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Never let your guard down.

Last night around 9:30 pm we had a nasty scare. Let me set the stage. My husband is in praise band and civil air patrol so on Monday and Tuesday nights he does not get home until 9:30. I think it is important for the kids to see their dad if at all possible most nights. So on those nights we usually get into our pj's and sit on the couch and watch a nature show. I usually put the gun in the safe as my pjs are not conducive to carry and Chris is going to be home in a few minutes anyway.

So it was no surprise that the doorbell rang at 9:15 last night. My eldest ran to the door and asked "who is it.". I came over and heard a muffled sound and thought it sounded like shifting boxes (Chris often comes home from cap with various items). We don't have a peep hole so I opened the door....no one but my cat was there. Chris car was not home yet. Someone had rang and run, or so I hope. Now for the really bad part, my phone had been MIA for a few days....kids had played with it and the battery was dead so I could not simply call it. Here I was with a possibly dangerous situation, four little kids, gun upstairs, and no phone. I relocked the door, ran and armed myself, then I used my iPad to call my husband over Skype and he indeed was 5 minutes out. Needless to say we tore the bedroom apart last night and found the phone. We are considering getting an additional chain on the door that would allow me to open the door slightly without opening it all the way.

Now for the gun part. How do y'all handle this sort of thing. Do you carry in your pj's? Do you have a gun safe beside the door?

Glad no bad consequences ensued.

When I am in PJ's, the gun is sitting in a holster about 2 feet away from me. My youngest is now 16, so I am not worried about a gun sitting out. When my kids were really little, I stayed dressed and armed until they were in bed.

Chain on front door is ineffective, easily broken. Door intercomms can be purchased for as low as $30.

I don't carry on my person in the house, but we've got firearms accessible throughout, and I'd never open the door or even look through the peephole without having one if I didn't know who was on the other side.

We also have four little ones (5, 3, 2, and 10 months); we've got an adaptive plan. My wife is a homemaker, we homeschool, and I work from home. . . based on that and the kids' ages, they're never unsupervised in the house.

I keep one in my office upstairs. It's hidden in an elevated position and the office door has a key lock on it. The kids don't have access to the key, aren't aware of the firearm, and couldn't stumble upon it. It's a regular interior door that you could shoulder through in an emergency.

Our kids aren't allowed to play in our bedroom. There's a gate on the door that only the oldest is able to open. In my room is a loaded - not chambered - shotgun.

My gym bag is kept in an elevated place in the laundry room where the kids as yet aren't able to reach (even by climbing); there's a firearm there.

My wife's purse is kept on top of the china cabinet with a firearm there. The kids don't play with purses and also cannot climb - even with chairs or toys - to the top of it.

We'll of course have to adapt our plans as the kids become older and more capable, although we also intend to continue teaching them respect for firearms and how to never touch one without my wife or me present. . . up to a certain age. . . after which they'll be expected to be armed and hold a position during an emergency.

A safe is sure to be in our future, but I don't even trust the quick-access safes during an emergency. I plan to always have at least one firearm that is out of the reach of the little ones but still accessible.

I Carry when Im awake... However, I realize there may be a time Im not carrying at home and need to be (rousted out of the shower, up at 2AM to get a drink of water, etc).. I have a Gunvault in the main room of the house, not in the direct line of sight to the front door, it stores a gun that is good enough for carry (IOW it goes bang every time the trigger is pulled) but not one I carry.. so it's always there at the ready, “secure” from casual / curious visitors or kids (not mine, ours are grown). And yet not a big deal if stolen and needed to be claimed in insurance.

If you own the house, install a peep hole, if you don’t.,., ask the owners if you can have one installed at your expense, if they say know, install one anyway and except you may have to buy a door when you move.

The chains are not secure and will not stop anyone that wants in, they will keep a non violent door to door solicitor or lost drunk from opening the door all the way, but that is about it.

fickman wrote:I plan to always have at least one firearm that is out of the reach of the little ones but still accessible.

Please reconsider this option... reality, my personal experience and anecdotal evidence in thousands of accidental or negligent shootings, poisonings, burns, slips, trips and falls, will clearly show.. there is no such thing as " out of the reach of the little ones but still accessible" Those little creatures are conniving, quick, smart as can be and expert at getting to things adults think are not accessible

bronco78 wrote:

fickman wrote:I plan to always have at least one firearm that is out of the reach of the little ones but still accessible.

Please reconsider this option... [...] Those little creatures are conniving, quick, smart as can be and expert at getting to things adults think are not accessible

glad to read that all turned out well, mamabear. I, like others, stay dressed until it's time for bed and/or the kid is down for the night. As for your situation, maybe you don't conceal around the house... use a shoulder holster instead. if not a shoulder holster, maybe a duty belt with a nice, secure duty holster on your side?

I know the kids will probably baulk if you haven't worn openly before but, talk to them and they'd get used to it.

if wearing is totally out of the equation when in your jammies, put a quick access safe on top of the fridge or somewhere out of sight.

bronco78 wrote:

fickman wrote:I plan to always have at least one firearm that is out of the reach of the little ones but still accessible.

Please reconsider this option... reality, my personal experience and anecdotal evidence in thousands of accidental or negligent shootings, poisonings, burns, slips, trips and falls, will clearly show.. there is no such thing as " out of the reach of the little ones but still accessible" Those little creatures are conniving, quick, smart as can be and expert at getting to things adults think are not accessible

I knew that was coming but I didn't have time to preemptively elaborate more.

"Out of reach" doesn't simply mean "on a high shelf". . . I mean fully inaccessible to them. We know their capabilities and will continue to evolve as they grow. This subject is not taken lightly in our house.

Nothing's ever 100%. Dangers abound. We have knives. We have electricity. We have appliances. We have fire (grill, smoker, stove, oven, matches, lighters, fireplace). We have hot water. We've been diligent at childproofing. Some might be lulled into a false sense of security and have a single point of failure: a kid can stumble into a quick-access safe, especially the little handheld ones (or the safe can fail). An older kid is likely to know you well enough to guess your password or combination on a traditional safe. A kid will have more access to the gun on your waist if you doze off on the couch than they would if it was stowed away.

There is a continuum of risk that has to be managed. . . there's a level of responsible, prudent precautions to be taken. Security and safety are layered solutions. That's our approach, and like I said, it's fluid.

Some people teach their kids to play with toy guns. Our older two have gone shooting, can recite (and genuinely respect) the Eddie the Eagle rules and other firearm safety guidelines. They have a healthy, respectful fear / reverence for firearms. They've seen videos of the destruction of firearms (watermelons, hunting, etc.). They don't play with any replicas as toys. That is another part of the layered approach because I can't guarantee they'll never come across one in somebody else's house.

I absolutely do not underestimate kids and have no naivety about their capabilities and no misunderstandings about the ramifications of what's at stake.

Back to the OP, we also have other measures:
- I rarely answer the door if we aren't expecting somebody or know who it is, especially late. My wife never does. If I do, I'll retrieve a firearm first.
- We changed our back door to be a double-keyed deadbolt sine the door has glass in it.
- We keep the doors locked with a few exceptions (I'm working in the yard, the kids are playing in the backyard, the dog is going in or out. In the evenings we just lock the handle, not the deadbolt. . .but somebody would still have to break the window to unlock it or kick the door in. That gives us a little time.
- We have heightened awareness when we arrive home or are leaving the house. We used to park in the garage and I would have the door shut before we exited, but now we have to park in the driveway. . . so we look around and have our firearms on person before exiting.

We had our peephole added inexpensively, but if it's late, don't look into it immediately after turning the porch light on. . . seems like it'd make a good target to me. If the light was already on it's a little different.

We don't have little ones in the house, so that's not an issue for us. What about a belly band if you want to be armed, but able to lounge in your jammies with the kids? I've used one several times with sweats/lounge pants, etc. Works great. I'm glad you're safe and nothing came of the scare. And I agree on the chain. They're worthless for safety. We NEVER answer the door late at night.

One investment we're planning for next spring is a combination of outdoor lighting - decorative and security. Even the decorative lighting serves a security purpose.

Mamabear,
Glad everything worked out for you. I do agree with the others a door chain is absolutely worthless at keeping some one out that wants in. I would find some way to keep a weapon handy and out of reach of kids.
Speaking of kids, we have 5 (grown) never, never under estimate want they can get into

Most nights I stay dressed until I hop into bed, so the gun stays on. If I get home early and I change into shorts or something, I generally leave the gun holstered sitting on the coffee table with in easy reach. My wife and I have a very different situation though, as we don't have kids. I would not be leaving the gun on the table with little ones running around. Have you considered a fanny pack? You could get comfy with the kids but still keep your weapon on your body and away from little hands. Just a thought.

chain on the door that would allow me to open the door slightly without opening it all the way.

Do not do that. They are way too easy to kick in or just push in after you open the door a bit. They just screw into the "trim" which fastens with headless finishing nails to the sheetrock or edge of the thin jamb

Instead get a *good* peephole
and

These locks are good for when you are home, Police spread my jambs to get past my deadbolt, then took about 20 minutes trying to break/kick through one trying to get in my house on a glass french door, they gave up trying to kick it in and just broke all the glass out and crawled through (I was out of town, a buddy called police to break in my house concern for welfare; he forgot I told him I'd be gone)
Couple dollars each at any hardware store (including tax) a good supplement for deadbolts
Fliplocks
We don't use for childproofing, but used them since the 1960s; they work, put them above and below deabolts so they reinforce the door while a crook kisks/tries to split the jamb at the deadbolt lock. I put them at about shoulder level and between the door lock and deadbolt.
In case of fire or a need to exit, lift/flip go quick and easy
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outdoor lighting

I spent about $700 on outdoor solar lights, some are worthless, but 3 I like are:
$29.00 uses 3 AA rechargeable batteries
http://www.lowes.com/pd_127456-59179-SP ... olar+light" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and I got a solar powered - photocell(won't come on in daytime) motion detector- LED floodlight for the side of the house where I have no electricity available easily for regular lighting.


Pajama options:
Shoulder holster
I wear a kydex IWB with a lightweight Diamondback DB380 if that's all I can wear on the elastic wasteland ... I have to switch to drawstring PJs instead of elastic sometimes for heavier hardware..

I use old fashioned peepholes, but I like the new LCD ones like cameras and phones have

Digital Peephole Door Viewer
http://www.securityproductsinc.com/prod ... tAodrD8Aiw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Motion activated peephole door viewer camera etc:
http://www.securityproductsinc.com/cata ... l-peephole" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I will second the flip-lock over a flimsy chain. They work great for childproofing, and since they screw into the door jamb, they're pretty sturdy!