Just One More Thing About “Mr. Bang-Bang” November 29, 2007
Posted by Mitchell in Guns, Politics.trackback
I read the Owner’s Manual the night I brought it home cover to cover and I have a few questions for my fellow gun-nuts. The writers of that fine manual took great pains to point out that HOLY SHIT DUDE THIS IS GUN!! THIS THING IS INSANELY DANGEROUS!! OH GOD BE CAREFUL WITH IT!! In big, bold red letters. On every page. Several times. Now, I’m not one to belittle gun safety mind you, but…it seemed a bit excessive – particularly in regards to storage of the item. The manual explained at great length the necessity of keeping the both the gun unloaded and under lock and key AT ALL TIMES. At the very least double locked with both the cheesy loop lock thingy included and a gun safe that you have to buy separately. Optimally, it should be also sealed with a kryptonite cross so that both Dracula AND Superman couldn’t get near the thing*. All this even while shooting it, seemingly. Oh, and the ammo has to be locked away AT ALL TIMES as well, separately from the gun. In another state, preferably.
I may be exaggerating here. But not much. Again, I’m not running down gun safety, but some of this seems to me to be rather excessive, and not very practical if one really intends to have a gun for viable home defense: “Oh, excuse me Mr. Burgler while search for the keys for the gun safe, gun lock and ammo safe! Please don’t come upstairs and kill me while I’m trying to find all this stuff in the dark!”
Am I being Dangerously Flippant? Am I a Loose Cannon if I don’t store my gun and ammo separately? Am I The Worst Gun Owner Ever if I even consider storing it loaded? People keep telling me that one of the nice things about revolvers is that you can do so indefinitely without worrying about important springs getting worn out and the gun not working and whatnot, so clearly I’m not the only one who has notions of this Blackest of Gun Safety Heresy.
I live alone with a cat and I don’t have any kids that come over and play in my house. I’m reasonably certain the cat isn’t going to develop opposable thumbs and super-feline strength any time in the near future, so I’m not greatly concerned that my gun will Fall Into The Wrong Hands at my house. The manual did bring up the subject about gun theft, so I guess that’s something to consider. So, how do y’all go about this? McGoo? Mr. Minority? Weasel? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
*Apologies to Jack Handey for the kryptonite cross thing.
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The Center of the Anomaly 
I’m glad you mentioned YOUR living conditions. Now we can understand that we’re talking about YOU and not “the general arbitrary person”.
I lived most of my adult life as you do. So….
I generally securely locked up all firearms (when not in use) except one. I never locked up ammo, and often stored it near the gun safe. The only ammo that got locked up was “special” stuff – like pistol shot-shells, tracer rounds, etc – which was usually small amounts.
What I did do is KNOW where the single handgun was at all times in the house, and KNOW it was loaded at all times.
When I was expecting visitors I would usually confirm the two “KNOWS” above. If I expected a single child to be present (rare) I simply placed the pistol on the top shelf of a closet all the way back. If more than one child was going to be present (very rare) I unloaded and locked the weapon up, and took my chances on getting assaulted. 🙂
Depending on where I was traveling, how long, who with, etc, I would occasionally carry a weapon in the car. Once or twice in my life I have tucked a weapon into a camera bag and carried into a place of business.
I could go into all the reasoning behind what I described, but I suspect you can work it out. If you disagree with a part (or all) of my system – develop your own.
I think the important thing is to always be AWARE. Never forget that there is a loaded weapon nearby – ready to cause harm.
I, too, live a similarly single life. My bedside cannon is always loaded and on my bedside table in easy reach. I keep it under a small washcloth (with an embroidered badger on it!) so it won’t get dusty and it won’t be spotted by casual visitors. I do unload it and put it away when I’m away from home, so the catsitter doesn’t shoot anybody, but when I’m home…well, geez, that’s what it’s for! An unloaded gun is a stick.
I’m going to hear a noise, wake up in the middle of the night, find the gun, unlock it, unlock the ammunition, load the weapon and then see what the noise was? Pff! I’m a very deep sleeper and my chief worry is to wake up dead (so to speak). My rough plan if I hear a noise — which I’ve drilled into myself — is to grab the Cannon and roll off the bed to the right. That puts the bed between me and the door. Then I have the breathing space to sit there and blink and look stupid until I wake up enough to figure out what’s going on.
My one concession to safety is to keep an empty round under the hammer. That really isn’t necessary any more –used to be, if you fell off’n your horse and landed on the hammer, it could fire the round. Modern revolvers won’t, but the habit of keeping that chamber empty has been passed down the generations.
Enas,
I use these gun safes to store my firearms. Mrs. Pupster and I practice opening them every couple of weeks, it only takes a couple of seconds to press the code into the touch pad to get to Mr. Bang Bang and his friends. I store the ammo and spare clips in the safes as well.
Uhm…these gun safes:
http://www.gunvault.com/handgunsafesminivaultstandard/
If you have children, the best way to deal with them is: Teach them about guns.
I you don’t, then keep it loaded and near by, otherwise it is a useless piece of steel.
I didn’t have any problems with my boys and my guns, because I taught them as young as 4 yrs old, that guns are not toys, they can kill, and to reinforce that, I took them out to the country and shot a watermelon. I taught them gun safety, I let them touch my guns, because the kids that get shot are the ones that don’t know anything about them.
BTW, my .357 is loaded and between the mattress and headboard where either the wife or I can access it.
Oh, and Enas, all that crap in the manual, that is to protect the gunmakers from ignorant owners that like to sue.
Yeah, lawsuit coverage and some just over the top legislation.
is to grab the Cannon and roll off the bed to the right. That puts the bed between me and the door
Perfect. Call 911, aim at the door, wait. If they come in, they ain’t coming to steal from you, and you know what you gotta do. Down on the other side of the bed is the right place to be.