Worst place to store a gun?

**Olorin** · Posted On: 5/14/2006 12:13am

I used to keep my Walther in my nightstand on top of a leather case. One night I spilled my glass of water on the nightstand and did not do a good job cleaning it up. The water leaked into the drawer, wicked up through the leather case to my pistol, and completely fucked up the finish of the gun. It cost me two hundred dollars to get it re-blued.

Two things I learned

-Never keep your gun resting on leather; if it gets wet, it eats right through the finish
-Never have water on your nightstand if you keep your gun in the drawer.

**Don Gwinn** · Posted On: 5/14/2006 6:44pm

The OTHER worst place (besides the highly customized closet with built-in Rustalizer feature) is hidden between the mattress and liner in a waterbed. Before I had children, I kept my beloved SIG P220 there along with a flashlight. It was a good spot, unobtrusive, kept the things away from hands but quick access. No kids in the house back then.

Instead, we had two dogs, and one of them managed to pop the mattress. The gun sat in a weak solution of water and bleach for several hours before we found out about it. SIGs rust if you look at them wrong anyway, but this was bad.

**Don Gwinn** · Posted On: 5/14/2006 6:58pm

Actually, as long as we're talking about safe storage, I might as well tell the story of how I outsmarted myself.

My dad had a gun shop behind our house for several years in the 1990's. It was most of our garage, which we had carefully walled off, finished inside, and made fit. That meant adding all kinds of racks and shelving, and putting in large glass counter displays. It also meant iron bars on the door and windows, huge deadbolts, and a motion-sensor alarm you can hear for blocks.

When dad closed the shop, he left the racks and displays in place and simply moved his own collection out there. My girlfriend (now my wife) had only known me at college where I was forbidden to own firearms (and officially speaking, I didn't.) She grew up in a house where she was taught to hate and fear guns. She knew about dad's guns, though. When a friend offered to take us both shooting, I took him up on it and she had all kinds of fun. On the way back to school, I mentioned that when we were married, I would need to get a gun safe. I was thinking that I was showing a great deal of forethought and maturity. She was horrified.
"You're not going to have guns in the house, are you?" she asked as if it had never occurred to her. It probably hadn't. I took firearms as a fact of life and often forgot that others didn't see it that way.

We entered into a spirited discussion. I brought to bear all the facts I could, gently but firmly rubbing out all her fears and worries and promising her that I would never let her be unsafe. Eventually, she agreed that of course I could keep firearms in the house. I was relieved; although I hadn't said as much to her, I considered it a deal-breaker for any woman to think she could tell me what I could or couldn't own.

Then she said "Well, that will be a lot easier anyway."

"Easier than what?" I asked.

"Easier than building a big air-conditioned building out back with gun racks and glass cabinets and a TV and stuff. I just thought that's how everybody kept their guns."

Yeah, I'm so smart.
Dammit.

**Jdude** · Posted On: 5/27/2006 2:17pm

The worst place I have ever seen a knife stored was in a baby car seat -under- the baby. This was found in an airport by airport security which I happened to witness. So, based on location, I suspect that putting a gun there would probably be pretty bad also.

**SFGOON** · Posted On: 5/27/2006 2:32pm

Go to newbietown, you!

**Don Gwinn** · Posted On: 5/30/2006 12:17am

Maybe it was the baby's knife. Ever think of that, tough guy?

What kind of disgusting SOB would try to take toys from a baby? How do you sleep at night? STFU, n00b.

BTW, when it comes to guns, most babies are better off with cross-draw or something like a Wilderness Safepacker that can be attached to the seat belt. Any other way of carrying will be extremely slow and maybe even make the draw impossible in a baby seat.

**VikingPower** · Posted On: 5/30/2006 11:23am

Originally Posted by Robot Jesus

i remember hearing about one woman who kept a gun in her bedside table.....

next to her asma inhaler.

I heard they were both under her pillow, and one night during an attack she tried using the gun as her inhaler and shot herself through the cheek. Dunno if it's an urban legend or not though.

**chemistry** · Posted On: 5/30/2006 12:53pm

There is no "one size fits all" methods of storing a gun. Someone who has a lot of young, irresponsible children in the household located in a quiet neighborhood, is going to have different needs than someone who lives by himself in a more dangerous area.

It's up the individual to determine what the appropriate safety level is for storage, and to make adjustments as needed.

**Rhamma** · Posted On: 5/30/2006 1:23pm

In the "crack of your ass" with the muzzle pointed at your balls and the trigger gaurd next to the ring. If you sit, fart, or bend over it will go off.