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Sidearms & Scatterguns Bedside pistol setup?

Napeequa55

Private
Minuteman
May 20, 2020
54
25
I keep my pistol in a nightstand drawer which is really not ideal.

What's a better solution?

I'd love to simply mount a kydex holster to the bedframe but I have frame with drawers underneath and I'm not into drilling through it... Same goes for the nightstand.
 
Mine goes on the nightstand when I take it off. Wife goes the dedicated bedside gun route and leaves one in the nightstand drawer all the time. For your dilemma just mount your holster at 90* to the edge of a 12x12 (or whatever needed for stability)piece of metal or wood and put that between the mattress and box springs.
 
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Are their children in the house?
If not, when you go to bed set the pistol on the bedside table ready to grab.

You could have a place to lock it up when you are gone, but when you go to bed, you want it right out ready to grab if there are no children in the house.

You'd be amazed at how long it seems to take to do the simplest quickest things like reach under your bed when you hear a door slam open and think it's on right then and there.
 
I keep my pistol in a nightstand drawer which is really not ideal.

What's a better solution?

I'd love to simply mount a kydex holster to the bedframe but I have frame with drawers underneath and I'm not into drilling through it... Same goes for the nightstand.

My carry pistol is always big enough to be my home defense pistol. When I get home, it comes out of the holster and goes in the nightstand drawer.

It's right where my hand goes to when I need something in the middle of the night. What could be more ideal than that?
 
Mine goes on the nightstand when I take it off. Wife goes the dedicated bedside gun route and leaves one in the nightstand drawer all the time. For your dilemma just mount your holster at 90* to the edge of a 12x12 (or whatever needed for stability)piece of metal or wood and put that between the mattress and box springs.
That’s a good idea. I am going to use that. Thanks.
 
My carry gun is also my nightstand gun. It goes in the drawer, which is left partially open, kind of standing with the grip up for quick access.
 
Have kids in the house..
I have sentry safe push button / finger print with key override.
Leave the box on my night stand
Mag in nothing in chamber.
Takes 3-4 seconds to open safe.
 
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Have kids in the house..
I have sentry safe push button / finger print with key override.
Leave the box on my night stand
Mag in nothing in chamber.
Takes 3-4 seconds to open safe.

I taught my daughter to not touch any firearm without me present when she was 3. She understood very well and to this day (15 years later) she hasn't disobeyed.

Maybe I got lucky.
 
I taught my daughter to not touch any firearm without me present when she was 3. She understood very well and to this day (15 years later) she hasn't disobeyed.

Maybe I got lucky.
Knowledge is the best safety equipment. Did the same with mine. It helps that they get to handle guns regularly, so they’re not a taboo.

I don’t have anything to add to the discussion about the best night stand gun storage solution. Out is most convenient. Locked in a safe is most secure. “Best” depends on your situation, but exists somewhere between those boundaries...
 
Have kids in the house..
I have sentry safe push button / finger print with key override.
Leave the box on my night stand
Mag in nothing in chamber.
Takes 3-4 seconds to open safe.

Biomentric (fingerprint) safes are a terrible idea for defense firearms. They wont work if your finger is cut, dirty, bloody, greasy, etc.

3-4 seconds is a HUGE amount of time in a defensive situation and you may not have time to keep trying until your safe opens.

Leaving it unchambered offers a great chance that you will forget to cycle it under the extreme stress of an attack
 
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Well I am a bit different. I have a 12g. Next to the bed and a 9mm about 3 feet away from the bed. I have an ar on the wall behind the door and a 44mag hanging next to that. I can literally fall out of bed and into a gun. I didnt plan this to happen, I was to lazy to put them up one day......and now we have this.
 
Well I am a bit different. I have a 12g. Next to the bed and a 9mm about 3 feet away from the bed. I have an ar on the wall behind the door and a 44mag hanging next to that. I can literally fall out of bed and into a gun. I didnt plan this to happen, I was to lazy to put them up one day......and now we have this.
Sounds like my dad’s house. Takes him a couple of hours to put the guns away before his wife’s grand kids visit.
 
Biomentric (fingerprint) safes are a terrible idea for defense firearms. They wont work if your finger is cut, dirty, bloody, greasy, etc.

3-4 seconds is a HUGE amount of time in a defensive situation and you may not have time to keep trying until your safe opens.

Leaving it unchambered offers a great chance that you will forget to cycle it under the extreme stress of an attack

Yeah WTF is with all that.......

Chamber empty? It's already under lock. What the hell does he think that accomplishes besides wasting more time?

This reminds me why I avoid public ranges and shooting with anyone who isn't a known quantity to me like the plague.
 
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I taught my daughter to not touch any firearm without me present when she was 3. She understood very well and to this day (15 years later) she hasn't disobeyed.

Maybe I got lucky.
No...you did it right. I have 5 and they all know to stay clear when I am not there.

Proper training prevents piss poor performance
 
Have no kids in the house so I always have a 9mm on the nightstand with a round in the chamber full mag and a spare mag next to that, makes no sense to have an empty chamber, keep it within reach at all times when in the house.
 
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Yeah WTF is with all that.......

Chamber empty? It's already under lock. What the hell does he think that accomplishes besides wasting more time?

This reminds me why I avoid public ranges and shooting with anyone who isn't a known quantity to me like the plague.

dont need a malfunction somehow if it gets knocked around and goes off killiing the cleaning lady

when the alarm goes off at 2am it takes alot more than 3 seconds to get to and then up my staircase..i could be sitting there having coffee

...im the guy down the end outshooting you at the public range...:p:D:ROFLMAO::devilish:
 
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I have a lot of firearm options but for the bedside table a simple setup (S&W 640 .357 / crimson trace) with a book on top.....no drilling for mounts etc.
Book cover and open page with mated magnets to maintain closure; don't think housekeeping even knows why the book is seemingly so heavy.
A bright light is always the first thing to acquire. Gotta love the title choice.

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Way too much time lost if you have to go into a drawer.

It takes less than a second to pull the drawer open. And I know that reaching in there I won't fumblefuck it and drop it behind the bed or something stupid.

The pistol lies in the same spot it's laid on for the last 16 years, in exactly the same orientation. I can pick it up in total darkness instantly.
 
Mine is chambered and holstered, within reach. Mossberg as well.
 
dont need a malfunction somehow if it gets knocked around and goes off killiing the cleaning lady

when the alarm goes off at 2am it takes alot more than 3 seconds to get to and then up my staircase..i could be sitting there having coffee

...im the guy down the end outshooting you at the public range...:p:D:ROFLMAO::devilish:

If your pistol malfunctions if it gets "knocked around" you need a new pistol.

If you are afraid of a "malfunction" when you take the pistol out of the safe you need more training, and need to put the gun down until you have more training.

It takes far less time to get from the front door to the upstairs than most people think, and under extreme stress, getting your gun will take more time than you think.

A biometric safe is a disaster in waiting.
 
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If your pistol malfunctions if it gets "knocked around" you need a new pistol.

If you are afraid of a "malfunction" when you take the pistol out of the safe you need more training, and need to put the gun down until you have more training.

It takes far less time to get from the front door to the upstairs than most people think, and under extreme stress, getting your gun will take more time than you think.

A biometric safe is a disaster in waiting.

100% on the bio.
I use the push button.
Even setting up the bio it seemed like a mess waiting to happen

All joking aside I practice unlocking and pistol ready drills everynight before going to bed.

Sometimes I’ll do it when I wake up to pee in the middle of the night as soon as my eyes pop open.

Just for those reasons
 
All this being said, I have tentative plans for razor wire all around the place, some claymores, trip flares, etc. Built range cards for final protective fires, interlocking fields of fire, covering dead space. Need to build some covered positions now. We live and have the positions on a military crest overwatching the MSR in front and the rear and flanks are slow to no-go areas.
 
All this being said, I have tentative plans for razor wire all around the place, some claymores, trip flares, etc. Built range cards for final protective fires, interlocking fields of fire, covering dead space. Need to build some covered positions now. We live and have the positions on a military crest overwatching the MSR in front and the rear and flanks are slow to no-go areas.

Ya don't need it until ya need it.
 
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you forgot to add the pressurized 55 gallon drum of gasoline plumed into the sprinkler system...thatll get their attention
 
I taught my son the same way. Never had a single incident and he is 30 now.

For those who aren't so lucky and have not so obedient kids (or kids from other marriages, etc.), I'd suggest a Zore gun lock. This is a pretty serious issue that us gun owners need to carefully consider and I've had to rethink my "middle of the night" set up over the years. I used to keep a sidearm loaded and ready at the bedside without any sort of safe/lock. Then along came my son, so I went with a Gun Vault (NOT biometric!). Then when he was a teenager, a co-worker's son (also a teenager) committed suicide with said co-worker's pistol. The kid simply took the Gun Vault and dropped it against the bed frame popping the door open. Any imaginative kid could easily open one of those with a screwdriver.

About that same time, the Zore lock was just coming out and I happily helped fund it's development through their Indigogo campaign. Yes it does take some training and is slower than some other options, but in my opinion, it is absolutely the best way to secure a sidearm from unauthorized access and still keep it ready for use within a handful of seconds. Layered defenses are key too, especially some sort of early warning system (noisy alarm, barking dog, etc.) so that you can buy yourself time to come out of a dead sleep and be ready to fight. The other great thing about a Zore lock, is that it renders it completely useless to a thief/un-authorized individual and you can leave your gun sitting out anywhere you like. When a Zore is locked into the chamber, the pistol is a useless chunk of metal and only the person who knows the code can change that. If it were stolen, the thief would have to destroy the gun to get the Zore out. Definitely something worth checking out for those of us who have different circumstances.
 
+1 for the biometric safes being unpredictable! I got one for free with my liberty and was excited to use it for the truck gun. Much to my dismay it won't read my prints ever. I understand that being a mechanic is hard on fingertips but I had much higher expectations.
 
I taught my daughter to not touch any firearm without me present when she was 3. She understood very well and to this day (15 years later) she hasn't disobeyed.

Maybe I got lucky.

I'd say you got lucky, and I'm hoping for the same luck. I'm in the same boat (2 and 4 year old). Like you, I still keep my loaded guns out because I don't trust technology to keep me alive when seconds count.

Living a legit hour response time away from a police force that is less trained than myself, I keep a loaded gun in every room that I spend time in. It may be overkill, and most are hidden out of sight to reduce temptation. But you aren't going to miss the AR next to my bed in the corner.

I hope that I never find one of the girls playing with a gun. I never miss an opportunity to teach firearms safety, and both girls are already shooting with me. I also realize my responsibility should an accident occur.

*Still...I knew where dad kept his HD revolver as a kid, and left it alone. Most importantly I knew where the revolver was when someone tried to break into our house when I was 12 and home alone. I don't know who was more scared, me rounding the corner to see a man trying to get into our garage door window, or the dude who looked up to see a gun pointed at him. I didn't have to fire it, but after the adrenaline wore down I had to ease the hammer down on a live round...didn't even know I cocked it. Thankfully no holes were added to the floor that day.

I think proper instruction and the fear of a thorough ass-whooping can do wonders for keeping kids safe around guns.
 
Teach them gun safety at a very early age. I had 4 kids who were around firearms all the time. I let them help me clean the firearms, I let them help me get the firearms out of the safe and then put them back. I let them pick out a firearm to hold and look at. They learned to clear or ask the firearm to be cleared before they touched them.

But they never were allowed to touch a loaded firearm. Take away the mystery of firearms and it's not a big deal to them any longer.
Also, I taught them to NEVER TALK ABOUT DAD'S FIREARMS TO ANYONE. No teachers, no friends, nobody.
 
Carry pistol is in a bedside safe when it isn’t on my belt. I use a push button lock Gunvault that’s cable locked to the bed frame and sits on top of the night stand, battery function gets checked twice a day. I have small children who walk and grab much better than they listen and I want to keep it out of the kids hands until they are old enough to understand the gravity of the weapon. Additionally, if other people’s kids come around I don’t have any idea what they have or haven’t taught their kids and the little bastards might snoop. When I was a single man In an apartment I kept a pistol, a shotgun, and an AR with a light and an M-9 bayonet within easy reach at night and locked them in the safe when I left for work. It’s all situational. I agree with teaching kids at an early age not to touch or talk about firearms, but I believe in multi tiered security, because shit happens and kids don’t think well all the time.
 
Take away the mystery of firearms and it's not a big deal to them any longer. Also, I taught them to NEVER TALK ABOUT DAD'S FIREARMS TO ANYONE. No teachers, no friends, nobody.

Agreed on both.
 
Simplex lock pistol safes work pretty good for bedside use and reliability. Having little kids around (even trained and responsible ones) and potentially kids’ friends changes the whole equation. I have guns to increase safety of family and friends, so sacrificing the ~2 extra seconds it takes to access the safe is a worthy tradeoff for me.
 
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