote: I also keep my house pitch black at night (windows too), so I have the advantage of knowing where I can move in the dark without bumping into anything, while they do not.

Ditto.

Back to the first part (your storage method and come-home/leave-home procedures)... Do you find this cumbersome, or has the routine settled in enough that you don't think about it?
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tsands974
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by tsands974 »

It takes me about half a minute to rearrange everything, and I have done it so many times I don't even think about it, it's second nature.
Dennisrl
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by Dennisrl »

Libertarian_Geek wrote:
Dennisrl wrote:
If you don't even use a shotgun as a home defense option, then your opinion doesn't fit the purpose of this thread.

Tell us the solution on which you regularly rely. If you're planning to do something else, then hold off until you do it regularly and have enough information to make a contribution to the thread.

You clearly have taken my comments as a persona lattack and have decided to retaliate. I do not use a shotgun as my house has cats, dogs and people in it and in my opinion the scatter is far to risky. There are very long hallways that give plenty of time and distance to scatter the pattern. My HD weapon is a pistol... however that makes my opinion on your 15 step process completely invalid?

I don't own a Porsche 911 or a Cobra Mustang but if I told my friend maybe his Ford Excursion was not the best option for NASCAR would that mean my opinion has no validity? I was not attempting to criticize but instead hoping to educate you.

When I do keep a long gun near me, it is kept locked inside my safe until bedtime...It is also a 30 second affair, just like the other guy said.
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Libertarian_Geek
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by Libertarian_Geek »

Dennisrl wrote:
Libertarian_Geek wrote:
Dennisrl wrote:
If you don't even use a shotgun as a home defense option, then your opinion doesn't fit the purpose of this thread.

Tell us the solution on which you regularly rely. If you're planning to do something else, then hold off until you do it regularly and have enough information to make a contribution to the thread.

You clearly have taken my comments as a persona lattack and have decided to retaliate. I do not use a shotgun as my house has cats, dogs and people in it and in my opinion the scatter is far to risky. There are very long hallways that give plenty of time and distance to scatter the pattern. My HD weapon is a pistol... however that makes my opinion on your 15 step process completely invalid?

I don't own a Porsche 911 or a Cobra Mustang but if I told my friend maybe his Ford Excursion was not the best option for NASCAR would that mean my opinion has no validity? I was not attempting to criticize but instead hoping to educate you.

When I do keep a long gun near me, it is kept locked inside my safe until bedtime...It is also a 30 second affair, just like the other guy said.
I haven't taken your comments as a personal attack. I'm terse and direct. It helps me to keep my topics on-topic. We're cool, although your credibility in my book is wearing thin; you haven't offended me.

I suspected that you were just throwing "what-ifs" out there without useful data to add into the discussion (that's why I called you out on it.) You've since shown this assumption to be true. Take no offense, I'd prefer to get real experience on the topic instead of hyperbole and guess-work. It's supposed to be best-practices within a specific scope.
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continuity
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by continuity »

Dennisrl wrote: ...I do not use a shotgun as my house has cats, dogs and people in it and in my opinion the scatter is far to risky. There are very long hallways that give plenty of time and distance to scatter the pattern. My HD weapon is a pistol...
Understand that a buckshot pattern is in the 3"-8" dispersion at the 10-30 ft range. Check it out on a paper target. Do you count dogs and cats as unacceptable collateral damage when facing a mortal risk to you or your humanoid family elements? My advice is to look deep inside and recalibrate your priorities. My 12G HD load out is slug, 00buck, slug, 00 buck...

The dogs, cats, fish, paintings, Frank Lloyd Wright furnature, etc., don't even register in the event of an evolution that requires action to repel intruders. Overthinking things can get you... dead.
Last edited by continuity on Sun Sep 08, 2013 2:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
What amount of a man is composed of his own collection of experiences... and the conclusions that those experiences have allowed him to "know" for certain as "Truth"? :Ick
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doubloon
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by doubloon »

continuity wrote:.... Do you count dogs and cats as unacceptable collateral damage ...
The dogs, cats, fish, ... don't even register ...
Just the kind of answer you'd expect from a cop.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Sorry, just wanted to say it before pudliker ...er ... prankeydong ... uh ... pokemon? whatever the hell his name is.
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continuity
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by continuity »

doubloon wrote:
continuity wrote:.... Do you count dogs and cats as unacceptable collateral damage ...
The dogs, cats, fish, ... don't even register ...
Just the kind of answer you'd expect from a cop.
Heh heh... Will admit an inherent tendency to simplify mission objectives when the klingons are rematerializing on the transporter pad
doubloon wrote:Sorry, just wanted to say it before pudliker ...er ... prankeydong ... uh ... pokemon? whatever the hell his name is.
ROFL!!! Won't even bill you for a new keyboard. :lol:
What amount of a man is composed of his own collection of experiences... and the conclusions that those experiences have allowed him to "know" for certain as "Truth"? :Ick
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by whiterussian1974 »

continuity wrote:Understand that a buckshot pattern is in the 3"-8" dispersion at the 10-30 ft range. My 12G HD load out is slug, 00buck, slug, 00 buck....
When I graduated the Police Academy I worked Armed Security until I got on fulltime. The guy I worked with carried a Mossburg 500 and asked what load would be best for it. I recommended 000 buck for the 1st and slugs for the rest. This way if there was a group, he could fire 1 blast at hip level. If I was grappling w someone, I wanted him to fire the buck into the ground and then only use slugs to prevent any pellets from hitting me.
I carried a Glock 22(.40) with QuikShot segmenting slugs. They separated into 3 petals 3.5 inches after impact w soft tissue, collapsed the hollowpoint if hit solid target for penetration.
I answered gunsafe in poll, but really I use a combo. Gunsafe inside poured concrete foundation.
Anyone wanting inside would need a jackhammer or cutting torch.
Since I carry my Glock 22 and 23 wherever I go, when my family returns home my wife uses G23 to stand guard near front door while I clear the house.
I also always look under my car and walk around it before we get into it.
Only takes a few extra seconds and keeps us safe.
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continuity
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by continuity »

tsands974 wrote:I keep my HD shotgun locked in a safe when I'm away, and when I get ready for bed, I pull it out and set it by the headboard at arm's length, chambered and ready to go. When I wake up and get ready to go to work, I put it back in the safe.
With the exception of keeping a round chambered, I like this way of doing things
What amount of a man is composed of his own collection of experiences... and the conclusions that those experiences have allowed him to "know" for certain as "Truth"? :Ick
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tsands974
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by tsands974 »

Then you can do it your way, and I'll keep doing it my way :wink:
Hopefully neither of us will ever have to test out our methods in a real-life scenario.
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continuity
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Re: How do you Secure your Home Defense Shotguns when away?

Post by continuity »

tsands974 wrote:Then you can do it your way, and I'll keep doing it my way :wink:
Hopefully neither of us will ever have to test out our methods in a real-life scenario.
Amen.
What amount of a man is composed of his own collection of experiences... and the conclusions that those experiences have allowed him to "know" for certain as "Truth"? :Ick
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