Apparently some folks do and some folks don't. All of our firearms have trigger locks on them, but there is a full magazine (.22-380 and 9mm) in the Gun Rife Case. There are those, like my half-brother, that keeps a loaded handgun, unlocked, in a bedstand drawer next to the bed. Now, one thing is for sure, neither wife nor I are "macho" like he is. There are those that get curious, "why have a handgun if it's unloaded and has a trigger lock on it?" For us, we simply feel safer that way. Now, if we lived in an area where we may think intruders could be, that would be very different. What about you? Funny, my SIL (wife's older sister) found the small handgun that her decease husband had, but won't have a thing to do with it. Apparently it wasn't loaded, but she can literally "freak" when a gun, or even a bullet, is shown her. I found that out the hard way.
If the gun is locked away, you might as well unload it. At least have the magazine separate. Having guns locked up is important if you have unfamiliar children or adults around. My kids would never touch a gun--loaded or unloaded--without permission.
Loaded, no, but the ammunition is in proximity to them. If I were more concerned, I would keep the handgun loaded. For a couple of weeks after being disturbed by someone knocking on my door at 3-4 am while my wife was away, I did, because I figured it might have been someone checking to see if anyone was home, given that one of our cars was gone. Overall, I don't feel unsafe here in Millinocket, however. When I had children in my home, they were more securely put away. My son never knew I had a handgun until he was helping me pack when he was twenty years old, and my nephew never knew I had firearms.
Actually, we only showed our firearms to the last Maintenance Supervisor girl we had in Colorado. She seemed kind of shocked that, at our age, we'd even have any. Now, there was one time, and I'll make this short, on Halloween night, we left our outside decor on that meant we'd take Trick or Treaters. We were watching tv and someone knocked on our door. My wife said, "sorry, we are out of candy". After the previous Trick or Treater, we forgot to turn out the outside decor lights. Anyway, we continued watching tv, but I noticed someone trying to open our front door that was locked. I could see the knob trying to be turned. Whomever it was, since they couldn't enter, they left. I immediately got our Sig Sauer .22 Mosquito, because, at that time, we had not yet bought a 380 or 9mm. I put a loaded magazine in the Mosquito, pulled the slide that loaded a bullet, but put on the "Safety" also. Went outside, but couldn't see/find anyone. But, just seeing the door knob move, scared the heck out of both of us.
Back in '78 when I was married and living in a nice apartment, someone in the apartment across the way was murdered while we were away on our honeymoon. Their throat was slashed with a broken ashtray. It was likely a dealer/supplier dispute. Such relationships were common in the "nice" burbs of DC (although the violence was not), but since many of the customers wore suits & ties and had nice jobs, it was just part of the economy. I started keeping a loaded shotgun under the bed. The biggest gap in my home security these days is not having a dog.
I've asked Ella about that, but she says that it was bad enough that we brought Bubba home, and she doesn't want a dog.
In defense of felines... I had a rescue dog and a rescue cat (when I was doing that kind of work) who both lived into their early 20s. When a car door slammed at 2AM, the dog snored through it, and the cat would sit up and growl. That cat (Snowy) has violently chased friends out of my house, and they would be in the driveway holding the screen door closed from outside because the cat was hammering at it, determined to go out after them.
Cats aren't a deterrent to burglars or home invasion. A small dog will at least alert inhabitants to danger and let intruders know the alarm has sounded. Cats will watch it happen. A large dog is definitely a deterrent. I had a large dog and the mailman wouldn't even approach the house even when the dog was locked inside. Of course, one needs a club or gun as a follow-up.
In Britain, the laws on guns are much stricter, but you are allowed to take reasonable measures to defend yourself. I live in an apartment at the top of a flight of stairs, and keep a large lump of wood beside my front door. There has only been one occasion when I felt threatened, I quickly boiled the kettle and stood by the door with a jug of boiling water.
Sounds like something Madea would do, only she would probably add grits. Good idea Celia on your alternative self-defense.
I thought things were so topsy-turvy that you were prohibited from harming an intruder over there. I recall there being one case of a woman getting arrested for attacking an intruder inside her own home. Like most things in the media, perhaps there was more to it than we were being told.
I was a good shot when I was young @Cody Fousnaugh but in the last couple years I've developed a tremor, and it's nothing serious, they ruled that out with tests. But damned if I'm gonna get a gun because I pretty much resemble Don Knotts in "The Shakiest Gun in the West" I do have a taser though.