When seconds count, your primary means of defence is locked up and out of reach. That makes no sense to me. Put it where the kid can't reach it but where you can reach it at a moment's notice.

 

While I understand and agree with what you are saying, my wife would not. I would like to remain married so it's either going to be a gun with a quick access lock or no gun in the bedroom. Something is better than nothing...

 

Stack on cabinet locked in the closet during the day, take it out before bed, put it back in in the morning.

 

Turn off computer -- go peeee -- pullout teeth -- Mossy out of the Stack-On --

On to the bed side table :thumb:

 

Your wife needs to understand the potential of **** happening

First off, there isn't a locker out there that is going to give you quick access to your LIFE SAVING APPERATUS. Keys have a tendancy to get fumbled with in the middle of the night while youre trying to wipe the eye boogs out of your eyes at the same time.

I would suggest hiding it in plane sight so to speak. Something like a shelf with a hidden drawer or a hidden panel in the wall.

The only other suggestion I can think of would be a locker with a biometric lock and replace the batteries on a regular basis. Some of them have a battery back up you can plug in and a key entry as a back up back up

 

For an 870 or other pump shotgun, I always stored it up out of sight and without one in the chamber. The odds of a kid figuring out how to push the button and pull the slide back and push forward and take off the safety is pretty slim. The main thing is to start teaching gun safety as early as possible.

If that still isn't safe enough for you then maybe store it unloaded with a speed loader beside it.

Thats just my .02 on it though.

 

An 870 can be made "rack ready". Simply make sure that the loaded tube is full, make sure that the chamber has no shell in it. Go OUTSIDE and pull the trigger (one of our officers, when I was a cop in the day, made his rack ready an pulled the trigger in his car. Made instant AC) insuring safety of the chamber. Then you place the empty and discharged weapon safety on, the 870 allows you to rack your weapon with the safety on, at this point.
This provides for two things :
1. It allows a safe weapon, that is easily accessed.
2. If the last sound you hear (prior to leaving, or a sharp loud bang) is the slide of an 870 loading the breech, one will at least have to clean their shorts.

After showing the wifey this, she may feel better, she may not. If not, make a Hidey Hole out of sight and reach of little people. Then you have double the home safety. Easy enough to place an 870 in a scabbard behind, and mounted to, the headboard, the clothes in a closet, or in a hidden closet behind clothes.

Another option that most don't consider is a simple pistol holder. Take a 2x4, dowel rods slightly smaller than your bore, and wood glue.
Drill and glue dowels into 2x4, screw said assembly to a wall in a corner of a closer, that is hidden from view and out of reach to others than your self, with the correct holster you are able to place the pistol inside, trigger guard covered and hammer/slide secured, and place the barrel over the dowel rod allowing for hiding in a safe yet easily accessible place.

Just two of many options, hope that this helps. Good luck and I fully understand, have two daughters 14&11. They were small once and we made concessions for them to allow access for me.
Now, they know how to shoot and respect a weapon.

 

Delete...........

 

Sympathize with your problem, but you need to look at it four-dimensionally. In an average house it would take SECONDS for an invader to traverse the whole length of the dwelling. So NOTHING would work under this scenario. One needs to fight for every second. The exterior door must be IMPOSSIBLE to force. The windows must be impossible to get thru. The bedroom door must be reinforced and kept locked at night. Only then one can think of weapons storage. My rifle just stands in the corner, few feet away. If one MUST conceal his long gun (and unwilling to build in-wall storage) he can always build a thin free standing cabinet for just one gun. The door must be totally unlocked, at least at night. But remember, the invasion can easily happen in daytime, too.

 

I use a shotlok

There are 5 digits in the code. You can set it so you can press in a sequence or some arbitrary number simultaneously.

For example you can set it to open on pushing 1-2 simultaneously.

It amounts to a single push to open it. A 17 mo will not get in.

I have hardened my doors, want to put up security mesh eventually.

 

Adding to what GG42 said, something as simple as have a screened in porch and a dog that will bark can give you 5-10 seconds of warning which is pretty nice. Add in a good door and lock like he is saying and you should have time to get ready and prepare yourself. Maybe even enough time to prevent anything from happening via turning on the outside lights and racking a shell in a shotgun.

 

Your child is less than 2 feet tall. Put the 870 up out of reach and call it a day. If you're extra concerned about it somehow falling or him becoming some sort of ninja, keep the tube full, safety on, and chamber empty as others have said.

Otherwise they do make hidden safes/storage. Tactical walls make some shelves that may fall in your price range. Mostly not.

 

I have young kids too.

I keep my 870 in an older (USA heavy duty) Homak gun locker I got off of CL for $60. It is 1.5 steps from my side of the bed at the entrance of our walk in closet. At night I keep it unlocked so I can grab it quickly. Before bed, I put my keys and wallet in the locker so I don't forget to lock it when I begin the day. During the day while home I keep a pistol in a quick access safe on top of the fridge or in the top drawer of my tool box if in the garage.

like mentioned earlier, home hardenng is the first step. After that, your chances of becoming the victim of a violent home invasion are what? Certainly not worth living with a ****y wife IMO.