Looking for ways to make your home safer? Adding some firepower is one way to do that.
If you ask us, a home defense gun is just as important as smoke detectors and a first aid kit. But buying a pistol and putting the box in your closet is not a good home defense strategy.
Today, we’ll teach you how to stage guns for home defense safely. We’ll also cover other important aspects of home defense, like laws pertaining to firearm storage, home-hardening techniques, and products that can make it all safer, easier, and more effective.
Knock knock, let’s get started!
Table of Contents
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What You Need Before You Start
Must-Have Tools
- Firearm
- Home
- Plan that everyone in the household understands
Nice-to-Have Tools
- Weapon light
- Biometric safe
- RFID keys
- Hidden gun safe
- Security cameras
- Alarm system
How to Stage Guns for Home Defense Safely
Step 1: Assess Your Internal Risks
Before you get too carried away, let’s take a step back and look at your living situation.
Do you have kids in the home? Do you live with roommates? Are there guests, workers, or landlords who have access to your home? The first step to keeping them safe is making sure your guns don’t end up in the wrong hands.
Some people can safely lay a gun on the nightstand and call it a day. Others may need to use a safe.
Federal law does not require you to lock up your firearms, but 18 USC subsection 922(z)(3) offers protection from civil penalty if you do.
According to Giffords Law Center, 26 states currently have some degree of legislation regarding firearm storage. These laws vary widely, so you’re responsible for understanding what’s required in your state.
And remember, laws change.
Step 2: Assess Your External Threats
Once you know you aren’t making things worse by improperly staging a gun in the house, you can start planning for threats that justify the defensive use of a firearm.
Are home invasions common in your area? Do criminals tend to operate alone or in groups where you live? Are you more vulnerable during certain times of day or in certain locations in your home? Do you have an alarm system, security cameras, or animals that might give you advanced warning of a threat?
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Trends in home invasion data vary by geographic location, season, time, and home type. Sifting through crime statistics from your local police department or sheriff’s office will give you a better idea of how to protect yourself in your home.
Step 3: Stage Your Gun for Home Defense Safely
So, you’ve figured out how to store a gun safely, and you understand the threats. Where should you keep your home defense gun? You have options, and there’s no universal right answer.
Carry Your Home Defense Gun
The best option is to, as the kids say, keep that thing on you. If you always have a CCW pistol on your waist with an IWB holster or AIWB holster, you’ll never have to go searching for it if someone kicks your door in.
Not interested in wearing a holster all the time? Consider an off-body carry bag. Not only does this allow you to move your pistol around the house as you go about your day, you can also pack your phone, wallet, a flashlight, and medical supplies so you’re always ready to hit the ground running.
At the time of writing, 29 states have constitutional or permitless carry, meaning you don’t need a permit to carry a concealed pistol. Some that do issue permits waive that requirement when you’re inside your home.
Store Your Home Defense Gun in a Safe
There was a time when buying a gun safe meant wheeling what looked like an armored refrigerator into your house and opening it with a mechanical dial fit for a heist movie.
Not anymore. Those safes still exist and have a purpose, but they’re not your only option.
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Rapid-access gun safes from brands like SecureIt, SentrySafe, and Vaultek use digital keypads and biometric scanners to keep your guns off-limits without slowing you down when you need them.
Want a mechanical alternative? We like Steelhead safes for their analog simplicity and heavy metal construction.
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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Modern gun safes come in all shapes and sizes. Mount a pistol to your desk, lock a tactical shotgun under your bed, or anchor a lock box inside your car. You’re only limited by your creativity and budget.
Disguise Your Home Defense Gun’s Location
Not wild about putting a lock between you and your means of self defense? There’s another way: hidden gun safes.
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Clever products that mimic furniture and everyday items will hide your gun in plain view. Some of them lock and unlock with a magnet or RFID key that has to be placed in just the right spot. Others don’t lock at all, but who’s going to randomly start disassembling your clock or rearranging decorations on a shelf?
Remember Vaultek? The company’s Smart Stations pack all the high-tech goodies into a safe that looks like an alarm clock. They tell the time, charge your phone, and secure a pistol within arm’s reach.
Prices accurate at time of writing
Prices accurate at time of writing
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Hidden gun safes offer the added benefit of keeping a low profile. Guests and burglars might not be able to open a handgun-sized safe on your nightstand, but they probably know what’s in there.
Regardless of which kind of safe you like, the key is figuring out where you’re most likely to be when you need to access your gun, which is a guessing game at best.
Most people probably opt for the bedroom, since home invasions usually happen at night. If you have the ability to stage multiple guns, feel free to branch out.
Choosing the Right Home Defense Gun
Any gun can be a home defense gun, but some are better than others.
Most of us here prefer pistols because they offer a good balance of power, capacity, concealability, and maneuverability.
Shotguns are always popular for home defense, although they have some drawbacks – primarily capacity and overpenetration.
Rifles might sound excessive to some people, but that’s exactly what the police are going to respond with when you call 911 (more specifically, an AR-15). Choosing one for home defense is certainly a viable option.
Whatever you pick, I recommend adding a weapon light and stocking up on quality defensive ammo.
As with every other aspect of home defense, you need to set aside the forum chatter and figure out what’s right for you.
Step 5: Harden Your Home
A gun is not a comprehensive home defense plan. Consider taking additional steps to harden your home, including the following.
- Install security cameras to give you advanced warning of potential threats.
- Install an alarm system to alert you to a break in your home and let intruders know they’ve lost the element of surprise.
- Trim bushes, cut tree limbs, and modify landscaping so that it makes accessing your home harder, not easier.
- Mix up your daily routine so it’s difficult to predict when your home is vulnerable.
- Don’t advertise when you’re alone or away with careless conversations or social media posts.
- Maintain good relationships with your neighbors so they can raise the alarm if they see something suspicious.
Step 5: Work as a Team
Unless you live alone, your home defense plan needs to account for everybody. Involving them early can help keep everyone safe.
If you would need to round up little kids during a home invasion, plan for that. Decide who’s job it is to get them and figure out the best way to make it happen.
Maybe everyone in the home is capable of coming to you. Make sure they know that’s their job, and come up with a system to get them into your room safely without mistaking them for an intruder.
Everybody’s input matters, so let your family or roommates play an active role in coming up with contingency plans.
Step 6: Train
Finally, stress-test your system.
If you use a safe, practice opening it under stress by incorporating a timer, darkness, and distractions. Run drills so everyone can go through the motions and get positive reps before their lives depend on it.
If you’re a great marksman but can’t get your gun up and running when it counts, there’s a hole in your skill set.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Not being secure enough: Being cavalier with guns is never a good idea. Think about who could get their hands on your home defense gun without your permission (kids, dog-sitters, people working on the house – you name it), and take steps to prevent that from happening.
- Being too secure: At the same time, don’t go overboard with caution. If you have guns locked in a bedroom safe, ammunition locked in a garage safe, and a stack of empty magazines in your range bag, they aren’t going to do you any good in a crisis.
- Not sharing the home defense plan: It doesn’t matter how good your home defense plan is or how much expertise you have if nobody else in the house knows what they’re supposed to do in an emergency. Talk it over and make sure everyone in the house knows what to do.
- Not training: The guns are staged and the family knows the plan. But if the last time you rehearsed opening the safe and executing your plan was… wait, when was that again?
Meet the Experts
Writing this article is Scott Murdock. Scott is a Marine Corps veteran who competed and qualified as a rifle and pistol expert while in service. In addition to shooting, Scott has written for a variety of publications, testing, researching, and evaluating guns and gear. He brings that knowledge and skillset to this article, editing and fact-checking for accuracy.
Editor-in-Chief Jacki Billings runs our experienced team of reviewers. She is a National Rifle Association Basic Pistol Instructor as well as a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, ACES: Society for Editing, and the Professional Outdoor Media Association. Jacki has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and has worked as a media professional for close to 20 years, specializing in gun media for almost 10 years. With 2,000+ articles to her name, she uses her professional journalism and editing experience to set testing protocols and editorial standards for Pew Pew Tactical.
Final Thoughts
Home defense is a complicated and never-ending pursuit, but protecting the people you care about is worth the effort.
While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, you now have a solid enough understanding of how to stage guns for home defense that you can start to develop a plan that works for you.
As always, drop a few tips in the comments so we can all learn together!
How do you stage your home defense gun? Let us know in the comments. Looking for something new? Check out our guide to the Best Home Defense Guns!
Latest Updates
- September 2025: Complete overhaul with new instructions, photos, and supporting content.
52 Leave a Reply
If you forget your combination, "Lock-picking lawyer" will show you how to open it in seconds!
Good job on an impossible subject. Someone said carry all the time. Holster for your pajamas? A home invasion? Most likely more than one. Hold on we practiced front door or window. You were not supposed to do both at once. Image, you used your gun to defend your home. We have the castle law. Explained to me you cannot use your gun to prevent someone from carrying out your property. You have to prove you were in danger. Imagine court. They have a safe that costs $$$$$. Two guns in the home. You can bet the prosecutor will ask WHY. To shoot or not to shoot you make that decision in a tenth of a second our "legal system." will have forever to question it
and you will live with it forever. Prepared is one thing. Action is far different.
Thanks, Claud. Glad I'm not responsible for making everyone's home defense plan!
John,
This is priceless and well-articulated:
"If you ask the gun-control idiots for your home defense guns they would say "lock them up" like fort knox, some of these idiots would want you to completely dissemble them then lock up the parts, then lock up the ammo in a separate 'container'."
This is one of the best comments I've read in a while. The sad part, you're not off base with your assessment. I'm still cracking up.
Thank you!
I live in a very rural area. Due to the fact that 72%-78% (can't remember exactly the number but it's in this range) of violent encounters occur at or in your residence, I have my Glock 31 on my side, not to mention my two aggressive female Great White Pyrenees that are with me most of the time. Anything can happen; however, I like to think I'm prepared. I train regularly too.
I enthusiastically award you three gold stars - one for training regularly and one for each Pyrenees.
I'm in a rural area, and very little threats exists here, but I have my pistol in a digital access safe that I can get to in about 30-45 seconds. That said, I don't really worry about home invasion.
Glad to hear that you're prepared anyway. Thanks for reading!
I have my AR15 mounted on a homemade gun rack above the door to my walk-in closet. Yes it’s fully loaded. It’s out of reach of kids most people don’t even notice it until I point it out to them. My handgun I keep in an unlocked decorative carved rosewood box on my nightstand. We have a small dog that barks at the slightest noise and an ADT alarm system.
Thanks for reading!
I keep my firearm under my other pillow within hands reach. No need to lock it up at night. I live alone. I have cameras at the front looking at my front door on my patio and inside my home pointing at the front door. I Two with speakers and 2 without. There is one on the patio front door and one inside of the home pointing at the front entrance. One at the back door and one in the dinning room showing the rear door, kitchen and dinning room!
I live in a rural area with not much crime (Thank God) I hope my plan works for me!
I stay in the living room with my firearm on me at all times!
Sounds like you're preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. Solid strategy. Thanks for reading!
Be sure you alarm system, besides calling the police, can make a backup call to the coroner.
Great article. Enjoyed reading.
Any thoughts on using the Stopbox to store your
Glock?
StopBox has a few things going for it, Craig. The cases are all mechanical, so there are no batteries or electronics to fail; they're very fast to open, which is ideal for home defense; and they're affordable. I imagine I could break into one pretty quickly with power tools, but that's true of a lot of handgun safes. StopBox sells tethers and wall-mounting kits that make the boxes a little more secure. I think those are a nice boost in security. Thanks for reading!
2nd canine alarm system. HOWEVER: I might be very busy if in the middle of protecting family & self. A monitored alarm system adds another level of surveillance and alarm. The alarm dispatchers can earn their wages by calling the police/sheriff or base security for me.
It's always good to have a layered defense, John, and it sounds like you've got it handled. Thanks for reading and sharing the recommendation!
No headboard. Holster is screwed to the bedframe in that location (top of bed) not visible to anyone but me. Within easy reach for a threat. Turn on the blinding weapon light and good to go.
Sounds like a plan. Thanks for reading!
I found your article very informative. However it was lacking some detail. If you live min a multiple floor home, should you have a firearm on each floor? What type of storage do you recommend for a firearm that is necessary in certain situations (eg Hostage)?
I hate to fall back on this, Harry, but it depends. What's your budget for guns and - if appropriate - safes? Will there be kids and their friends playing on a separate floor from you with potential access to staged guns? There are so many individual factors to consider. If you have the means to buy and securely position guns in multiple rooms on multiple floors, got for it. And don't hesitate to change your home defense plan if conditions change. As for safes, it sounds like you'd be a great candidate for a biometric safe; just tap the sensor and it pops open. Thanks for reading!
FYI, the state of Tennessee has constitutional carry, but it is open carry only. To conceal carry in Tennessee, you have to have a permit. Just sayin'. I whole heartedly agree with Short Barrel about the Canine Early Warning System. Always effective and great companions.
And that's why we all need to stay on top of our local laws. Thanks for reading!
“Canine early warning system” is a must in my book. Even tiny dogs will (okay, SHOULD) alert you of a break-in in progress, giving you more time to grab a weapon. I’ve also read that perps steer clear if they know there’s a dog on the premises for that exact reason. Plus, dogs are great.
Couldn't agree more. Thanks for reading!
All my guns are locked in the safe when I'm not home. Except the hidden guns. When I'm home i have at least 4 pistols within a few feet. They are condition 3. Nothing is the chamber. That way if an intruder finds one I have a couple of seconds to react. Also all guns are suppressed. 300BLK suppressed is the 1st choice.
Adding suppressors to home defense guns is expensive, but I think it's worth it if you have the option. Sounds like a great setup, Phil!
Some of us gun owners live in places where the foundation slab is pre or post-tensioned. That means drilling to mount a gun safe is not safe on the ground floor. Outside of putting the safe upstairs, any ideas for mounting a standing gun safe to a stud in the wall? When you're having adult beverages, being armed is not only unsafe and unwise, it's illegal. When I'm having cocktails, my EDC is locked up. I'd still rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6 if someone breaks into my abode when I've had two beers... but, may people have said that they'd rather be dead than imprisoned.
Locking up your home defense guns is a sort of hot button issue among gun owners. Everyone has their own opinion. If you ask the gun-control idiots for your home defense guns they would say "lock them up" like fort knox, some of these idiots would want you to completely dissemble them then lock up the parts, then lock up the ammo in a separate 'container'. The gun control idiots would rather you die so they can get their way. Your life and the life of your family doesn't mean squat to them despite all their false sentiment rhetoric about 'gun safety' and 'stopping gun violence' which is just their way of saying "gun-control" and "banning second amendment exercise" and 'confiscating guns'.
But no matter the opinion there is one issue with locking up your home defense guns that has never been overcome by any safe or security device, and everyone will face in some way or another no matter their opinion - that issue is getting to the gun fast enough to stop the bad guys before the bad guys can stop you.
Yeah, someone is going to say "But well I practice 50 hours a week opening that safe and getting to my guns....and I can do it with the bad guys bearing down on me from just 20 feet away and take them all out" or something similar. Stop lying to your self, you can't and likely won't when the time comes.
I'm not saying you should not in some way maybe if you are so inclined lock up your guns in these stashing type safes to stash them around the house. That's up to you. So maybe you need some type of comprehensive warning system that will give you some sort of advanced warning someone unknown is where they should not be around your house trying to get in so you can get a little lead time to get that stash safe open.
Personally, we don't have kids in the house any longer, except when the grand kids come over to visit, so most of the times we have our several home defense guns in easy immediate reach out in the open and the others locked in the safe. Its paid off doing that. You folks with kids in the house maybe not so easy for you.
I'm in a similar situation, so the only time my staged guns are locked up, is when the Grandkids come for a visit, or if we're going to be away from home for an extended period of time. The rest of the time, they're available within a second or two.
Your best recommendation: keep it on your person until you go to bed; and then put within arm's reach on the nightstand. Don't need so many guns and safes that way.
My way as well.
Must be within hands reach at ALL times.
EDC comes off as I lay me down. Main gun (lazer) and EDC onto stand or along side me in bed, Keeps the dogs off.
Mossberg 12 ga within reach, all locked and loaded.
Now none of this helps much if you don't know what to do in a breakin. I train once a week and am amazed at those who adopt the weaver/isosceles stance, raise a weapon in both hands font onto the adversary and blast away.
Yep many a crim will wait while you set up. Stupid and false security.
I practice one hand only , left or right and I am not ambidextrous. I practice from around corners, while in bed, even when on the toilet.
Having experienced two breakin attempts has made me well aware that now my physical strength and agility have gone to rest, I appreciate the ability to own, practice and carry here in AZ, leaving the foreign folks in Ca behind who I pity. After 40+ years in that cesspool, AZ is a blessing on many fronts.
I'll bet most people would not be able to get into that "SnapSafe Under Bed XXL Safe" fast enough if the bad guy is already at their bedroom door about to open it, and they did not know they were already in the house.
Where ever you are going to stash guns, if you have kids living in the house or car or visiting (e.g. relatives, friends, grand kids, etc...) make sure that even if the kid finds the gun they are not able to take it out from where ever it is. Yeah, I know, most people already know that but still a reminder doesn't hurt and I thought that deserved a mention since the article didn't mention anything about it. So what ever you do to stash your guns, where ever you stash them, around the house keep the added dimension of the kids in mind.
This is over $1000 in safes and most people don't even have enough firearms to stage them. Be prepared and know where your weapons are even if they aren't all firearms. Instead of investing in guns and gun safes invest in a security system. It will be more helpful when you are not at home...which is when most home invasions occur.
There are some handy rubber grommeted and adjustable short rifle holders you mount on the back of the closet door I've been looking at. Pull it straight out of the rubber grommets and there ya go. Many of us have collected for years and it can't hurt to have one of some kind in most rooms and your main living room right next to you. Basement too for post tornado and if it leads to the garage or outside. Remember the flash will blind you and the noise stun you.
For probably many of us, that is BIG money. We have a reliable good brand revolver and a .22 bolt action rifle. No way could we afford that many firearms, let alone safes for them. As a senior on a low fixed income that will never happen. If I have a safe it will be one I build.
However it secures to your vehicle do NOT rely on the combo lock; mine shit the bed within two weeks of purchase. That said, keep hold of those two keys because you can't have them replicated.
Forget about staging. Just keep a gun on your person at all times. When you go to bed, have it on the table next to you.
Thanks for the gun safe reviews. Please let us know when the gun staging article will be published.
Nice job, PEW PEW, telling me I'm posting posts too quickly, and this is my first in weeks.
I got this guy name of Murphy seems to follow me everywhere, so odds are that a home invasion, just like a long-awaited phone call of old, will occur when I'm on the throne.
We have one of those knob handles pump-action 20 gauges stuck business end first into a towel slot across from the john. Works for me and momma..... we hope.
D'OH!!!! Although I've NEVER commented, PewPew says I'm doing it too quickly. Horse apples.
I own a significant woodworking shop. Too, I play with rare earth magnets, some with up to four hundred pounds pull.
With the foregoing in mind, my inclination is to go for concealment, versus a safe. If it's not suspected, known or found, its safer than if it were in a safe that could be carted off with a hand truck.
On the rare earth magnet thing, I just bought six that, each, have about 80 pounds pull. Embedded in wood these can hold panels on walls with ease and a kid hanging on them is not going to, accidentally, pull the panel off.
Using rare earth magnets, which do not lose pull like the ones we grew up with. As such, wainscoating can be installed on walls, decorative panels can be placed on walls and so on to make access to guns far quicker than if in a safe, but still secure by way of sound concealment.
Then there are things like toe kick drawers, decorative pillars that are hollow, stair kick plate storage and so on.
Staging guns all over is just the first step. What you really need to think about is staging decoy guns the bad guys will try to steal instead, and then decoys for your decoy guns to keep them safe. And it goes without saying this all happens in your decoy house... that’s electrified.
Some preparation for anticipated events is good but too much is just miss appropriated funds that might be better spent later. My luck it would be cops breaking into the wrong address and I'd be standing there with a gun in my hand.
Newb here. I hear a lot about storing ammo separate from your firearms. One PewPew author said he stores ammo in a completely different room, and so should we. In my mind that means never being prepared for the instant need should there be an intruder, road rage, etc. etc. And now I read this...surely firearms that are staged are done so with ammo, right? Otherwise, why bother? So what's a newb supposed to do?
Hello! That really depends on your situation. I know many owners especially with young children keep their firearms and ammo in two locations for increased security. They will at most have 1 firearm loaded in a quick-access safe in a nightstand or something close at hand. Personally, I don't have kids, and every member of my family is very well versed in firearm safety -- so I don't feel the feel for the extra layer of protection. I have firearms and ammo in the same location, many magazines are kept always loaded and in easy to grab places, etc. I do make it a policy that any firearm that I do keep "loaded" I actually keep "cruiser ready". That is magazine loaded and in, but the chamber empty. For my CCW when I leave the house, I carry with one in the chamber -- but my HD guns are all kept chamber empty. That is the extra layer of safety that I feel is reasonable for my situation.
I have dozens of guns scattered all over the house, and mines in the front yard
How does that hornady rapid safe secure to the vehicle?
By steel cable and a bladder. Hornady also has a long rifle rfid safe for a vehicle or home. I have a Hornady pistol and rifle rfid safe in my suv ands shotgun rfid safe in my downstairs closet.
Re: J Rosetti
I have a Hornady pistol lock box. The box that I bought from Hornady came with only two (2) keys. I tried to get more keys... but the company couldn't come through with the key order. How many readers know what "TWO is ONE, and ONE becomes NONE"!!!! If I lose just ONE!!! key the lock box becomes trash.
What the hell? I JUST put them all in the shower.
Lol just strap them to the dog. When the intruder comes in, call you dog. DOG PISTOL.