https://youtu.be/buPYAPPl4Nc

I find it odd that gun owners don’t home carry. I guess they figure they’ll get some kind of heads-up before an attack. Alarm going off. Dog barking. Door crashing. Something. That they’ll have enough time to access a firearm in an emergency. Really? What part of speed, surprise and violence of action don’t bad guys understand?

desantis-blue-logo-no-back-4-smallLet’s not assume that an invader’s going to be some random rapist looking for a target of opportunity (i.e. an unlocked door). While “out of the blue” home invasions are mainstream media catnip, there are plenty of “hot burglaries.” Incidents where thieves target home owners with a known stash of jewelry, cash and/or drugs. If home invaders know you have guns — perhaps revealed by a “We Don’t Call 911” sign — they aren’t going to let you run a footrace to a firearm, are they?

When a newbie asks me to a recommend a home defense firearm, I tell them to home carry a pistol. When push comes to ballistic shove, a mouse gun in your pocket is better than an AR in the closet. Or the safe. At least initially. Do you home carry? What gun(s)? If you don’t home carry, why not?

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105 COMMENTS

  1. Yep…except when I’m sitting on the couch, in which case the 19 is sitting on the coffee table in front of me.

  4. Yes. Your preaching has convinced me. Even in my pajamas (TCP). A discreet handgun in each room. I hate surprises.

  5. Yes, albeit frankly my home is impossible to be entered via the ground floor. I’m not shitting you. I spent well over 10K on security to make it entry proof and it is. In fact, it would take the police hours to get in and they would need tools and it would make a lot of noise. Sam, my Rottie, would not be amused. In the meantime, I have a Glock 17 on my hip at all times and an AR15 at the bedside.

    • A claymore directed at your exterior wall would takes seconds not hours, hopefully your not gonna ever find that out.
      IN RESPONSE to mark about the forced entry timeframe within reason, although never seen your place so maybe it wouldn’t just imo

      • Well true, I’m not Claymore proof. Also, SWAT or the Feds could just blast their way in or cut a hole in the side of my house. My goal is to make all the others look at my home and say “Um, I guess not. Let’s move on to another house.”

        • I think, that is essentially the name-of-the-game anyway. Anything to cause too much bother for the bad guys is a good thing.

      • I’m a shut in. Kidding. I have a key to the security door that is over the “normal” door that is reinforced with On Gard door brace. All windows covered with stainless steel security windows.

        • Prior to spending all those bucks, did you consider moving to an area where that crap would be ridiculous? I haven’t locked my doors in 20 years.

          • I live in a suburb of Seattle. Anything can happen anywhere. You must live in the middle of nowhere if you are so ignorant as to leave your doors unlocked. You’ve had 20 years of good luck. Problem is, all that can be ruined in the blink of an eye. Good luck to you. People like you baffle me as you are so complacent….

        • So, let me get this straight! In the past 20 years of living in your fortress, you have had arrested or shot to death how many people? How often have all those preparations been necessary? You can pity me all you like, but I am living my life, not hiding in fear from imagined threats. Carry a gun. Shoot intruders. Creating a fortress surrounded by a moat indicates a need for professional help.

          And, I live in a suburb of Austin, probably 50 miles from the middle of nowhere, much closer to the Capitol of Texas or the legislature than to “nowhere”. Consider moving!

          • I live in a fortress (10 years btw) so I don’t HAVE to shoot. That’s the point. Duh. I will never know how many people I have thwarted because I’m too busy sleeping peacefully or being gone at work all day. Who knows how many criminals approached my home and then walked away. My neighbor has been broken into twice and we don’t live in what you would consider a bad neighborhood. Average home price is 650K I never ever want to get into a legal nightmare that could have been avoided. You are more than welcome to be a dumb ass and leave your doors unlocked so you can shoot someone that walks into your home without any obstacles whatsoever. You may live in magical rainbow land, but the fact that you can’t bother to lock a door at night doesn’t bode well for your intelligence.

    • Sounds like my grandma’s next door neighbor. They have a cinder block wall on the perimeter of their property, topped by razor wire. It’s really hard to get a look into their compound (because honestly, that’s what the place is now… the transition was not subtle), but the few glimpses I have seen show cameras on every exterior corner of the house, and it seems like there may be cameras on the wall as well. There is a solid steel roll-away gate where they enter and exit, and it appears from the few glances I’ve had as it opens and shuts, to be set up that they can add padlocks to lock it shut as they see fit. There are dogs on the property, and it’s prominently posted warning trespassers that they will be shot.
      Now, I haven’t the slightest clue what the actual security features are on the home in terms of reinforcement, but I have no doubt they didn’t just stop at cameras, razor wire, and cinder brick walls. They probably house carry, but I’d say they’re probably one of the few that would be fine with foregoing house carry.

        • Honestly, it looks like one, too. She never passes up the chance to complain about it when we visit and it catches her eye.

          She didn’t like the old neighbors, but she likes these new ones even less.

        • That is *precisely* what it sounds like, to me. All legal, no complaints, but why would any law abiding citizen do that instead of moving to a safer area? Sounds a lot like a mob kingpin, set up to kill competitors or cops. STILL legal, and I support the ability.

  10. Yes. KelTec P32 in the pocket or a M&P shield in the holster. It depends on what I’m doing. I definitely carry outside in the yard or garage because the vulnerability goes way up when not inside my walls. I don’t even go outside to get the morning paper without my gun and heightened situational awareness…..and I’m in a very “safe” neighborhood.

    • In our area, nice enough, a lady had her toddler in her garage as she was doing laundry. Door was up. Stray pit bull attacked them. She had to stuff her toddler in a trash can to protect the child and she got mauled.

      There is no such thing as a safe neighborhood.

  11. The same 9mm Shield in my waistband or 642 in my pocket all day is still there at home. My gun storage is upstairs and Billy Badass kicking in my door in the middle of my midnight movie probably won’t take a time out for me to fetch my shotgun.

  12. It’s tough to carry at home when you’re only in your underwear at home. So I just have a bunch of guns hiding in my many books and bookshelves.

    • Not really–a nearly weightless Ruger LCP Custom loaded with ARX ammo in a Black Hawk weightless IWB holster

      • What kind of underwear do you wear, junkman? Plate mail briefs? Because any gun is going to overpower the elastic of you average briefs. Maybe dial down the “This is my gun… And this is my pistol.”

      • Yeah, well great for you, you have an LCP Custom. Since Ruger discontinued it, I can’t get it for a good price now and every time someone mentions that gun, I have a heart palpitation.

        • Only $240 in stock at CDNN Sports web site as of this morning–the LCP line, except for the new LCP II, is being moved to a new plant–have to wait and see if the ‘Custom’ is back in production; I hope it is

    • Shoulder holster. Great for home carry. Great for carry outside. No being poked in the hip, or back whenever sitting down. Can draw easily sitting in a car.

      Sonny Crockett and Frank Bullitt already knew the best way to carry.

  13. Dual Franchi SPAS 12s in symmetrical over-the-shoulder exoskeleton harnesses with a backup .460 Rowland in a chest rig.

  14. Home carry is the same as EDC. USP .45 with a reload.

    On top of that every place in my house, other than the garage, that has a fire extinguisher has a “Shot Lock” ( https://www.shotlock.com/ShotLock_Shotgun.php ) screwed into the studs and a loaded shotgun in it. Then there are two more in the master bedroom as well.

    It’s pretty much impossible to get between me and a loaded pump shotgun but if you do that’s what the dogs and the USP are for.

    • You are lying to me! There is no possibility that anyone who makes as much sense as you do, normally, could possibly have all that shit going on! How many have you killed? Do the attackers form up in lines to attack you? Folks, sometimes we need to just settle down a bit! I have never needed a gun, but carry one every day, all the time, in case. But fire extinguishers and shotguns in every room seems a trifle extreme!

      • While I appreciate your sarcasm [hence an actual reply rather than some salty language] you fail to understand. I have too many shotguns for the safe to hold with all it’s rifles in it. My wife went nuts with Mossberg shotguns somewhere around three years ago (don’t ask).

        Rather than just leave them lying about they got locked to the walls for the simple reason that I have friends who come over with children. I didn’t want to take the chance that one of them might find a shell I’d lost/forgotten about and stick it in a shotgun with tragic consequences (one thing I’ve learned about kids is that they move fast when you’re not looking).

        So, each floor has a fire extinguisher on the wall in a closet and each extinguisher got a friend. Child safe, thug dangerous storage solution for a fraction the cost of another safe which also ensures that if I forget my pistol for some reason and I’m in the basement doing laundry or something you can’t get between me and a firearm.

        Also, I can tell from your response that you’ve never actually lived in a bad neighborhood. Don’t tell me that you have. I know you haven’t. Trust me, it changes your views on gun storage. You never want to be more than two-three steps from a gun in some neighborhoods. When my buddy and I lived in the ghetto and had to go on and off campus multiple times per day carrying all day wasn’t an option. Instead you were never more than eight feet from a hidden gun no matter where you went in the house.

        Make fun all you want but when gunshots are the soundtrack you fall asleep to on a regular basis, drivebys are something that happens every few months withing 200 yards of your house, multiple neighbors of yours have been shot on their own property (many for no reason other than a wrong address) and bullets have come through the front of your house and traversed the living room while you’re sitting there watching TV, you’ll think differently. Very differently.

        As for your questions: I’ve killed zero people but been the victim of two attempted home invasions where the combination of a dog and a gun saved me and put a perp in prison. I’ve also had multiple racist threats against me (and my buddy) simply for living in the wrong neighborhood. Guns flashed with the statement “You white boys gonna get what’s comin’ to you” or something similar. I’ve lived next door to meth/crack dealers and had a line of cars outside my house at all hours of the day, all addicts looking to score from the dealer next door.

        On top of all that, right when you think you’ve moved somewhere safe, you haven’t. Last year my neighbor’s adult son decided to get high on meth and wander around the neighborhood attacking people with a lawnmower blade.

        So yeah, pardon me if I’m a bit over-prepared in my current abode. Some of the places I’ve lived were so sketchy we didn’t have guests because people were afraid to drop by. Living like that for years changes you in ways that don’t just go away.

        • You sir speak the goddamn truth.

          There’ve been times I wouldn’t step out on to my front porch for a cigarette without a handgun sitting on the glider beside me and my AR propped up just 10 feet away inside the door. Nothing ever happened, but more than a few times it’s sounded like Tet just moments after I went back in the house or prepared to step outside.

  15. I have a small trailer when I travel for work, and my LCP is always a step or less away. At my actual home I carry as normal.

  16. We have the Glock 19 here with us for my wife; I believe you have to have three total alli in home defense. DOG, PISTOL/GUN TRAINING, FIREARM. I’m thinking in that order of importance to me, yes I believe the dog is the best safeguard for the home; it’s just my opinion

      • 200 lbs between 3 dogs. Good locks, am a locksmith. Good solid doors. Come in my front yard and one of my dogs is alert. Other than that, I have me XD40 with 15 close, a 357 snubbie. A 12 Gauge loaded with 12 shot double buck. S and B low brass, but 12 32 caliber lead balls headed towards the intruder times 7 rounds. 224 little 32 cal lead balls would make them think, in the afterlife. But they wanna tangle with the 70 or 75 or 95 lb dogs go ahead.

      • In the event of a home invasion, my King Charles Spaniel might bark most viciously, but is just as likely to attempt to lick the invaders to death. Unpredictable. I am still debating positioning my Mossy somewhere outside the safe, not sure anything more than a few scattered handguns is necessary.

  17. My nieces were surprised to learn that I home carry. Explained to them that doors don’t stop everyone from coming in but my pistol just might stop them from getting much further than the doorway.

  18. I don’t wear it holstered, but there’s always a shiny stainless 6″ GP 100 loaded with the hot stuff within reach. I figure home invasions frequently start with a ruse to get you to open the door. With a handgun I can hold it behind my back when I open the door and have a hand free to fend off an attacker while I stick it in his ribs. And if I run out of am mo the GP makes a dandy club.

    • “And if I run out of am mo the GP makes a dandy club.”

      And you could also probably use it as a hammer for a home improvement project if you lost your carpenter’s hammer … those GP100s are built like tanks.

      • True dat… however, the GPs weight is almost identical to the S&W 686. In the 6″ S&W claims 44.8oz while S,R&Co claim 45oz.

  19. Maybe they are afraid that an anti-4A badge might shoot them on sight? I respect police, but the 4th is as shredded as the 2nd at this point. I carry at home all the time, but I just accept that I’ve already had an officer enter my home without consent or probably cause and it might happen again. Oh well I guess if I’m shot in my own house by any intruder including a badge, that I’ll end up another statistic anyway.

    Swatting, no-knocks, etc… I guess the 4th is as hard for people to understand as the 1st, 2nd, 10th, and the list goes on and on.

    • Humm. I just read the account, and it sounds a bit sketchy since the homeowner admitted the attacker was “Running Away”. No matter if he was shot while charging the homeowner, this is a great case for training yourself NEVER to talk with police right after such a confrontation. The police report will undoubtedly reference the “Running Away” statement, and I’m sure that won’t help the homeowner’s case.

      • What I got out of the article was that the homeowner shot the guy when he charged the homeowner. Once the dude was perforated he chose to flee, collapsed in another yard, and bled out while medics were working on him.

        Didn’t see anything saying the guy was shot while fleeing. Homeowner said he wasn’t sure his shot had even hit the guy.

        I agree, though. Don’t talk, wait for your lawyer.

  21. ABSOLUTELY–A variety of Rugers on person or in arm’s reach–.357 SP101, 9E & SR9C w/ 18 rounds each, LC9S and LCP Custom–9S & Custom loaded with Ruger ARX ammo by Polycase–if you have not tried the ARX ammo I encourage you to do so–even the LCP 380 Custom rivals/surpasses normal rounds in 9mm in performance & the 9mm is eye popping–edges out the Speer Law Enforcement 124 gr GDHP, which is superb–also working outside, taking out trash, etc

    • How exactly do I “try” specialized defense ammo? Shoot it and see if I hit the paper? We need testing I have no ability to conduct in order to determine suitability of various different (very expensive!) ammo. Thus far, Winchester “Train and Defend” has impressed me the most, though it seems excessive when applied to .40 or .45, most people do not seem to understand the concept of “excessive”.

      • Water jugs with enough paper behind to catch the fired bullets–buy one box & just use a few rounds to check results–have tested a few JHP’s that failed miserably–if they work, save what is left in the box and/or get more–if they fail, use them up for practice

  22. most people don’t home carry, i think, because of familiarity. we talk ourselves into the idea that the chance of a home invasion is so low, much lower than being victim in a mass shooting, that we really don’t need to home carry. i am one of these. i very rarely home carry. mostly, i find it to be uncomfortable, more so than in public because i am up and down all the time at home. where as at a restaurant or store, i will either be sitting or standing the entire time, not both sporadically. realistically, that is not a good reason but it is still why i don’t do it very often.

    • gargoil,

      I encourage you to research the myriad ways to schlep a handgun. I guarantee you that there is a handgun and holster combination that is comfortable to carry. You just have not found it yet. Persistence is your friend in this case.

    • You are off on your stats. You have a 20% chance over a lifetime of being involved in a home invasion. Over same lifetime, you have a 0.0012% chance of being involved in a mass shooting. Hence the need for an AR15 at home and any ban on them is blasphemy.

      • You are confusing a home invasion and hot burglary. A hot burglary happens most often when the thief makes a mistake and finds you home. There is a good chance that he isn’t even going to stick around to find out if you are home carrying and if he hears Jethro’s deep bark he isn’t even coming in. A home invasion is violent take down of your house/apartment. It happens to the very rich, to someone who is involved a criminal enterprise or they got the address wrong. So unless you are rich or a criminal you are very unlikely to experience a home invasion.

        • A ‘home invasion’ is any unauthorized entry of an occupied dwelling, even if you stupidly forget to lock your door & the perp(s) walk in–the criminal has invaded your dwelling, aka ‘castle’, & you need to do what is necessary to stop any further advance

        • That is not how law police define it. An unarmed thief breaking into your house while you are there is not a home invasion.

          A home invasion is an intentional act aimed at doing you harm.

          • Disagree–any one entering an occupied dwelling with permission to commit a crime, unarmed or not, is a home invasion

    • when I feel lazy about home carry I remind myself of the Petit family. Nice neighborhood. There’s a man that will have the rest of his life to remember the screams of his wife and daughters as they died.

  23. My S&W 442 (J-frame) is light enough @ 15 ozs (unloaded) to be neatly carried with it’s “Clip Grip” IWB my Jockey shorts. It was a Performance Center version at Palmetto, and I picked it up to replace my COLT Cobra Snub with a similar “Clip Grip”. I inherited the Colt from my dad (a retired Detroit Police Lieutenant) who used it as his “off duty” carry gun. The Colt is a 6 shot, while the S&W J-Frame is a 5, but the Smith is rated for +P ammo, which the 60 yr old Colt is NOT. I figure the Colt deserves a rest in the safe after serving well for so many years. It also happens to be a carbon copy of the gun Jack Ruby used to assassinate Lea Harvey Olswald in 1963.

  24. When I get up in the morning and I’m going to be home I put my “house gun” in my pocket, an LCP, and my Tinker Swiss Army knife in the other. Every day.

  26. Of course I home carry. Most everything that is precious to me is there. Why wouldn’t I be ready and able to protect them?

  27. Almost without exception, I carry a medium/full size semi-auto handgun chambered in .40 S&W with a 15 round magazine all day long. That includes “home carry”.

    On the few odd occasions where I don’t have it strapped on me at home, it is probably within 20 feet and readily accessible.

    I also keep a 20 gauge pump-action shotgun readily available in a discreet location with 5 slugs in the tube magazine (and an empty chamber).

  28. What neighborhood do you guys live in?
    I am in a suburb with zero crime and I have a big dog and an alarm system
    I keep a loaded pistol in a drawer downstairs and another upstairs
    My wife and kids all know how to use the pistols and where they are kept
    Do you really need a gun on you at all times even inside the house?
    Even I think that is a little paranoid
    And that is coming from a guy who conceal carries every day
    In the American Rifleman analysis of self defense shootings, many people were able to go into other rooms and retrieve a gun
    It seems like overkill to me to home carry at all times
    Pun intended

    • This pretty much sums it up for me. I’ve lived in places where one should home carry. I moved to a place where I feel no need to home carry. Trust me, your worst case “scenario” doesn’t apply to me.

    • I too, live in a relatively crime free, upper middle class neighborhood. Up until a couple months ago, the last armed crime (robbery) was a party store, about 10 years ago, just before closing at midnight.

      However, 2 months ago, in mid afternoon, broad daylight, an armed woman entered a home of another woman through an unlocked screen door, like many of us have on hot summer afternoons.

      Although the victim never actually saw a gun, her female attacker pushed something that felt like the muzzle of a handgun into her back & claimed she’d blow her away if she didn’t get cash & other valuables.

      So, yes, I pocket carry my lightweight S&W 442 5 shot revolver at home. Even while in only my underpants, that 38 Spl loaded with +P ammo, is light enough to be supported by it’s “Clip Grip” of my Jockey’s elastic waistband.

      I’ve got several more formidable firearms close by, including a fully loaded Mossberg 500. Even so, I figure the 5 shot revolver will be enough for me to quickly get to one of my other guns. Besides, it’s the one I’ll always have on my person.

    • Docduracoat,

      I live in a very nice community that is about five miles beyond the suburbs. In our area we have small neighborhoods of 10 to 60 homes interspersed with farms and forest.

      Just this summer we had an armed home-invasion three doors down. That home invasion included the 12 year old daughter running out of the house and going door-to-door looking for shelter … until she finally an unlocked door and barged into a neighbor’s home unannounced. And this Spring I had a deadly force encounter with two LARGE and psychotic German shepherds that got loose. And two winters ago my child and family dog had a tense 10 second stand-off against three coyotes/coywolves (50+ pound coyote – wolf hybrids) in our back yard.

      The first thing that we learn from this is that bad things can happen anywhere, even really nice neighborhoods. The next thing that we learn from this is that when life goes sideways, two seconds can literally be the difference between life and death. Since running for a handgun in a drawer could easily add two seconds, I opt to keep a handgun on my hip. If those psychotic German shepherds or the pack of coyotes/coywolves attack one of my children in my yard, I can immediately run out and put lead on target. Remember, an attacker or a big dog could inflict life threatening injuries in seconds. The sooner that you can provide an incentive for them to break-off their attack, the better.

    • And what if you do not have ‘the time’–better to have it & not need it than to need it & not have it–because of the huge increase in crime because the medical (un)profession has made drug addicts of thousands of people, the odds are increasing everyday–where I am the crime rate is near zilch, but almost everyone is armed.

  29. I home carry everywhere except the shower, when the gun isn’t on me but is nearby.

    ‘Cause I don’t want to be coming out of that shower with just a stick in my hands, alright? (Apologies to Sonny Corleone).

  30. I almost always do, unless I’m sick in bed. This last bout with the flu had me knocked to the ground for 2-3 days. I had to sit down to pee. Frankly at one point I wished someone had tried to kill me. X-0

  32. It seems that for many a full sized or compact pistol is too heavy to carry both inside and outside the house. Just another indication that a majority of gun owners treat their firearms like a seat belt. Probably never going to need it but it’s nice have one around.

  33. When I’m at home full size 1911. If I’m wearing shorts I put on my galco jackass shoulder holster. No need to worry about dragging my shorts down. And I can be buck naked and still carry it.

  34. For me, home carry = pocket carry. My Walther PPS riding in a Detroit Holster “John R” pocket holster disappears in a pair of cargo shorts. After the first couple months of carrying it that way, I no longer notice it’s there. If there is a home invasion, I have immediate defense and something to help me get to a larger gun if that’s necessary.

  35. Plan A is to sic the hounds on the intruder; plan B is to pull out my 1911 and shoot the intruder until he stops moving.

  36. Anyone here have small kids? I never know when I am going to get hauled into an impromptu wrestling match with a couple of young boys, and I’m not terribly comfortable carrying in such circumstances.

  37. Carrying a gun on your body is heavy and uncomfortable. I carry when i feel i absolutely have to or i absolutely want to. Not carrying at home, in my castle. I live in a good hood, county and state. There are guns strategically placed in my home for quick access. If you can crash thru one of my doors before i can get to a gun, you got me. Home invasions are rarely random. Unless you sling dope and or have tons of cash lying around, it is very unlikely your inner sanctom will be violated.

    • Sorry, jimmy james I will have to disagree with your premise that it takes slinging dope or tons of cash lying around. The last two home invasions here in my area (and it too is a ‘good hood’) happened to retired couples this summer who did nothing but allow a little cool breeze to come through their patio doors and front doors during the early morning……… but I do believe you have the right to make the decision you have made to protect your castle as you wish.

  38. Springfield XD Service in a Aker shoulder holster, here. I absolutely love a shoulder rig for home carry. Stays comfortable sitting or standing, even with regular up and down at the computer, unholstering when going to the bathroom is a non-issue, I don’t have to settle for a small gun unless I want to, and I get two spare mags on tap into the bargain.

    • Great advice!

      I’ve considered shoulder holsters, but never really tried one.

      Great for carrying under a sport (or suit) coat. Also great for under a hoodie with a zippered front closure. Also eliminates the urge to “gun down” to a mouse or pocket gun for convenience sake.

      I may have just found a new way go actually carry my Glock 17 !

  39. I am never unarmed except when in the shower or hot tub, even then a pistol is within arms reach. Usually a S&W 380.

  40. I always home carry. Baretta 21a with a extra magazine in my pockets. A Mossberg 590 with nine shells in the tube in the bedroom, if needed.

    • Yeah, I guess that’s a good reason for NOT using your real names on blogs like this. MY BAD!

  42. I can’t believe how many Hillary voters there are in Texas. In just a few years I really expect Texas to be a blue state.

    Hillary has 43.7% of the vote in Texas. With Trump at 49.4%. Pretty mind boggling.

    I’m expecting statist/socialist legislation coming soon to Texas.

    • Don’t get too worked up about TX going blue when the choice is between Syphilis and Gonorrhea for president.

    • Look at a breakdown of the demographics of Texas. The strongest support for guns and the gop come from white men. Which are in a minority in Texas and losing more ground. It will come on Texas seemingly quick and unexpected, like the fall of the Berlin wall. But only if you’re not paying attention.

      Gun loving Texans will have the same future as gun loving Californians. If it can’t be stopped at the federal level, it can’t be stopped.

  43. s&w 637 while awake.

    sig 226 in bedside nightstand with rail light.

    glock 19 in office desktop safe.

    it varies when I’m out of the house.

  44. I generally go with the pants rule at home. If I’m wearing pants, I’m armed. In my undies, not so much.

  46. Always home carry, Ruger SR40C. Remington 870 staged on all three floors, Ruger SR45 bedside holster.

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