Is Your Gun Easily Accessible When You Really Need it?

This is a guest post by Vicki Clain.  Vicki is a Huffington Post contributor that is actually writing positive articles about guns and self defense.  So I gave her this spot to improve her craft of writing about self defense and to let her reach more people that I can’t reach.  Thanks for the post Vicki.

In my opinion, everyone should learn about self-defense. Men, women, and children should know how to react in a violent situation and should be prepared for a wide range of scenarios. This way, the crime rate would be reduced and people would be less likely to let attackers transform them into victims.

By ignoring this aspect of our lives, we close our eyes in front of danger and we put our safety and safety of those we love in the hands of others. I’m not saying that authorities are not capable of doing their job, but most attacks happen where you expect less and there’s no time to call anyone.

One of those unexpected situations is the home invasion. These are some of the most treacherous situations because everyone likes to believe they are safe in their own house. After all, the home is the one place where you let your guard down and enjoy some downtime with your family and friends. And, even though you might have thought about defense at some point, you don’t really prepare for it the right way until it happens.

Now, you should know that even security specialists and military trained personnel make mistakes when it comes to home invasions. Still, they have a pretty good chance to recover and overcome the invader due to their training and preparedness. These people know how to react in such a situation and, most importantly, they always keep an open access to the guns they have around.

Sadly, with the regular American folk, the situation is not that good. While it’s true that over 40% of Americans who buy a gun make the decision with self-defense in mind, it’s also true that the said gun will end up stashed away in a safe or a closet/drawer. Actually, most guns bought for self-defense end up without being fired once.

Another sad fact about this aspect is that most gun owners don’t prepare for the event when they will have to fire the gun at another being (human or not). They consider that simply having the gun is enough and simply give up on training and preparedness drills.

Why Preparedness Is Important

Preparedness is somehow connected with training, but it is mostly a mental activity. First, you should try to think like an attacker (even though it is disturbing!). This is important so you can identify the places where you are most vulnerable and understand what an attacker might want. You can also talk to people who are already prepared for various difficult situations in order to understand how this works.

In the case of a home invasion, it’s usually a burglar who will enter uninvited, but there are darker cases when the person is mentally deranged. You definitely don’t want to allow anyone to scare your family in your own house which is why, preparedness matters.

Another aspect where preparedness helps is gun accessibility. Let’s say you own several guns and they are all locked in the safe so kids can’t reach them by accident. What happens if you are surprised by an intruder?

The same goes for when you’re driving in town with your family. You are behind the wheel and somehow, you find yourself and your family in a threatening situation – do you have the possibility to reach your gun in time? Or is said gun even in the same car with you?

There are many situations when, even though you have a gun, you won’t be near it when the situation occurs. That’s why it is important to prepare for such cases and plan a way to get the gun regardless of how difficult the situation will be.

Below I devised a few plans and ideas that may be of help, but I challenge you to find more. Keep in mind: preparedness and training are extremely important as they also teach you how to deal with feelings of fear and panic.

Keep Several Guns in the House

It may seem like an overreaction, but the more guns you have in the house, the greater the chances to reach one of them (if the guns aren’t all in the same place).

I like to use clever hiding places like a fake bookcase on my nightstand, or a hidden compartment in my bed frame. I am focused on the bed, because most burglars head to the master bedroom first. If it is night, and you’re in bed, you can easily reach for the gun without even getting up.

If you don’t like keeping real guns so close to the bed, you can always get a replica like the ones you can see on Goog Gun. Airsoft guns are extremely realistic looking and if you remove the orange tip, no one will question that the AR-15 you’re holding isn’t real.

One of my friends even has a secret compartment built into the front door. This way, if someone tries to break an entering by forcing the door open, he can fight back with firepower.

Get Clever Storage

The gun safe is a good idea because it keeps the guns away from young members of your family, but it’s also difficult to operate when you are scared. At least the classic designs are. For easy access, I recommend getting one with a biometric lock that doesn’t require any complicated settings.

Thanks Vicki,

Stay Safe

Ben

PS  I don’t think the fake gun thought in this article is a good idea.  It may work, but if it doesn’t you are asking for more trouble.  You will probably anger the bad guy and they will take it out on you with violence.  Find training in firearms or different ways to defend yourself if you won’t have a gun in your home.