For many reasons, sleeping with a gun under your pillow is never a good idea. However, it’s hard to argue because crime rates are increasing and police response times are getting longer.
Feeling intimidated in your own home is no laughing matter, and there are a dozen reasons why you should sleep with a gun under your pillow.
- Could you sleep with a gun under your pillow and not worry about it?
- What gun is a safer option?
- How to accidental prevent damage.
The official line says it’s unsafe, and you should never sleep with a gun under your pillow. We recommend you sleep with your gun in a safe in the bedroom. If you have an intruder in your home, you will have time to get your loaded weapon and defend yourself and your family.
Here are several reasons why this is not a safe practice:
- Accidental discharge: If the gun is under your pillow, it is much more likely to discharge accidentally if you move around while you are sleeping or if you have a nightmare.
- Risk of theft: If you keep a gun under your pillow, it is much easier for someone to steal it. This could put the gun into the hands of someone who should not have access to it, which could be very dangerous.
- Difficulty accessing the gun: If you need to use the gun to protect yourself, it will be much more difficult to access if it is under your pillow. You will need to wake up, find the gun, and load it before you can use it, which may not be possible in a high-stress situation.
- Legal issues: In some states, it is illegal to keep a loaded gun under your pillow. Even in states where it is not illegal, you may face legal consequences if you use the gun in self-defense and it is determined that you were negligent in storing the gun safely.
Overall, it is much safer to store your gun in a secure location, such as a gun safe, and to only access it when you are fully awake and aware of your surroundings.
Let’s take a look at some suggested methods that should allow you to sleep soundly while not having to worry about an accidental discharge from your weapon of choice under your pillow.
Choice of Gun
Selecting a gun that will be safe to sleep under your pillow may sound like a contradiction to some folks, but if you are adamant this is what you want, then who can convince you otherwise.
If this is something you are going to practice, then let’s be as safe as possible.
It seems reasonable to suggest sleeping with a loaded or hot gun is somewhat dangerous depending on how much you move around while you sleep.
Most of you move at some time through the night, often placing a hand or arm under the pillow.
You can sleep with a 1911 under your pillow, with the magazine out, and no round in the chamber.
We know that slamming in a magazine and racking the slide takes a few milliseconds, and the proficient gun user should not cause a problem.
If you are less proficient and find your finger grip and wrist action a little weak, then rack the slide on the pistol before sleeping. Place the magazine in the pistol. There is no round in the chamber, and the gun is in a safe position.
Now, to chamber a round, you just need to release the slide. This is usually a positive action and would wake you if done by accident in the night. Once the slide is released, the round is chambered, and the gun is hot.
The drawback with the latter description is the pistol becomes a little bulkier under the pillow, but not so much you would notice if you are used to sleeping with a weapon beneath your pillow.
You can use this proposed method with a 1911, Glock, Jericho, Colt, or a similar design.
Sleeping With a Revolver Under Your Pillow
We may as well get into this because inherent problems are sleeping with a revolver under your pillow.
They are bulkier just by the nature of their design. Sleeping with a loaded cylinder open is possible, and you could say it is perfectly safe, with the possibility of an accidental discharge being zero.
The problem arises should you even feel threatened enough and need to go in search of an intruder.
Closing the cylinder can, on occasion, cause the rounds to rise in the cylinder, primarily if the revolver has not been maintained regularly by a certified gum smith.
This defeats the purpose of sleeping with a gun under your pillow.
Loaded Guns Under The Pillow
If you are sleeping with a hot gun under your pillow, you are dicing with death. We move in the night; if the gun is dropped, it could discharge. Forget the safety; they don’t always work in this situation. And If worse comes to worst, your safety not working will not be acceptable in a court of law.
Can the gun move less under the pillow?
I guess it is worth trying to find an anti-slip material to place the gun onto. You could buy one of those open mesh soft and often used for gripping items on car dashes.
This is not a recommendation. It’s a suggestion. If you sleep with slippery bedsheets of pillow protectors, evaluate the risks these could add to what may be an already tricky practice.
The power of the projectile leaving most barrels is enormous, enough to penetrate a block wall, and with most homes being made of composite materials, if you do get an accidental discharge from the pistol.
At the same time, sleeping could be fatal to a person in a different room and even a neighbor’s home.
The Bottom Line
Society has changed over the past couple of decades, and crime is on the increase. The political divide of the country is adding fuel to the flames.
Understandably, you want to protect yourself from intruders, and it’s your right. However, sleeping with a gun under your pillow is not advised under any circumstances, and it’s outright dangerous.
