I'm trying to convince my girlfriend that the world won't end if I purchase a hand gun. I was wondering what gun safes you might recommend (I only need one that stores 1 or 2 handguns, not full vaults). Also what other items or procedures do you follow to convince your significant other that it's okay to have a firearm in the same residence as small children (no I don't have any offspring but for some reason she seems to eventually wants some). Thanks for your suggestions .
Most decent safes/cabinets will be lockable (obviously), hold a few guns and accessories, ammo, etc...and you should be able to bolt them to a wall or floor for added security. You can get them with key locks, combination locks, number touch-pad combination locks, you can even get fingerprint recognition systems if you want.
Stack-On makes decent steel cabinets for handguns (and long-guns). They are at the lower end of the range prise and quality wise. But they aren't bad and hold a fair amount of stuff. Here's a link... http://www.stack-on.com/
Try and explain to her why you want one. (To protect her and the family) Don't use scare tactics, rather use a real life scenarios. Your local police department can also provide you with crime statistics for your neighborhood. (Burglaries, home invasions, rape, etc.) Take her to a local gun range and have her take shooting lessons with you. Education is the key. Teach her a gun is either your best friend or your worst enemy, depending on what end you are on. It is inportant that you educate her fear of guns away if possible. It is some of the cheapest life insurance you can buy for a family, as long you are responsible with keeping it locked up around children, and or burglars.
Before I bought my big vault, I had a spare closet in the master bedroom that had a regular door on it. I just bought a high quality (heavier) door for it and put a knob with a lock on it. You can even key it the same as your front door. Can even put a deadbolt on it if you want. Works very well for cheap.
Just as stated above, I say get her to the range with you and teach her how to use it and how to be safe with it. It's important to show her that if handled and stored in the right way, it's as dangerous as a expensive paper weight. No child will be able to harm themselves or others if strict rules for storing the weapon and the ammunition are adhered to.
That having been said, a handgun that is properly stored in the name of safety becomes worthless with respect to the defense of your home if you need it quickly. (ie go get the gun from the safe, remove the lock, go get the empty clip and the ammo that are stored in different locations ....... you get the idea. Anyone who broke in with the idea of doing harm has more than enough time).
Some smarter and more experienced gun owners might shed some light in this.
I suppose my thinking may be described as a scare tactic, but I always envisioned convincing someone that a handgun is appropriate for home defense by describing a situation, like a home invader, that you would wake up to glass breaking and the obvious sounds of someone walking up the stairs. Imagine the difference in how you would feel with a handgun at your disposal and without.
Many argue that the chances of this happening are not great enough to justify owning the gun. You decide.
Now, I'm single and no kids, so how I can operate is quite different than if I had to consider children in the home.
If safety is your reason for waning a safe, why not get a trigger lock? Probably cheaper than a safe.
In reguard to someone breaking in and you using it as self defense.... I'd say there are better ways. If you hear someone in your house and you simply make them aware that you are aware they are there, they will probably run like hell. Or even cycling the chamber on an empty shotgun always scares the hell out of people. Everyone knows that sound. But trying to do a little room clearing and CQB in the middle of the night when you just woke up and are groogy and half naked could get you and your family hurt bad Just remember, if you have kids, they probably dont sleep with you, which means if you get up and garb your guns and start going through the house, they will be in your kill zone if you start firing, and if you are thinking someone has them hostage and youre gonig to burst in and kill them, you better be damn good, like its your every day job good, or youre going to hurt someong. Handguns are DEFENSIVE weapons, unless you do it for a living.
Any possesion you may have in your house is replaceable, your family and yourself are not. Think about that before you start shooting in the middle of the night. Defend yourself sure, but a little noise and a phone call will generaly guarentee you and your family will have dinner together the following night.
Dont mind me, my house is full of guns, its the attitude that hurts people
All good advice,,, Be forewarned, if you take the SO to a gun range, get her (and yourself) proper instruction, you will be addicted. One handgun will turn into many as you discover many interesting models and variants. Long guns may enter the picture, your little safe will gain a bigger brother! Oh, the madness never ends !!!
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Taildragger »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Oh, the madness never ends !!!</TD></TR></TABLE>
As far as guns in the house - better to have one and not need it than the other way around.
Take your wife/girlfriend to a range and a class. Something along the lines of the NRA Basic Pistol is the best place to start. Education is the answer.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by V-Twin Power »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">As far as guns in the house - better to have one and not need it than the other way around.
Take your wife/girlfriend to a range and a class. Something along the lines of the NRA Basic Pistol is the best place to start. Education is the answer.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Yes a wise rapper once said, "I rather have one and not need it, than need one and not have it...I'm married to this glockmatic."
Rookie has some of it right. As a police officer for over 10 years, I responded to scores of B&E's in progress. Get a firearm and learn how to use it- and use it defensively. Have a designated "safe room" in your house where family members will muster with you and your weapon and call the police from there. Let the bad guy come to you where you can engage him on your terms. Room-to-room searches are hairy at best, even for those trained. I wouldn't recommend "racking an empty shotgun" and gambling that the intruder will run.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TnDuc »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I wouldn't recommend "racking an empty shotgun" and gambling that the intruder will run. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Exactly. I had a guy who broke into my house when I was 16 take a step at me while I had my .30-06 pointed at him from across the room. Took the shot when he stepped towards me, he hit the ground, scrambled back out the door on all fours SCREAMING!!! Put the round right past his ear into the door frame (gotta love old houses with thick maple door frames ). Cops found the guy down the street against a stop sign crying his eyes out. The two cops at teh house were chatting with me, one knew the family and me real well and the other was some newer one. The younger one looked at me and told me "You could had killed him", which I replied "If I wanted him dead, he'd be dead". Other cop started laughing while this one looked pissed. 25' wont be a miss unless I want it to miss.
No wife here... so here's my Christmas present. It's a 20 gauge Remington 1100. Barrel shortened to 18 1/2" and MagnaPort Pro Ported, with a tritium front sight and a ghost ring rear sight, 7 shot magazine, and the usual trigger and action job, forcing cone modification, mercury recoil suppressor, sling, yada yada yada. BTW: the camera lens distorted the image. The magazine is not bent to the left!
Your wife would love this gun. I had a chance to shoot it this weekend and was surprised at the kick a 20 gauge delivers. Having never shot a shotgun I was expecting a gas-operated 20 gauge autoloader with a ported barrel and other recoil reducing mods to be very mild. And I suppose it is mild compared to a 12 gauge pump.
One other thing that surprised me was that at 15 feet the pattern was about 20" in diameter. Many people think that a shotgun delivers a "cone of death" out the front, and that all you need to do is close your eyes and pull the trigger. I don't think so.
I read somewhere that a typical duck gun with a 28" modified choke barrel shooting birdshot has about 1" of spread for each yard from the barrel. So in your livingroom, at 21 feet, you're looking at only a 7" circle of shot. You had better aim if you're using a duck gun for home defense!
My liberal friends asked me "why do you need a gun for home defense?" They said I should "just move if my neighborhood is so bad" (it's a very fine neighborhood with no crime). They also said the police are there to defend you and you shouldn't own a gun for defense.
Two buddies who are Illinois residents (anti-gun, pro-crime state) went so far as to inform me that it's been proven that you should not keep a gun in the house because if a bad guy breaks in and sees that you have a gun he'll be more inclined to use HIS gun on you. "So it's much safer to just do as he says"... you'll not be shot that way.
Nice shotgun. You are right- in order for a shotgun to be effective, you want ALL the pellets in the badguy, not just one or two. At room distance you are essentially delivering a ball of lead, not a large spray of pellets. Use buckshot, birdshot doesn't give the penetration you need. I had a friend who got shot in the head from 12 feet away with birdshot, lived and went back on the job soon after.
Yes, buckshot is what I'm using... #3 buckshot in a 20 gauge, 2 3/4" shell. There are 20 lead balls in there. A slug would over-penetrate and go through the walls and even endanger someone in the house across the street! Buckshot, #3 or #4 is rumored to be somewhat less lethal once it penetrates a wall. It's still dangerous.
I chose the 20 gauge so the little woman can shoot it accurately. 12 gauge and 20 gauge throw at the same velocity. 12 gauge just throws 25% more lead per shot. I took some shells apart to see what's inside. Pretty interesting. Shotguns are versatile.
Back to the original question: a gun in the house and a gun safe. I have one of these and it works fine. Opens in about 2 second. You can get them for around $160. S&W Versa Vault. Battery operated. The top is a solid casting so you'd have to sledgehammer it to break it open. It's fastened to the table so it can't be just picked up. The combination lock buttons light up at night when you push the first button in the combination. Then the top swings up and the gun is rotated up to about a 45 degree angle.
It's a little noisy in operation (the unlocking mechanism sound like a cheesy kids toy) but I like the fact that the gun is "locked up". Maybe your wife would appreciate something like this? She's normal for being apprehensive about guns in the house. Until she learns about guns and gun safety she'll be afraid.
Gun Enthusiasts (Help Me)
I was wondering what gun safes you might recommend (I only need one that stores 1 or 2 handguns, not full vaults). Also what other items or procedures do you follow to convince your significant other that it's okay to have a firearm in the same residence as small children (no I don't have any offspring but for some reason she seems to eventually wants some). Thanks for your suggestions 
.
). Cops found the guy down the street against a stop sign crying his eyes out. The two cops at teh house were chatting with me, one knew the family and me real well and the other was some newer one. The younger one looked at me and told me "You could had killed him", which I replied "If I wanted him dead, he'd be dead". Other cop started laughing while this one looked pissed. 25' wont be a miss unless I want it to miss. 
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