Safety Tips for Home Defense Weapons

Far too often we here of family members accidentally being shot inside their own homes by other family members. Whether it be by a father shooting his teenage son or daughter after they have snuck in after being out too late in a case of mistaken identify or by children playing with unsecured firearms.

Being a police officer firearms instructor I have heard several arguments on this subject in reference to safety versus accessibility. I have heard people argue that they must be able to get to their weapon in a hurry and that's why they have it located close to them such as a night stand next to there bed.

I understand there reasoning but how many of us are in the right state of mind right after we are woken up. What if you woke up and saw someone standing in your bedroom, what would your first reaction be, most likely to grab your weapon and shoot. It might be a intruder or it could be your spouse who had gotten up in the middle of the night to use the restroom.

Another mistake I hear from citizens and officers alike is the fact that they did not have any type of security devices, such as a lock on their weapon. I bring this fact up to them, especially the individuals who have small children and the response is almost always the same. "I have taught my child the importance of gun safety and not to touch my gun". Which is a great statement and if their children to understand this fact it they have taught them well but what to children do.

They invite friends over, right and their friends might not have the same understanding and respect for firearms and what do children like to do. They like to play, what if your child gives your home protection weapon this his friend. Your child has been taught to respect the weapon but his friend has not and that's when accidents will occur often with tragic consequences. Here are a few things you can to do to minimize accidents while still providing you and your family with security with a home defense weapon.

First use the three step rule, this rule is simple and effective. All you have to do is place your weapon at least three steps from your bed if you keep it in your bed room. This way if you are woken up in the middle of the night you have to exit your bed and take at least three steps to get to your weapon. This will give you the time to gather your sensuous and make the conscious decision to shoot , which will vastly reduce the threat of shooting the wrong person.

Second is to place some type of safety lock over the trigger preferably something with a key and hide that key in a place that is easily accessible but were your children can not find it . Now I have heard the argument that is someone is inside my house I have to be able to use my home defense weapon quickly and I do not have time to remove a safety lock. We have a place a key inside a lock, now does it really take more than a second or two. That little bit of inconvenience could be the difference between your child or another child being seriously hurt or killed, for that reason alone I believe it is completely worth it.