Some very good advice, I think:
What do you do? Do you have a gun? Where is it? Is it loaded? Is it locked away or gun-locked? What are your chances of surviving an attack without a weapon compared to having one?
I’m not saying go buy the gun. I’m saying that if you already have one and you haven’t shot it or cleaned it in, let’s say, the last year, or if it is in the closet, unloaded and/or locked down, the fact is, you will not be able to get to it in time.
Crooks are deathly afraid of being shot. They don’t like being bitten by dogs or locked up by the cops, or going down with the swine flu either, but they really don’t like being shot.
Criminals pick on the weak, and yes, the naïve, and those that will offer the least threat to them as they commit the crime. If you have a weapon, clean it up, oil it up, shoot it and then decide if you need to have it in the home. That’s a tough question if you have kids.
I am an advocate of this philosophy. Â I have told a few people I don’t think a gun is for them because I didn’t think they’d be serious about practicing with it, learning how to use it properly, or thinking seriously about storage options.
Too many people buy them as talismans — objects stashed away and largely not thought about in the closets or drawers, offering peace of mind and the illusion of safety. Â And so it sits, waiting for a theft, or waiting for an accident.
Or worse the guy with a shotgun or rifle in their closest for deer season, or dove season.
That gun can still be stolen and used for crime, it can still be found and played with by untrained children.
Still if a real threat enters the home it won’t be any good either.
You just took away all the good points of owning a gun, and kept all the bad ones….
I don’t have a problem with people owning guns for occasional recreation. They should be stored safely, and there are cheap ways to do that without an expensive safe, but that’s a different animal than someone who owns one for self-protection, but doesn’t really think serious about how they plan to use a gun for self-protection, and all that flows from that.
I should clarify, I mean, I don’t have a problem with people owning guns as a talisman. It’s their right. I just don’t think it’s wise. But if someone has a gun in the closet because they go hunting every 5 years or so, I don’t think that’s a poor reason to own a gun.
You can be locked, loaded and ready to rock, but if you don’t have the mindset “I will NOT be a victim” it won’t do you any good.
Practice, practice practice and have a plan.
I think what Weer’d Beard is saying is the guy with the rifle or shotgun stashed in the closet is the worst of both worlds. The weapon is unsecured and can be easily taken by well, anyone. But it is too inconvenient to be employed in most self-defense scenarios.
It’s OK they have a gun, but it needs to be secured.
Rob
The best place to keep your gun is in a holster, of course. But failing that, I’d rather keep a loaded gun inside a gunvault or similar than not have one at all. I get that it’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing.