Some questions for hand-gun owners

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The Beretta Tomcat thread piqued my curiosity in that I was surprised by the number of posters who owned hand-guns (and also by the number of guns each poster seems to own).

The primary reason most people on that thread gave for owning a gun was personal protection. That being the case, I was wondering if some of you would mind sharing your thoughts in response to these questions.

To be useful for personal protection a weapon must be accessible. Does this mean that you have to keep your gun beside the bed and loaded? In the glove box when you are in the car?

What happens when you leave the house, but don't take a weapon with you? Do you lock them up? In your state are you required to store weapons in your home in a particular manner? (i.e. trigger locks etc.)

Have you ever had occasion to un-holster (for lack of a better word) your weapon?

Do you feel that the threat to your person and your home is greater, less or about the same as 10 years ago?

I ask these questions because I am genuinely curious, not as a prelude to some screed on gun control.

JC

-- Johnny Canuck (j_canuck@hotmail.com), December 30, 2000

Answers

Johnny,

The primary reason most people on that thread gave for owning a gun was personal protection.

That's the reason for buying a "self-defense" gun, but speaking for myself only, I'm primarily a recreational shooter -- it gives me and *the guys* something to get out and do.

To be useful for personal protection a weapon must be accessible. Does this mean that you have to keep your gun beside the bed and loaded? In the glove box when you are in the car?

Absolutely right. Sometimes I take advantage of the CCW, other times I'd be dead as a doorpost trying to *get to* a firearm. As much as I trust my kids, I don't trust a four-year old enough to leave a loaded gun at the bedside.

Do you lock them up? In your state are you required to store weapons in your home in a particular manner? (i.e. trigger locks etc.)

We're taking care of my wife's mother, so there's almost always an adult IN the house. I don't take other precautions than this.

Have you ever had occasion to un-holster (for lack of a better word) your weapon?

No, thank God.

Do you feel that the threat to your person and your home is greater, less or about the same as 10 years ago?

Much less. I used to live in an area that was near the beach, but still had a gas station torched nearby in the Rodney King riots. Since that time I've moved to a "good" neighborhood instead, and really think my overall chance of even having a robbery occur is pretty darn low.

I ask these questions because I am genuinely curious, not as a prelude to some screed on gun control.

Oh, go ahead and rant on if you want to, Chief. Everyone else here does.

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), December 30, 2000.


Man I hate that. Maybe they should have an HTML closure test as a prelude to gun-ownership.

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), December 30, 2000.


To be useful for personal protection a weapon must be accessible. Does this mean that you have to keep your gun beside the bed and loaded? In the glove box when you are in the car? Yes, if you are serious about it. I don't usually keep my 12 gauge (my home defense weapon of choice) right on the nightstand, but I can have my mitts on it in a few seconds after my four dogs start barking their asses off at an intruder. And it is legal here in Florida to drive around with a loaded handgun in a holster in the glovebox, or in a bag inside another bag, you just have to be sure that two steps must be taken to have access to it. I do not usually drive around with one, but if I need to go to Miami...

What happens when you leave the house, but don't take a weapon with you? Do you lock them up? In your state are you required to store weapons in your home in a particular manner? (i.e. trigger locks etc.) I have a big safe for when I am away, and I don't have children, so the Florida trigger lock law does not apply to me.

Have you ever had occasion to un-holster (for lack of a better word) your weapon? No.

Do you feel that the threat to your person and your home is greater, less or about the same as 10 years ago? Since I live in a very rapidly growing area I think that the "threat" has grown along with the population. But this is still a reasonably peaceful area, I guess this county has had maybe 10-15 murders this year, the overwhelming majority of which are a direct result of the insane war on drugs.

My house is a very very very safe house...with two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard, now everything is easy cause of you...you...

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), December 30, 2000.


Oh yeah, 10-15 sounds like a lot, and it is way over last year's number. I think the crack gangs are having a war over turf in the slummy area.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), December 30, 2000.

[The primary reason most people on that thread gave for owning a gun was personal protection.]

No, that was the question asked. For many, the primary purpose might be hunting. For me, the primary purpose is target shooting, though I'm also a bit of a collector, and I have a few guns I'd never shoot.

[To be useful for personal protection a weapon must be accessible. Does this mean that you have to keep your gun beside the bed and loaded? In the glove box when you are in the car?]

You don't have to do anything. We keep 4 handguns loaded -- one in the truck, one on the bed, and my wife and I each wear one.

[What happens when you leave the house, but don't take a weapon with you? Do you lock them up? In your state are you required to store weapons in your home in a particular manner? (i.e. trigger locks etc.)]

The house is locked. There is no law here about it, and we have no children or anyone else who can get in without breaking in.

[Have you ever had occasion to un-holster (for lack of a better word) your weapon?]

Only to shoot at targets. Pulling the gun from the holster and shooting is a standard part of each practice session. Outside the range, never (yet).

[Do you feel that the threat to your person and your home is greater, less or about the same as 10 years ago?]

I haven't noticed any change in my neighborhood over time. The difference is spatial (where you are) rather than temporal.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), December 30, 2000.



Flint....I gotta ask. Don't you think keeping a loaded gun on you at all times is a bit extreme? Unless of course youre an officer of the law. And even then...

I mean..you'll shoot yer eye out or worse

-- cin (cin@cin.cin), December 30, 2000.


Johnny,

[To be useful for personal protection a weapon must be accessible. Does this mean that you have to keep your gun beside the bed and loaded?]

I don't, but my husband does.

[In the glove box when you are in the car?]

Normally, I only carry pepper spray in the car. If we are traveling, the ammunition is taken out of the weapon - I think this is the law in our state now.

[What happens when you leave the house, but don't take a weapon with you? Do you lock them up?]

They are locked up. If we leave the house for an extended period of time, whatever is left behind is put in a gun safe elsewhere on the property. When there were younger kids running around the house, the ammunition was always kept out of & apart from a mechanically disabled gun.

[In your state are you required to store weapons in your home in a particular manner? (i.e. trigger locks etc.)]

I don't believe so.

[Have you ever had occasion to un-holster (for lack of a better word) your weapon?]

No, but my husband was threatened by a fellow's attack dog once & had to 'un-holster'. Luckily the dog's owner made the correct decision to control his animal in time.

[Do you feel that the threat to your person and your home is greater, less or about the same as 10 years ago?]

Less. I'm more cautious of the positions I put myself into than I used to be.

Ironically, the biggest threat on my life came from someone who was convinced he 'loved' me. Ever since that time I ususally have a blade of some type at hand, though I suspect that for me they are largely symbolic. I intend to never be caught near a place like that again, and have resolved not to live in fear. At a certain point, this involves individual responsibility. And yes, I do believe that the most powerful weapon we carry is that which is between our our hearts & our ears.

I grew up with cap pistols & skeet shooting. Several of my ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War. Though I'm sure that from an outside perspective, the American love affair with firearms looks nothing short of insane in this day & age, from from my inside perspective it's not - {although I admit my kid can make a compelling argument for the control of certain aspects}.

Hope I've not muddied the water too much for ya -

-- flora (***@__._), December 30, 2000.


Johnny Canuck,

My primary reason for owning guns is hunting; however, you are correct that my primary reason for owning a handgun is personal protection.

At home, the shotgun in our bedroom has shells in the magazine, but not one in the chamber. This is advantageous in two ways: 1)My children are not yet old enough to chamber a shell even if they were so inclined, and 2)if I need to chamber a shell for home defense purposes, I will quickly know what kind of person that I am dealing with by his response to that sound. When I am away from home, I carry my loaded handgun concealed on my person.

Whenever I leave the house, the handgun goes with me. The long guns are not locked up in any special way unless we are going to be away from home for an extended period. There is no law in my state regarding the storage of weapons.

No.

Much less, but we moved from a densely populated metropolitan area to a sparsely inhabited rural area. If we were still in the metropolitan area, I would say that the answer would be greater.

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), December 30, 2000.

Thanks to all who have responded so far; your answers have been interesting. The reason I asked the question is that no-one I know (either a friend or acquaintance) owns a hand-gun, so I wanted to hear from those on the forum who do.

-- Johnny Canuck (j_canuck@hotmail.com), December 30, 2000.

Johnny,

I'd like to add that we always carry a trauma kit in the car {it came in handy on Christmas Eve at the scene of a serious accident}.

Besides having training on various firearms, our family members are certified in first aid & lifesaving proceedures.

-- flora (***@__._), December 30, 2000.



I have no earthly idea why anyone would use a handgun for personal protection. I'm a pretty good shot when I'm wide awake and have my glasses on or contacts in, but if I ever had to wake up from a dead sleep and aim my gun at someone in the dark, I doubt I could hit the side of a barn. My protection of choice is a pump action shot-gun. If the distinctive ratcheting noise it makes isn't enough to scare someone off, then accuracy isn't such a big issue.

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), December 30, 2000.

Tarzan:

You're absolutely right. And if I carried a shotgun around with me everywhere, I'd be vanishingly unlikely to ever be in a position to need it. It speaks very loudly without ever making a sound.

However, it is kinda heavy. And oh yeah, there are these laws...

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), December 30, 2000.


Tarzan,

Do you carry that pump action shotgun with you when you run errands? : )

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), December 30, 2000.

I wouldn't dream of walking around armed all the time. Unless you're in law enforcement, live in an extremely dangerous area, or have a lot of enemies, there's simply no need IMHO. Of course, I wouldn't ever prevent someone from making that choice for themselves, assuming they're doing it within the bounds of safety and the law.

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), December 30, 2000.

truly scarry............

-- Mother of Jehosophat! (for@cryin'.outLoud!), December 31, 2000.


Your spelling skills??????

-- J (Y2J@home.comm), December 31, 2000.

OT - This belongs more with the 'Toy Gun' thread that Lon had started a little while back {I've lost track of it, however}.

The new Toy Gun Law goes into effect tomorrow in California. Toy guns will only be available in neon green and neon orange colors.

Maybe next year we will have another new law which will require anyone who wants to purchase neon green or orange spray paint to prove that they'd never been convicted of a felony.

-- flora (***@__._), December 31, 2000.


Johnny Canuck,

"To be useful for personal protection a weapon must be accessible. Does this mean that you have to keep your gun beside the bed and loaded? In the glove box when you are in the car?"

The .45 is in the night stand, loaded, right now.

"What happens when you leave the house, but don't take a weapon with you? Do you lock them up? In your state are you required to store weapons in your home in a particular manner? (i.e. trigger locks etc.)"

They go in the safe.

"Have you ever had occasion to un-holster (for lack of a better word) your weapon?"

Yes, and I was the most scared I have ever been in my life.

"Do you feel that the threat to your person and your home is greater, less or about the same as 10 years ago?"

Greater.

watchin' the stranger...

The Dog

-- The Dog (dogdesert@hotmail.com), January 02, 2001.




-- Good Work, NRA! (Your@new.Prez), January 02, 2001.

I live in California ( the main reason to own a gun) after the first of the year I found if you Painted your guns bright green or orange then they were no longer considered a dangerous weapon. WOW that was brilliant now the cops will deffinatly know all the criminals

-- Red Johnson (Red Johnson@member.net), January 06, 2001.

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