There is nothing more frustrating than being delayed at the airport, waiting long hours at the security checkpoint, and having to adhere to strict security regulations when flying.

Flying with a gun doesn’t have to be as complicated as you think, even though the hassle of airline travel seems to be getting worse every day.

If you are planning to take a firearm on an airplane for hunting, a shooting competition, or even self-defense, this is excellent news for you.

The addition of a firearm to the mix may seem like it would only complicate things, but traveling with a firearm legally is actually simple, as long as you know what you’re doing.

In this guide, we demonstrate how to pack your firearm, ammunition, and accessories so that they remain legal, safe, and secure.

Also, I will provide some pointers on how to make flying with a gun less stressful at the airport. It is possible to do it the right way or the wrong way. Keep reading to find out more about how you can fly with a gun and still stay legal. Make sure you also know about the legality of having a gun safe in your car.

Keep Your Hand Gun Safe and Legal By Always Checking TSA Regulations

The rules and regulations for transporting firearms are subject to change from time to time, even if you’re familiar with the process. Therefore, you should not expect this article to be 100% accurate as it contains advice from a wide variety of sources.

As a result, you must always check the rules of your airline and the TSA before flying. You should also check the policies of the airline you are flying with.

Knowing the TSA’s rules for firearms is important. We live in a world where even gel insoles, pocket knives, snow globes, and even pocket knives can’t be secured in carry-on bags, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that a gun can’t be transported inside.

Here are the TSA rules in a nutshell:

• Guns must be unloaded, locked in non-breakable containers, and transported only with checked baggage.
• Keys or combinations for locks should only be kept by passengers. TSA locks should not be used (more about that later).
• Any firearms you are transporting as checked baggage must be declared.
• Checked baggage is permitted to contain ammunition, but carry-on luggage cannot.
• Carry-on luggage is prohibited when carrying parts like magazines and bolts; checked luggage is allowed.
• In transportation, ammunition is not allowed to exceed 11 pounds, and it needs to be in its original packaging or in a container specifically designed for this function.
• As far as carrying on and checking luggage are concerned, riflescopes are allowed.
• Toy replica guns, including those that are replicas of firearms, cannot be carried on board.

Every Airline Has Its Own Regulations

Besides the TSA requirements, each airline has its own regulations, so it’s up to you to do your research to ensure you have checked every box in order to fly with your firearm. Next, we’ll discuss that in more detail.

If you plan on storing firearms in a TSA-approved lock, keep in mind that they are illegal to use for regular luggage since a TSA master key can get into the lock.

In your checked baggage shouldn’t be a copy of the key. The key should be with you at all times. A lock would serve no purpose otherwise, would it?

As a result of having flown thousands of hours, we recommend solid key locks with a shank clearance just tall enough so that the gun case can be closed without allowing additional movement.

It is an enormous misconception that locks are an integral part of flying with firearms. While TSA lists allowing TSA locks on their website, that does not automatically make the policy smart.

Protective Cases Shouldn’t Be Skimped On

Choosing a quality protective case is essential both for your peace of mind and for the TSA’s. It’s your case that protects your gun from the baggage handlers and the plane during transfer while your bag is tossed around by less-than-careful baggage handlers.

Many gun owners choose to travel with their firearms in highly secure cases that are not obvious to thieves, along with being sturdy and durable. Depending upon your preferences, you may want to consider a case that can store small electronic devices, sporting equipment, or even musical instruments.

How To Fly With A Gun: Locked Gun Case

Flying with firearms requires you to check a locked, hard-sided container for the firearms. According to federal law, these containers must be securely locked.

How should you choose a gun case? TSA-approved gun cases are not formally certified, despite what anyone may claim.

To be categorized as a TSA-approved gun case, any lockable case with a solid of hard-sided material that prevents unauthorized persons from accessing its contents must comply with its lockable nature.

Despite the low prices here, you shouldn’t try to cut corners. It is important to note that your gun case will protect your firearms during the trip from damage and theft.

It can easily cost upwards of $2,000 to purchase one or two scoped rifles, so it’s a pretty smart investment to invest in a good quality lockable case for airplane travel. Gun cases don’t have to be that expensive in order to provide excellent protection for your firearms.

If you choose to take a lockable gun case with you on an airline flight, the next step is to secure it. Typically, the interpretation of rules is quite variable from one airport to another, and also from one agent to another.

It’s not specifically stated in TSA regulations that every single hole in your gun case needs to be locked. You just need to lock it securely. Once you get to the airport, you will probably find that doing so makes life easier.

In other words, if your gun case has four spots to lock it, make sure to secure it with four locks. The type of combination code or key lock you use to secure your gun case doesn’t matter. If you use locks, make sure they fit snugly in the case’s holes. Using a gun trigger lock is also a good idea for added safety.

Tip: Don’t lock your gun case with TSA-approved locks.

How come?

TSA regulations state that, when traveling with a gun, the passenger must retain the key to the lock secured to the case. Your firearms will be protected with this feature, so that no one can access them without your permission.

In theory, TSA agents could access your firearms without your knowledge since they possess a master key for TSA-approved locks. Use a padlock, like a Master lock, instead of a conventional, sturdy lock to secure your gun case when traveling with guns.

How Can You Pack An Easy Flight?

There’s no getting around packing, but it’s a requirement when traveling by plane. You can either breeze through security or miss your flight while arguing with a TSA agent if you pack your guns correctly the first time.

In general, the more tightly you organize your gear, the easier it will be to declare firearms. You don’t exactly present yourself as a responsible gun owner if you haphazardly throw things in a case and call it good.

In addition, ammunition must be stored in specialized containers designed to handle small quantities. In a hard case that contains a firearm, shells and ammunition .75 caliber or smaller can be stored, but they’re not required to.

The same rules apply to loaded and empty magazines and clips, but firearm parts like bolts and firing pins have to be stored in checked bags.

Despite the TSA’s recommendation that cardboard boxes can be used to store ammunition during air travel, you may want to use a more durable container in order to avoid the risk of having your ammunition box fall apart during flight, leaving your ammunition scattered around your bag.

Declaring Your Firearm When You Are Flying With A Gun

If you want to travel with a firearm, you must declare it to the airline once you arrive at an airport. When the agent asks you about your gun, don’t simply answer, “I have one.” Instead, say, “I need to declare it.”

Occasionally, an airline supervisor may be required to handle your bags, but it is not usually a significant issue. Your information will be needed to complete a declaration card, in which you must state that your firearms are unloaded, and they will place it in your case. You will be taken care of by most agents without batting an eye.

Make sure you declare your firearms and ammunition every time you travel, so don’t forget to do so if you switch airlines after you have declared them. “Firearm Declaration Slip” can be found online.

The act of declaring a gun is nothing to be embarrassed about, and you won’t get funny looks or be treated suspiciously. It isn’t the first time an agent has encountered a gun since starting their shift, and your gun probably won’t even be the strangest thing they’ve encountered since they started.

To declare a firearm, simply approach the ticket counter inside the airport and let the agent know. In addition to a card that you fill out with your contact information, they will inspect your gun for proper storage. If the case has been locked, the agent will confirm it.

Normally, your case is good to go after a few questions about the accessories and ammunition you’ve got. However, the agent may want to examine the case inside and out.

You must open the case in those cases, and you must demonstrate respect for the four golden rules of gun safety. Counter agents should not touch your guns under any circumstances.

You should not give your firearms to airline agents or TSA agents. An officer from the law enforcement department should intervene if they feel it requires an inspection.

Keep your eyes on announcements and pages as soon as you leave the airport and pass-through security to determine whether you will need to return to the luggage checkpoint.

Usually, declaring your income is a quick and simple process, although there are times when it might take a little bit longer. If that’s the case, you should allow yourself at least an additional hour.

Getting Your Gun From Baggage Claim

When you land, you may have to pick up large or unusual luggage, like skis, instead of your other checked baggage if you have checked the cases as individual pieces rather than as checked baggage.

Most often, they’ll just go down with the rest of the carousel. It’s impossible to explain why this isn’t consistent. You may wish to check the baggage office to see if the gun has been put away with the other strange items if your suitcase has come down the carousel, but your guns haven’t.

Make sure your luggage is still secure before you leave the airport, and nothing is missing. It’s convenient to keep a pocket knife handy on your checked baggage in case it’s zip-tied so you can untie it.

Final Thoughts

To summarize:

• Checked baggage is required for both ammunition and firearms.
• Guns should be stored in hard cases with non-TSA approved locks.
• A solid container is a safer and more convenient way to store ammunition.
• If you have a firearm, be sure to declare it.
• Become familiar with the rules of the airline you fly with.
• Knowing the laws of the place you’re going to is essential.

That’s it. However, you should still talk to a fellow traveler that has already flown with a gun before you fly with a gun.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Flying with Firearms appeared first on Robert's Defense.

And that’s great because they’re exercising their second amendment rights, and one of the ways you keep your rights is to exercise them.

So many of the folks who formerly were saying, “no one should have firearms; only the police should have them have” have now come around and thought, well, maybe they might want to have a firearm for personal protection, home defense, and for the defense of their family.

Maybe they just decided now’s the time to go out and be a target shooter. All good. It’s no wonder we see an increased sale of gun safes.

For that reason, in this article, I’m going to tackle a bunch of stuff that you need to know now that you’re a gun owner or you’re about to be one.

And that has to do with safety rules, operation, clearing, unloading, handling, some general safety advice, and some next steps.

6 Things New Gun Owners Need to Know

Here are some of the most important things that a new gun owner should know. There are other things, but I want to emphasize these aspects first.

1. The Universal Firearms Safety Rules

There are four of them.

Rule #1

For the Universal Firearms Safety Rules, the first and foremost is – Always know the condition of your gun, and always treat all guns as if they’re loaded.

So again, we need to assume the gun is loaded, and we are going to treat it that way. This is a great failsafe. Anyone who has ever accidentally discharged a gun accidentally or negligently did it with an ’empty’ weapon has done it with a gun that was supposed to be empty.

In other words, there is no unloaded gun. We are always pretending that the gun is loaded even if we know it’s unloaded. That prevents us from experiencing any terrible disasters.

Rule #2

Never point the muzzle, you know, the business end part of any gun at anything you are not prepared to destroy or buy. Imagine a laser kind of a light sword coming out here that literally could slice through things.

That’s what they can do if you’re shooting at somebody. So, we always want to keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction until such a time as we need to get on target.

Rule #3

Finger off the trigger and always along with the frame. You shouldn’t touch the trigger until your sights are aligned, and your decision to fire has been made.

This is an excellent trigger discipline. It is not possible to fire a gun if you do not pull the trigger. Once again, they are not a bunch of bombs waiting to go off. For the gun to fire, you must pull the trigger.

Rule #4

Know your target and what’s beyond it. As responsible citizens, we’re responsible for every single round that leaves the gun.

So, if you’re in a self-defense situation, and you’re shooting, and you’re not hitting the threat, those rounds are going out and potentially could strike someone who’s innocent. So, you need to know your target and what’s beyond it.

Understand your target, what lies beyond it, what lies in front of it, what lies to the left, and what lies to the right of it. Remember that bullets can pierce walls.

2. The Manual Of Arms

The second part is knowing the manual of arms associated with whatever type of firearm you have. So, what does the manual of arms mean?

Well, it means the way the firearm operates. It means you know how to clear stoppages if you have one. It also means you know how a gun works, how to load and confirm the gun is unloaded, and how to load the gun. So, you know how the gun operates, well, How do you do that?

This is going to be radicals to some of you, but it pays to read the manual. Every gun, especially new guns, will come with a manual. If you get a gun used, then you can download the manual from the manufacturer. You will find all kinds of good tips there.

3. Finding A Proper Safe Storage

How are you going to secure that firearm when it’s not physically on your person? Some folks say, well, I’m just going to throw it in a drawer. That’s totally okay if you don’t have kids and if you know that no one’s going to get into your house at any time and steal your stuff.

Because if they steal your stuff and there’s an unsecured firearm, I don’t think I need to tell you anything else. Find a good gun safe. If it’s a small gun, you can keep it in a handgun safe.

It doesn’t cost much money to invest in a fairly simple safe. If you want simple storage for your guns, you can easily find gun safes that are under 300 dollars.

A gun safe that is small has a lot of perks. You will be able to access that firearm immediately, and it can be attached to your wall, into 2x4s, etc. There are plenty of ways that you can secure a safe so someone can’t walk off with it.

Or you can go with one of my preferences which are large rifle safes under 500. That’s right. You can easily find one under 500 dollars. These large safes are available in either biometric or digital keypad.

If you travel with your gun a lot or a regular commuter, you can even find a gun safe that you can mount to your car. Again, if you want to store the firearm in some other way, that’s totally okay.

From my perspective, as responsible citizens, we also have to be aware that if someone else can access the firearm who shouldn’t get at it, that’s going to be on us. Whether it’s fair not, that’s the way it’s going to be in the legal system.

4. Knowledge Of The Law

Speaking of the legal system, this is the fourth thing you must know. You have to know your local, state, and federal firearms law, particularly if you’re going to use a firearm for personal protection. Every state and sometimes even the municipality has different laws about when you can use lethal force, so know about the legality of having a firearm in your vehicle.

Lethal force typically is only allowed if there is weapon, capability, and intent. So the threat has to have a weapon, a weapon or weapons, they have to have the physical capability, and they have to have intent.

So, a person who’s your size, who has a knife and saying I’m going to kill you and is moving towards you, and you can’t egress, this is a typical situation where you can, you know, go all out in the name of personal defense.

Let’s have a look at the situation at hand. He has a weapon, he has the capability, and he’s identified the intent, which is I’m going to kill you, right, that if I couldn’t and for me, I would personally try to get away, but if I couldn’t get away, I would then be able to meet force with force.

There also has to be an equality of force to force. So, if the person is just yelling and screaming at me and saying, “I’m going to kill you,” well he may have intended, and he may have the capability because the person is a big strong person, but if he’s not actually armed with a weapon, you can’t shoot.

Then again, I have to be very careful of whether or not I can go to lethal force. And generally, states look at is the weapon you’re using to defend yourself proportionate to the threat.

So, if someone says I’m going to kill you and they’ve got a can of spray paint, and they’re spraying it at me, and I use lethal force, it’s going to be hard to convince a jury that I was responding in a reasonable way.

Now, whether or not that’s right, whether someone should be able to spray any kind of paint in your face or whatever right, but again, you must know the law. And just because you think, or you heard it on TV doesn’t mean it’s accurate.

So, make sure you know the law.

5. Training

Ladies and gentlemen, please don’t neglect training. It’s very important. Anyone who does anything will tell you that they revert to their lowest level of training under stress.

So, if you’re planning to use a firearm for personal protection, or defense of your family, or your home, and you’ve never had any training, and you’ve never been stress tested, the expectation that you’ll be able to perform at a high level when you’re in a light fear mode, is going to be very low.

So, folks who are looking at tools for self-defense need also to get training and practice.  If you don’t have those things, it is very unlikely you will be highly effective at getting combat-effective hits to neutralize a threat.

In the United States, because of our medical care and the closeness of most trauma hospitals, especially in urban environments, people shot with handguns but don’t die often. We’re trying to stop a threat. We are not trying to kill anybody. We are trying to stop a threat.

6. Have A Backup Plan

Also, with regards to the law, know what to do if you have to use a firearm for personal protection. Let’s say you had a weapon, you had the capability, you had the intent, and a bad person wants to hurt you, and you can’t get away; you have to defend yourself.

You need to have a specific plan because the police are going to treat you as they treat anyone, which is they don’t know the facts.

And so, if you jump on 9-1-1 and you say, “Hey, I just shot someone,” it is very different than “Hey, someone just tried to kill me, I think I’m going into shock please send an ambulance; also, there needs to be another ambulance for the person who attacked me.

And then you got to wait, guys. Wait until you got your lawyer present. Don’t make statements about what you did without a lawyer being present. You’ll want to cooperate; I get that. I want to cooperate with law enforcement. But you should wait for your lawyer.

If you have to talk, say, “I want to be 100% cooperative. I’d like to have my attorney present with me as well, and I’m not making any statements until I have my attorney. You have to do that.

Final Words

So, anyway, guys, those are the things that I believe any new firearms owner must think about, particularly if they’re looking at a firearm for personal protection or the defense of their home, their family, and themselves. I really appreciate all of you reading this article. And as always, stay safe.

The post 6 Things New Gun Owners Need to Know – New Gun Ownership 101 appeared first on Robert's Defense.

The Reality Of Fireproof Safes

Ratings for fireproof gun safes are 95% nonsense. Most of the time, the safe is flameproofed by placing a gypsum board inside its walls. Smoke damage can destroy firearms just as thoroughly as fire damage does, yet these safes seldom protect against it.

As long as you don’t surpass $5,000, fireproofing is going to be bad at best. The risk of firearm theft outweighs that of fire for the average gun owner. Security should be a priority.

Construction

In most cases, a safe must be enclosed on (ideally) five of its six sides by a structure that’s hard to breach, and it must also be bolted down. The chance of walking away with a two-ton safe may not seem likely.

But when you knock a safe over onto its back, you have far greater leverage to pry on it than when the safe is standing. Make sure most of the sides are difficult to access (except the front, of course).

Understanding Locking Bolts

80% of what’s said about locking bolts is bunk. Many of the lower-priced safes have locking bolts and pride themselves on being choky.

Using a locking bolt, the size of your pinky, they will secure them to the door. The locking bolt is not a locking bolt if it is not securely attached to the door. It’s the same as having a massive chain on your bike, secured with a zip tie.

Truth About Gun Storage Capacity

You should consider “can hold X guns!” as a generous overestimate. Unless you pack them tightly, most safes cannot hold the number of items they claim they can.

It is a very rare occasion when rifle racks actually make safe interiors easier to use and are generally sold as an upsell item as they are relatively inexpensive. You should purchase what you need after getting the bedside quick access gun safe.

Misleading Marketing Tactics

You shouldn’t watch demo videos where bulldozers smash safes and drop them from buildings. Although they’re neat, they tell you absolutely nothing about how good a safe is.

There are very few burglars with bulldozers and not many drop safes from buildings. As a result, they rationalize, “Oh, if it survived, then it can handle anything!” But that is incorrect reasoning. Burglars who hack off a corner of a safe and take the contents are an entirely different animal than ones who smash one with a truck.

Alternative Option

Make a copy of the key or combination and keep it in a safety deposit box (they cost about $60 a year), or you better figure out how to open a safe without the combination. Don’t think about it. Just do it. You will save a lot of money using it the first time since a locksmith will charge a lot more to undo your mistake if it is even possible.

Build Quality

There’s no need to assume that a safe is made of super thick steel because it looks that way. Often, cheaper safes simply have a thin metal sheet folded and shaped into the illusion of one continuous piece, when in reality, it’s only a thin skin.

Reality Check

Under no circumstances is a gun safe under $5,000 capable of withstanding a serious attack by someone with tools. Tents aren’t forts, so don’t expect the opposite.

In most cases, a safe is not a great way to stop an attacker, but it will delay them long enough for them to realize what they’re doing doesn’t matter anymore. Despite their $10,000 price tags, even the biggest monster has a limit. It is impossible for anything to be impregnable.

Don’t Just Rely On A Gun Safe

You should never rely on a safe to protect your firearms alone. Before you can consider other aspects of your home security, make sure the rest is in order.

To ensure your home is secured on multiple levels, it is better to purchase a $5,000 safe and use the remaining $5,000 for home upgrades and repairs rather than buying a $10,000 safe.

Think Of Your Security Needs

Your most urgent security needs should be kept in mind. People often fall into the trap of saving for that $10,000 monster and then having nothing but a closet in the meantime.

Someone breaks into their home and steals everything while they’re waiting. An inadequate storage container is better than no container at all. It’s not useless to have a gun locker and a cheaper safe. Something that keeps people honest may be a better choice if you’re more concerned with your guests or children.

Gun Safe Expectations

Think about where this safe will be in five years, ten years, fifteen years, etc. Although that 372-gun safe may look good in your spare room right now, will you be able to take it with you if you decide to move in 5-10 years?

Is it possible to move it? You’ll have to factor in where you can move when moving a big safe, kind of as if it were a pet. There are companies that specialize in safe moving, but they charge hefty fees, especially when stairs are involved.

Manageable Interior Space

A common problem is “safe shrinkage.”. If you are ruthless in curating what you have, it can be impossible to get a safe with enough storage space.

A roomy safe is easier to deal with than one you have to empty everything just to get to a single rifle. Even if you don’t use all the space, you’ll still be glad you bought more than you thought you needed.

Gun Safe Accessories

There are upsells that feature a variety of storage pouches, a dehumidifier, power strips, Velcro walls, etc. Prices will typically increase by several hundred dollars, or prices will be inflated by incorporating them. It’s not worth it. Almost always, stock units are cheap garbage that costs next to nothing.

Gun Safe Weight

Take the weight of the gun safe into account. It is more important to install safes in apartment buildings or on second floors.

Also, keep in mind that this choky gun safe might require some stairs, and even just one or two stairs from your garage to your house may be difficult to handle a one-ton safe.

Consider doubling its weight before you buy one, and be sure that your floor can actually hold the weight. When you start throwing guns in there, your floor will surely protest if it can barely support the weight of an empty safe.

Gun Safe Delivery

Take advantage of “white glove” delivery or installation services. Don’t let the price scare you. It can be done by two or three friends. It shouldn’t take more than three beers per person.

In spite of this, proper tools and experience are essential to doing a job properly. A bad outcome can have pretty significant consequences, especially when things go wrong. Having a one-ton safe sail through the drywall at the bottom of steps after laying three or four mullets would make for an awesome YT video.

Yet, what a big pain for a homeowner to watch that safe climb from the top of the stairs. After adding the cost of structural repairs and the cost of hiring professionals to move the safe, that’s a lot to pay to move the safe. Furthermore, the surgery for a herniated disc can cost upwards of $50,000, which is a lot of money or guns.

Locking Mechanism & Warranty

Consider whether the company will cover the cost of replacing/opening the safe if the electronics fail if you buy a safe with electronic locks and no key override. Walk away if they won’t.

You want the electronics to be warrantied no matter what, but if it’s your only option, take the warranty or walk away from it. Even though electronic locks are relatively reliable nowadays, they are prone to failure and shouldn’t be your only option for opening a safe.

When a liquid leaks onto the electronics, it can be permanently damaged or even just damaged if the safe is accidentally moved or opened when the door is opened. There is no immediate no to using electronics, but you shouldn’t rely exclusively on them.

Even the nicer biometric safes can fail – biometrics are easily confused, and even the nicer ones are not always reliable. Your best bet is a solid spin dial lock. That being said, new biometric gun safes are coming up each year with better and reliable fingerprint technology.

Theft Deterrent Features

A lock picker must possess very specialized skills. If someone has spent the time and effort to figure out how to hack into even a cheap safe, then he/she is unlikely to waste much time trying to break into your safe.

Although YouTube videos can show you how to get through a padlock or a front door lock, your safe’s lock is usually more secure, making entry more difficult. Key locks and key overrides for dial or electronic locks should not frighten you.

Hidden Gun Safes

It is not good to store guns in “hidden” containers, especially if they are merely protected by obscurity. Magnetic shelves and ottomans with secret compartments are hot right now but consider accidentally bumping one of those pieces of furniture and noting how heavily it feels. Children especially are curious about everything.

You should at least lock it with a key if you’re choosing a hidden solution. Anyone breaking in would easily locate hidden compartments by picking up heavy furniture and whacking it once or twice. The “security through obscurity” approach is not recommended for gun owners.

Manual Inspection

Check out a safe physically before buying it whenever possible. Test it by poking at it, prodding it, wriggling the lock, and looking at everything you can. If you are concerned about something, do your research. Find out if there are YT videos showing someone easily opening the safe.

In case you’re not yet in safe territory, job boxes are an affordable and sturdy alternative. With the right tools and a little bit of wood paneling, they can be made fairly impervious. Internal organization is the biggest challenge they face.

Make sure tools that could be used to get into your safe are placed in a secure container or in the safe itself (if you have room). The worst feeling is to learn the burglar cut/broke open your safe using the tools you used.

Final Words

Safes that cost less than $1000 aren’t safes; they’re Residential Security Cabinets. A TL rating designated a correct safe, which indicates how long a hacker could use unlimited tools to gain entry. TL-15 (15 minutes) is the starting point.

Safes that cost $4000 might have TL-15 ratings. That being said, you should still buy a good gun safe even if you own just one handgun. There are plenty of good handgun safes out there.

The post The Truth About Gun Safes & Things Manufacturers Won’t Tell You appeared first on Robert's Defense.

The answer depends, at least in part, on what you mean by “right next to them.” One thing is by the bedside furniture, but another is in your hand.

My guess is that the former is more common than the latter. Individuals and the environment in which they grew up play a role. Also, much depends on your definition of a lot. How common is it?

I believe more people have a loaded gun on a bedside table or a bedside gun safe than the latter, but yes, pretty common. I would guess many millions of Americans own loaded guns. Tens of thousands of people sleep with loaded guns at any given time, some even below their pillow.

Dangers

In regard to the former matter (loaded gun in nightstand), nope, not really. Is it a problem? Our 330 million-strong population means accidental shootings constitute a tiny fraction of our overall population.

All of the USA saw 505 accidental shootings in one year, and it is highly unlikely that all of them were the result of fumbling with guns on nightstands.

Whether at home or at a shooting range, or wherever it may be, 100 of those deaths are probably attributable to such fumbling. Irrelevant is that it was loaded on a nightstand.

According to FBI statistics, over 600 Americans are beaten or kicked to death by fists or feet each year.

Sleeping With A Weapon In Hand

It is a bit more dangerous to sleep with the weapon in your hand. The most likely reason why someone would do that is to feel threatened, and they may very well actually be threatened.

Some people may shoot their loved ones when they are groggy and fast-awake due to a bad dream or feeling of threat.

You are better off removing yourself from the threat if you can in a situation like this. However, this isn’t always possible.

With A Loaded Gun?

When a gun is unloaded, what’s the point? Really? Is the would-be assailant going to wait while you load the weapon if you need to defend yourself or your family, which is the primary reason you have the weapon?

I say NO! At almost an instant’s notice, you need the weapon. People who make other claims are not building their arguments on the interests of the intended.

The potential victim’s safety is probably not the priority, but mostly the liability and media soundbite of some politicians, including lawyers who pay no attention to the potential victim’s safety.

Safety Issues

Weapons play a very large role in that. Safety mechanisms are not always present on firearms. It is not reliable on some devices. It is also somewhat ambiguous to use the term loaded.

Ranchers and cattlemen were part of my family. The usual practice was to carry a loaded revolver (usually a Colt Peacemaker) in a holster with five instead of six shots, with an empty cylinder beneath the hammer.

Keeping the gun ready for action as usual while reducing the likelihood of an accidental discharge. Under the firing pin, the weapon does have a primer but not a live shot.

It is common for people to keep a semiautomatic pistol loaded with cartridges in the magazine but without a round in the chamber. There is also a primer under the firing pin, but the weapon has not yet been loaded.

As well, one may possess a long gun (bow or rifle) with a magazine loaded, but no rounds chambered. When you have the weapon in hand, you can quickly chamber a round, dramatically reducing the risk of an accidental discharge.

Considering your lack of experience with firearms, I wouldn’t suggest you keep them for self-defense or the defense of your family.

I have practiced it for a long time, as have my ancestors. You might want to gain a deeper understanding of the subject before diving into technical details.

Dangers

The entire point of a firearm is to be dangerous, and that is an important fact that many people miss! The dangerous part of the firearm is the end through which the bullet exits, which is one that is easily understood.

Armed persons understand the weapon isn’t dangerous to them in the night, even if it’s within reach.

Additionally, they understand that leaving that weapon unattended could be much more dangerous than having the weapon accidentally discharged in the event of a home invasion.

Except when it is loaded, a firearm is nothing more than an expensive piece of metal and springs. Historically and for other reasons, some people collect firearms. It doesn’t matter if they are loaded or not.

A loaded weapon can only function as the tool for which it was designed. A firearm with no cartridge in the chamber ready to be fired, in my opinion, is not loaded.

To The Specific Questions

1. A gun does not point itself at you and pull its own trigger in the middle of the night. A quick-release safe is commonly kept near the bed or hidden in a nightstand drawer, or even under the bed.

2. If a gun is unloaded, it’s just a paperweight. It’s okay to throw the gun, but there is exactly one round left in your magazine. What is the point of giving a weapon to an intruder?

3. Wouldn’t it be great if they could just throw it back?! Loading the weapon increases its efficiency. Even if you keep the chamber filled, you do not need to keep the gun loaded. Safety can be used as well. What about gun trigger locks now? In that case, you might be better off throwing the gun.

4. It is wise to maintain internal safety. The triggers on many revolvers are heavy, so there is no such thing as an “accidental” firing. The only way you could manage to fire that weapon is if you somehow someway managed to maneuver it. It is also a violation of the rules.

Final Words

As noted in the other answers, some firearms have safety features, and some do not. Having the safety on is probably a good idea if you are familiar with your weapon and have trained to operate it. This may be particularly true for rifles and shotguns that are loaded.

Modern pistols are often equipped with either no safeties or passive safeties, meaning that firing them is accomplished either by gripping the weapon or pushing the trigger.

The trigger of any weapon is safe as long as the finger is not touching it. Children are most likely to accidentally shoot themselves as a result of finding an unlocked firearm, being curious, and not being trained. Knowing guns and their ends, at least, allows children to remain safe around them.

To pull the trigger on a gun and point it at someone will result in very bad things happening, so they do not do this. Curiousness and unfamiliarity, not the presence of a weapon itself, are what cause accidents.

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