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DH and I just bought a gun! Rather, the gun is really for him. But we have it in a safe right next to our bed as protection. The safe we have is a finger code one, where you push buttons in a certain order to unlock it. We have the handgun loaded with a clip in it. DH will be going for his conceal and carry permit as well

@Coco Bee: it depends on where in. Ilwaukee you live! We are right on the border of a really nice neighborhood, and a not so great on. We are in the nice neighborhood, but maybe 5-6 blocks away from the not so nice one.

But we've never had any trouble yet, I love it here

@Coco Bee: oh ok, yea they are on the East side/ downtown. Thats a little rough down there. But sooo many college age people live down there because that's where the campuses are. Plus tons and tons of bars I live pretty far west of there in a more rural part of town. Not much land though unfortunately!

Public health studies show that a gun in the home is twice as likely to be used on someone who lives in the home than an intruder. I don't like those odds! Plus I've taken care of too many toddlers and children with accidental injuries from guns. All those families (without exception) thought "that would never happen in our family" because we train our kids, or use a safe, or have a trigger lock, or keep our gun unloaded... And still kids are curious and find a way!

no. never. we don't mess around with guns. i respect people have the right to obtain and own them lawfully, with the exception of assault rifles- that i cannot respect. i will be 'that mom' who asks if someone has a gun in their home before leaving my kid at someone's house for a play date, and i won't leave them there alone if they do. i feel very strongly about keeping guns away from our family.

as for living in a bad neighborhood and having a gun kept in a safe that you would use for protection- i don't feel like this works. we live in a bad neighborhood (within a city where our violent crime rate is higher than the national average by 133.55%, so 'bad' isn't just my opinion, statistically, it's violent). DH has had a gun flashed at him many times while walking at night, but there is a nod of acknowledgement/respect/whatever you want to call it that takes place, and then he minds his business & keeps walking. a gun in a gun safe isn't going to protect you on the street, but flashing a weapon back at them would be one of the worst things you could do- because now you've disrespected them & their spot & threatened them. they would also now know that you have a gun at home, should they want one, breaking into your home to get yours would be an easy way to get one, and since you have a weapon, they wouldn't be breaking in unarmed- it would be the super scary kind, where you and your gun would be overpowered and outnumbered. you've drawn attention to yourself rather than trying to respect the environment.

We have 3 guns! I keep the shotgun close by when DH goes out of town just in case.

a lot of people will frown on this, but we probably have about 10 guns in our home. my husband is an avid hunter and we have a ranch..so guns are a necessity unless you want to risk potentially being injured by a jaguar/coyote, etc. i can't imagine living in a city and really necessitating a firearm, but around here-pretty much everyone owns guns.

@lydg: i know i went on a bit of an anti gun rant- but your situation is exactly where guns ARE appropriate! guns are for killing things, in your case, they're killing appropriate things, where i live, they're for killing people- i disagree with the part where guns are used for killing people.

No. We don't own guns, and I cannot imagine ever buying one.

Both my husband and I have lived in very large, major cities - in "good", "bad" and "so-so" neighborhoods and neither of us have ever felt that we might need to own a gun because we lived in a city. Honestly, if moving to a city makes you that possibly nervous that you might consider carrying a concealed weapon, maybe you would be more comfortable continuing to live in a more rural environment?

Nope, never would with kids in the house - would maybbbe consider if we retired on a farm where wild animals could be an issue. I've read too many statistics and stories about guns being more involved in accidental injuries than actually preventing crimes or defending safety. Ignoring the irrational fact that they give me the heebie jeebies - which also plays a part

I'm interested in knowing how to use one and practicing at a shooting range. Possibly use it for hunting...I live in PA after all, haha. I doubt I'd carry a weapon though. One of the first things I learned in self-defense class was how easy it is for weapons to be turned against you!

We don't, but I would for hunting. By which I mean that I would be fine with my husband having a gun for hunting. He hunts with my dad and borrows his gun at the moment.

I can shoot, but only at targets.

Have I mentioned that we live in the mountains?

@sorrycharlie west texas!

@Mrs. Jacks: I respect your decision. But I would just like to say that I disagree.

We will have a gun in our house when we have children. But we are doing so safely. It will be loaded but it is in a very secure safe, also we plan on really not telling our children about our gun. My husband goes shooting regularly at the range but there is no need to tell our little ones that. There would be no way they could get in the safe, here is the one we have. Where only DH and I know the code

http://www.amazon.com/Gunvault-GV2000C-DLX-Multi-Vault-Deluxe/dp/B000O8VUR0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1344812891&sr=8-7&keywords=Small+gun+safe

@MrsTiz: you can talk til you're blue in the face to a child about gun safety, some children will yield to your warnings, but many are not developmentally capable of understanding risks of playing with a gun. They are not responsible enough to be around such dangerous weapons.

I'm sorry about the loss of your friend, that is tragic. My great grandfather killed himself with a shotgun. Yes, there are lots of ways to commit suicide, fortunately, most people aren't successful at their first attempt and this often gives them another chance at life. People who use guns to kill themselves are tragically successful. They rarely get a second chance at life.

No one can say how the terrible events that transpired in the CO movie theater would have ended if others in the theater had also began shooting. My guess is that a few surprised movie goers with concealed handguns in a dark theater would have been no match for automatic assault rifles shooting any and everything in their path.

You absolutely have the right to have your legally obtained & registered weapons, and it sounds like you will do your best to instill a respect for their power in your children. The numbers just don't support that you and your family will be safer for owning them. I hope you're never in a situation where you feel the need to use them. I appreciate that you want to be responsible and safe gun owners & wish more people that owned guns held those feelings. I still choose never to own a gun and have faith that my family will be safer for it.

I would never own or carry a gun.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/gun-loving-us-cop-draws-twitter-jeers-after-aggressive-encounter-with-canadians/article4471289/

Recently there was an american from michigan visiting a canadian city who wished he was allowed to carry his gun. He was approached by two event promoters and claimed they were being aggressive and feared for his safety. I cant imagine living a life where you are that paranoid that you feel it is necessary to pull a gun on someone for being obnoxious.

@mrstiz I am asking earnestly - how do you keep a gun safe and locked up, 100% out of the way from kids' hands but also readily available if someone broke into your house in the middle of the night, or on your person and ready to use if someone opened fire where you were?

I am definitely not trying to put you on the defensive - I just don't understand how those two thoughts reconcile and do not have any gun ownership among friends or family to consult or compare.

This thread freaks me out! We have a gun locked up at home...it belongs to DH. Seriously, just looking at it is horrifying to me.
I'd like to believe having a safe tucked away in a closet that LO's can't reach even with a stool/chair would protect my son and daughter and still protect our house and family if anyone broke in...but I hate thinking of the possibility of something tragic happening.

DH has taken me to the shooting range a few times to get me familiar with guns but I'm still terrified of them.

I think the data is pretty clear on the protective vs. negative effects of gun ownership.

I live in a crappy neighborhood in a big city, so I got an alarm system and a dog.

@MrsTiz: Mrs. Jacks is a pediatrician.