In the United States Concealed Carry Association’s G-rated Drill of the Month video below, Kevin Michalowski advises gun owners who draw whilst sitting on the living room couch get up and “get into the fight.” Imagine an OFWG DGU where the home owner doesn’t get off the couch — and wins! “Yup. There he is officer. Can you move a little to the left? I can’t see the TV.” But seriously folks . . .

Home carry. It’s where you spend most of your non-work time (or work time if you’re a blogger in his pajamas) and where your most precious belongings reside (family and OK guns too). As Kev has said many times, “If you are more than three seconds away from your gun, fix that right now.”

Wait! Come back! Do you home carry? If so, what gun? If you don’t home carry, how far are you from a gun at any one time? And no that’s not a caption contest photo.

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81 COMMENTS

  1. Yes. Absolutely. All day every day. From the time I get back from my morning PT to when I go to bed there is a Glock 34 with an X300ub on my hip. Soon to be replaced with a custom Glock 40 MOS with RMR, tritium sights, and an X300V (selectable white / IR light) on the off chance that I need to put my PVS-14 on in the middle of the night to go clear the house.

    • Why don’t you take a gun on morning PT? I always take a Glock when going running. They can get sweaty just fine.

      To me it makes sense to run with much of the same weight I carry throughout the day.

      • With a shoulder holster you could go triathlon your self in the morning. Swim, bike, run, carry carry carry.

      • I have enough trouble running as it is (bad leg) and don’t need a Glock busting my ribs the whole way. (Especially when it’s 80 degrees out at 6:00AM with 90% humidity) I live in the boonies so it’s not much of an issue.

        I’m getting back in the habit of running fist thing after I get out of bed and will admit that no carry is something I probably need to change. It’s a calculated risk that I honestly have a hard time justifying.

        Though, to be fair, I’m not sure if I even CAN carry along my jogging route. There’s a big ‘ole forrest preserve that I run in behind my development that I cut into through an unofficial entrance and Illinois law is kinda fuzzy on the topic of carrying in areas like that. It’s a great place to run with a three mile paved track, but there are down sides. The gray area as to armed self-defense is a big one of them.

        • I don’t know what your limitations are but I highly recommend a general stretching routine right when you roll out of bed.

          I also recommend that right after you do that you do (if you can) three sets of 12-15 unweighted squats and whatever you can do for three sets of pushups.

          Doing that right when I get up took me from feeling pretty OK to walking downstairs thinking “Let’s go play soccer while lifting weights and riding bicycles!”.

          My buddy’s theory is that it gets the fluid moving around in your lymphatic system, huge part of which is in your legs, and that doing it regularly really gets a lot of junk out of your body since that system requires some movement to “pressurize” it. I don’t know if he’s right but I can’t deny the results.

          It might add ten minutes to your morning but it’s worth it IMHO.

        • Thank you sir. I already did the push-ups, but the squats are something I didn’t consider. I’ll have to give it a go.

        • Do ISO, walk up stairs, walk up an incline (parking garages give you a good steady climb and you’ll only be a floor or two from your ride home). carry hand weights, or wear a weight vest.

        • “I have enough trouble running as it is (bad leg)”

          Bum foot on my end, so I got back into cycling.

          Something to consider if it doesn’t aggravate whatever ails your leg. What’s really nice is the cooling breeze you self-generate while riding.

          If we get OC in Flori-Duh, I’ll have a lot more holster mounting options…

        • Pwrserge – Find yourself a Starting Strength coach; they’re amazing at overcoming disability and making people’s lives better through strength training. There’s a few stories published on their site about some amazing recoveries.

    • If you live in a home, you are 2,345,452 times more likely to be the victim of a home invasion than a person that doesn’t live in a home!

      • If you carry your home, a home-invader is 1000% less likely to even find it, much less invade.

        Plus you’d be swol. Homes is heavy.

  3. In my own house I’m gonna be open carry, or if feeling lazy I’ll drop my LCP 2 in my pocket.

  4. “Do you home carry? If so, what gun?”

    Tell you what – invade my home and find out…

    *snicker*

    (Happiness is living where my sheriff is Grady “Because they ran out of bullets” Judd.)

    • Did you hear what he said yesterday?

      “If you’re not afraid of a gun, get one,” said the sheriff. “And if you need to shoot somebody, shoot ’em a lot.”

    • Chip, dang it, an Airsoft shoulder holster is $15-$20 and is perfect for home use. While you could probably spend up to infinity on a holster, a ‘better’ than Airsoft model won’t even cost you double.

  7. My carry is an officers 1911 IWB. On me 20/24. 7 days a week. Every place I go. Signs or no signs.. Only time I didn’t was in the local PBSO substation. I won’t use the post office for anything anymore.

    • My edc is a 1911 Officers
      IWB by the way..

      Sorry for the repeat danged crappy phone here.

  8. Are my pants on? If so, there’s about a 98% chance an XDs is on my hip or (if lazy) in a pocket holster. I office at home, which makes it easier.

  9. Yes I home carry. A kimber ultra carry II. And I have various long guns within reach that I keep loaded. My wife carrys as well. We live in the country. So we carry 24/7.

  10. I’m having a tough time finding anyone who makes a birthday suit holster. And before any of you go for the obvious, I keep my guns very clean.

  11. IHome carry all the time. Being that there is an inch and a half of wood between you and imminent danger. I also recommend a good alarm system. And a good firearm and training to go with. You can literally kick in a door deadbolt inch and a half throw with a locked knob as well in one good kick to the door knob assembly right to the right of it and that door is coming right open or splitting in half either way you have three seconds just like he said in the article. And you’ve got to throw in the surprise affect this is why SWAT teams do breach entry as well as the military which I’m very familiar with. Be prepared for anything at any time mother nature four-legged Critters two-legged Critters as well LOL. With an average city police response time between 4 and 8 minutes that’s a long time to wait for help when you’re engaging in physical contact violence and you’re the only thing between your family and this home invader.

  12. I carry my gun with me when I am outside the home
    In my house I do not keep a gun on my person
    There is my wife’s Walter PPK/s in the drawer of the downstairs desk
    My CZ 75 is on the shelf of my upstairs bedroom closet
    The kids know where they are and how to use them
    Our 50 pound Schnauzer will keep any miscreants busy while we retrieve the pistols
    The Steyr Aug is kept loaded in the upstairs safe for if the shit really hits the fan
    Inside the house carry seems over the top even for me
    And I am a total gun nut

    • I’m right about the same as Doc.

      Have various ballistic protection packages around the house in various places and a fireteam of shepherds to run interference around the house. Yes, ninjas and evil chuck norris will derail my day, but…

      Outside, be it around the acreage or out and about, always.

  13. Yes, always.
    The Beretta Bobcat is perfect for pajama pants or in swim trucks just walking around the house in the summer. Having seen guys with North American Arms 5 shot revolvers for actually swimming with on TTAG, there is no reason anybody cant’ be armed while they are do any physical activity. POGO, Pants On Gun On: from the Polite Society Podcast.
    Cut the grass, wear your gun
    Weed your garden, wear your gun
    Wash your car, wear your gun
    Vacuum your car, wear your gun
    Work outside around your home, wear your gun
    Grill your steaks outside, wear your gun
    Perform auto maintenance, wear your gun
    Walk the dog, wear your gun
    Take a shower, wear your gun so Norman Bates can’t get you!!!!!!!

    • Get a shoulder holster for it and you can go commando on everything else . . . except a satisfied smile.

      • Are you a representative from the North American Shoulder Holsters Manufacturers Guild? That’s like the fifth time you’ve recommended one here.

        • Is there such a thing? Probably not, shoulder holster wearers might need good gear, but don’t need a ‘group’.

          Happy to say I’m a fan, though. Don’t knock it until you try it. Army Surplus stores sell cheap MADE IN CHINA ones, and they are still good enough kit. Airsoft ones are ~ good enough for home use, and to have one-per-carry weapon as you don’t want to have to adjust the whole thing just to fit a different EDC piece. CONDOR makes pretty good ones, but there are so many out there. People pay $100 for a 511 pocketed shirt that essentially keeps the weapon in the same place but it’s up against your body all the time. A shoulder holster, or Tanker Rig keeps it pretty handy and secure, but enough off-the-body to be comfortable. In Iraq, your ‘outside the wire’ rig was a drop-leg off a padded duty belt (I used a Safariland and it was awesome, I still have it and love it even with all that Iraq sh_t on it). But your “inside the wire” rig was a shoulder holster or tanker holster. You could have the haji shops over there make or modify you a great one. I had two leather ones, and two or three other material ones. I sweat thru my body armor plates over there, but my shoulder holster rigs all held up nicely and made the trip home.

          I dig that most have a provision for carrying spare mags on the other side. You can wear them very comfortably, and sleep and even swim in it.

        • Think about it, AIWB, IWB, OWB . . . what have you. Your sitting on the can, your pants are around your calves or ankles and your reading this TTAG post on your smart phone. Druggy / Jealous Husband / Plain ‘ol crook gets the right or wrong house and kicks in your door, you don’t have to modify your draw at all if you’re wearing a shoulder holster.

          You don’t have to roll up the sleeves of your white jacket, but you should get yourself a good Don Johnson rig.

  17. Several thoughts:

    First, it is a matter of your “comfort” level with risk.That is, only you can assess the risk you face of the need to get your gun on in your home. That will depend on person to person, no way really of making a hard and fast rule. For me, I just feel safer with a gun on. Period. Anywhere I am. Had to spend a week in San Francisco on business and I almost felt I was walking around without clothes on, which, given where I was, would not have been that shocking, I guess, but … you get my point, I hope.

    Second, when I carry at home, it is always OWB. My home. My property.

    Good food for thought in this article.

  18. I home carry, and I carry when I’m out and not at work, even going so far as to go home and tool up before going out to do errands. Disadvantage of working on a Federal installation is you lose that ability. Luckily we do have armed guards and access controls, even if I’d rather have the option of returning fire myself.

  19. 24 7. G30sf with spare 26 round mag nearby or in my pocket. Ak63d with 6 mags in the truck. Get some. 🙂

  20. Yeah…and lots of weapons both firearms and “something else” in EZ reach. Funny but me & the missus heard a load noise an hour ago in the back of the house. Threw my pistola in my pocket(it’s Brazilian) and investigated…illegal fireworks:)

  21. For exterior doors I recommend a steel frame. If not, reinforce your current frame with wood support against the main studs on either side of frame, very long 2 1/2 to 5 ” steel screws up and down each side, and finally quality door lock and long dead bolt. Possibly a throw bolt toward bottom of interior side.

    Won’t completely stop someone with right tools, but it will slow them down quite a bit and give you time.

    YMMV

      • Outside swing so the wind presses against it making a better seal from elements.

        However, if you’re Swede, I’ve heard they swing the door inwards to allow more easy opening in event of snow blowing against it.

        After hanging doors for thirty-plus years, the first rule is: ‘what the homeowner wants, the homeowner gets.’

  23. Yes, home carry.

    And, again, shoulder-holster. Sleep in it, shower in it, swim in it, cook dinner in it, read a book to your kids in it, advance certain aspects of your social paradigm in it, go potty, yep.

  24. Really the only times I don’t carry are when working out, BJJ, swimming laps sleeping or showering.

  26. Whatever I carried when I was out and about is what I home carry the rest of the day and night. Between the sidearm, a 12 gauge wall-leaner, and two safes full of guns with loaded magazines, I think I’m in respectable shape to fend off any moronic miscreants.

  27. Home carry? Of course!

    I carry a Smith and Wesson M&P 40 full size pistol (plus spare magazine) on my hip pretty much at all times. And for the rare times that I don’t have it on my hip, a 20 gauge pump-action shotgun loaded with 5 slugs is centrally located on the main floor and always at the ready.

  30. “Do I home carry?” Yes, yes I do, all the time. “What do I carry?” H&K P30sk.

    “Do I carry outside the home?” See above.

  31. When I put on my pants, the gun goes in the holster, either an OWB pancake from Kirkpatrick or an IWB Down Under from High Noon for a Kahr CW 9. My wife is totally disabled and can’t walk without a walker, and then no more than about 60 feet, so it is pretty important to stay armed due to the high number of drug addled homeless people around town who dabble in burglary to support their habits. Funny, although my wife knows I carry all day every day, I have to carry concealed because she hates the sight of semi-auto hand guns. I home office, and there are usually two other loaded handguns at or in my desk, one a SAA in .45 Colt and the other a Kimber Pro Carry II in .45 ACP. And I have extra loaded mags and plenty of ammo for all three right at hand if the need should arise.

  32. um, have a .45 tucked iwb as I type, 9mm I’m the kitchen, .380 I’m bedroom along with another .45 and a 12ga, wife generally has another 9mm on her, getting a shorty 12ga for the detached garage and probably a couple cheap pistols for the bathrooms. generally have something collecting dust in the living room too. there is always something within reach, and I can always blast my way to another one, anywhere in the house, between everything there is usually roughly 100 rounds ready to squeeze off, and spare mags near most full and ready. not paranoid, just prepared.

  33. I always have a firearm close by. 9MM on my hip as I type. AR 15 leaning next to the desk. AR 10 next to the bed on my side. Wife has Mossberg 500 20 gauge with pistol grip and extended tube on her side as well as a Taurus 380 on the headboard. This is just what’s easily at hand. Many more surprises await anyone who gets the wrong idea about committing a home invasion.

  34. Nope. I have a good aftermarket door, I live in the center of a nice subdivision, there are people at the clubhouse and park across from me all the time and I have them handy, but not on me. The crime rate here just doesn’t support it.

  35. Nah, I just stash things around the house. I keep my .44mag in the fridge, Mossbergs behind every doorway, etc.

  36. I don’t home carry, but I sit with a G19 on the couch or where ever else I’m at. It’s literally closer than arm’s reach if I’m not wearing belted pants. When I get home from work, I don’t take my work clothes off until I’ve already gotten the dog squared away and nobody else is leaving the house for the night, and a G26 is in a cargo pocket of my work pants. On the occasion when I’ve left the house not for work and come back and keep belted pants on, there’s a gun in a holster on my belt. No point in trying to run across the house trying to get to a gun if someone is already kicking in the front door.

  37. i had two shoulder rigs stiched permanently in place as the buckles used to irritate my delicate skin. weight gain forced me to replace my double stacks with thinner pieces for awhile, but then buffalo wings shot up to fifty cents apiece.
    i’ve got a pair of deagles now around the clock.

  38. I wear when I get outa bed until I go to bed, then I put it in my bed area to keep it close. I know better so I am no one to say I should have period. Its my Glock 26 along with extensions with 34 rounds available. Don’t screw with me and I won’t screw with you. Be safe out there and watch out for democrats.

  39. Im usually nude around the house so my options are bit limited. I keep a gun in just about every room though.

  40. The carry piece du jour doesn’t get put to bed when I get home. My Shield 9mm or 642 stay with me in the garage, in the basement workshop, watching TV with the fam, and so on. One of my coworkers questioned this practice. I countered with a query. If I’m watching South Park reruns in the wee hours and my front door gets kicked, will Billy Badass do me a solid and let me call timeout to jog to my secure firearms and make a selection? I’m guessing not…

  41. Yes, I “home carry”. I live in Texas. I carry my S&W M&P Mod 2.0 9mm 5inch barrel (flat dark earth) openly where I legally can. If I am horizontal or in the shower, it is within arms reach.

    My pistol lives in its Safariland 7378 ALS holster. The Quick Lock System allows me to quickly attach/detach the holstered pistol to/from my belt. If I am sitting on the couch at home or driving my wife’s car, SWMBO says I have to detach the holster. The same motion that releases the ALS works attached or detached.

  42. Yes, I carry it right in my hand and nervously peer out the windows checking for panel vans and silent helicopters.

  43. On-body carry until i dress down to my “jamas”. Then it’s hand carry and “at hand” (within casual reach) until bedtime. Then it’s on the nightstand. No kids at home.

    Springfield Armory XD. 45 acp 5″ factory sights

  44. No “time out” to retrieve a weapon last time I really, really needed it. I’ll never make that mistake again, G43 for underwear/pj carry. Waterproof box for shower carry. 870 by the bed for my dream catcher. G19 for the yard work. Mags stashed for a quick reload in any room I may find myself needing it. It’s not easy trying to play domestic dad in suburbia after seeing what the real world is actually like.

  45. My wife crocheted a shoulder holster for me. It’s a tactical slip stitch in FDE. It’s wool, so it scratches my left nipple a bit. .44 magnum. Can interfere with crawling after the grand baby.

  46. I don’t carry around the house because -1) I do a lot of wood working & don’t want sawdust on or in my pistol & 2) I’ve got 4 dogs that wont let anybody they don’t know thru the gate. My Ruger.45 is never very far away, 44 mag in the living room hidden but readily accessible plus numerous other guns handy.

  47. There you are trying to fall asleep. Your wife hasn’t been too responsive these days…… you’re feeling a bit frustrated…….you know how it is,,,,, all of a sudden, I’ve got my 357 in my hand … where are these shots coming from⁉️

  48. In Canada we don’t have such privilege of carrying while inside our homes, guns may come out briefly for cleaning and maintenance, BUT, that’s why my baseball bats are placed in strategic places ready for deployment and bone smashing lol.

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