The Glade 4.0

Literally. I woke up to the sound of something clanging near our door. It jolted me awake and I was already mentally preparing for the motions needed to get my gun, cock it, and find the target. As I was doing that, my arm jolted over to where my wife sleeps next to me and she wasn't there.

Turns out she knocked make-up over while she was fumbling her way to the door. It took me an hour to settle back down and get back to sleep.

This was the first time I've ever been awoken and been ready to act like that. Sadly, I still felt less than prepared. I keep my piece in its box under my bed. I'm starting to think I need to keep it in my nightstand or sandwiched between the mattress and headboard. I also feel like its time to run drills too.

_________________
The Dude abides.

why so paranoid? bad neighborhood? previous break-ins?

_________________
Ron Paul 2012

So you were ready to cock and shoot your wife and feel that faster access to your firearm would be beneficial? Interesting perspective.

_________________

(Couldn't figure out how to delete the post.)

_________________
The Dude abides.

Not particularly. I've had a gun for 10 years and have been startled awake before. It was probably the sound of something breaking.

But this is a border state and home invasions are on the rise.



Edited: Changed the name calling to be less offensive.

_________________
The Dude abides.

There are bed holsters, the support slips between boxframe and mattress.

_________________
"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

Sorry, that came out douchier than intended.

_________________

Douchy or not, I think it's a very valid question and risk.

What if the sound had been closer to the bedroom (more urgent) and the firearm instantly available, loaded and cocked?

If you're going to dail up the combat readiness, definately need to make sure that you're amping up the training along with the physical storage.

Heh, now I have Inspector Clouseau and Cato running through my head.

[youtube]IA8QrOAghZ0[/youtube]

Yeah, because it never occurred to me I should try to identify the person before I shoot them.

_________________
The Dude abides.

Lol, they don't understand what you wrote Screeling. It's to be expected of people unfamiliar with firearms.

Read what he wrote folks.

Drill Screeling, you know they're perishable skills.

I had a very similar experience Sunday morning about 2:30am. I fell asleep on the couch with the door open, and woke up to (what I would swear was) the sound of someone walking up my front porch. My hand went to my holster and my eyes went to my shepherd; as I was sitting up, I realized the dog was looking at me - not the door. Adrenaline dump followed by a wash of relief.

_________________
"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

Thank god for Dogs.

I know that if I hear something, and the dogs *aren't* freaking out... its OK. But if I hear something and the dogs *are* freaking out... Time to grab the gauge.

_________________

Holy shitsnacks!

Not really a valid question if you follow proper gun safety.

You always warn your target verbally and attempt to identify them.

My firearm, because I don't have children, is always loaded but unchambered, no more than 3 feet from my bedside. I have a fiancee and tenant that live in the same building, but none of those things increases the risk of shooting them on accident.

What increases that risk is failing to prepare yourself mentally and physically. You have to be able to shout a warning while preparing your weapon (cocking it, for example) on very short notice. My take is that Screeling merely felt that he hadn't done some of that preparation.

If Screeling is in Phoenix, I can't blame him either. Kidnapping capital of the US.

_________________
“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

I never said it didn't occur to you. Note my 3rd sentence. All I'm saying is that as you make it easier to quickly shoot a firearm in a panic situation, you also increase the risk of accident. Now, it's very possible to manage that risk through training, and it sounds like you are planning on doing that which is good. However, doing one without the other is asking for trouble.

Mine is condition 1 right next to my bed.

_________________
"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

Uh huh. I'm quite familiar with firearms and a very good shot, thank you very much.



This.



Seriously tho, where the hell do you guys live that when hearing someone walking up to your front porch (presumably the way to the front door) makes you immediately jump for your gun?!?!

at 2:30 am?

_________________

Holy shitsnacks!

Ah, I missed the AM part. I thought he was taking a nap. Ok, that makes more sense.

2:30am or 2:30pm, I still think, "Where the hell do you guys live?" Seriously, if the neighborhood is that bad, just move.

I know what you're getting at, DFK, but this kind of statement is a pet peeve of mine in gun-related discussions (see the other thread, for instance). Of course it increases the risk of shooting them on accident. Just because the increased risk can be managed and mitigated through training, doesn't mean there is no increase in risk to begin with. It's like driving - if I'm well-trained and careful, I might be just as safe at 120mph as an untrained, careless driver at 60mph, but guess what, I'd be even safer if I went slower.

False analogy, and false statement.

Unless you're trying to argue that people not being the building minimizes the risk of shooting somebody else in the building on accident, in which case: "duh."

_________________
“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

If your gun was unloaded, disassembled, and locked in a safe in the basement, you would obviously be less likely to accidentally shoot the wrong person than you would be if it was sitting, loaded, on your nightstand. Why? Because the effects of the post-sleep grogginess and sudden adrenaline rush would be gone by the time you got the gun, and because you'd have a very long time to confirm your target before the gun even enters the situation. It's just common sense, dude.

Yeah, I don't disagree. If I heard a noise on my steps at 2:30 in the morning, I'd be more likely to assume that a neighbor was in need of help due to an accident, fire or other emergency rather than expecting to need to defend myself against an aggressor.

No if I heard that noise and then didn't heard a knock or door bell and still heard someone poking around I'd get to be more suspicious.

Well, duh. That's like saying if you put your car up on blocks you'd be less likely to have a car accident.

Saying "You increase the risk of accident by readying a gun for instant use" is like saing "you increase the risk of a car wreck by driving at rush hour." Of course you do, but by not readying it for use, you increase the risk of not being able to get it if you need it just like not driving at rush hour carries the risk of not getting to work on time.

There's also the fact that just claiming it "increases the risk" is meaningless. How much additional risk does it create?

_________________
"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

We all know about your prowess in all things "manly" (you've told us repeatedly), but not with reading what people write. What is wrong with mentally preparing to defend yourself while checking for your wife and scanning to see what made the noise?









RD, when I lived alone, I didn't feel I required a firearm. Now that I have a wife and children, I have the need to protect more than just "stuff". When you live in a nice neighborhood in a progressively more shitty region, the realization hits you that people come to your neighborhood for reasons that aren't always above board. As for the moving - it's in the works.

_________________
"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

Absolutely. My only point is that speed of readiness and risk of mistake are linked, which often gets glossed over in discussions like this.