a gun under the pillow

[apotheon]

The words "sleeps with a gun under his pillow" are sort of a common indictment of someone's sanity. If someone says "He sleeps with a gun under his pillow," what that person is really saying is "He's a paranoid nutcase

Comments

[gentlemaitresse]

Didn't you get the memo? *Anyone* who even *owns* a gun is a nutjob now!

[apotheon]

It's certainly easy to dismiss the matter as just another example of authoritarian meddling in the form of gun control hysteria, but I think there's more to it in regards to this colloquialism. After all, I'm pretty sure that "a knife under the pillow" would convey exactly the same sense, with the caveat that it would come off slightly differently just because it's not the commonly heard form of the sentiment.

[quantumzen]

Hmmm.

I've grown accustomed to sleeping with one of my katana's while at home for many years now--going on six or seven, probably. Does that mean I'm a paranoid nutcase, too? Or just some wanna be anime kid? :-p

[apotheon]

Maybe the answer to your questions is "yes". Hey, I dunno.

I, for one, don't see any particular reason to think of your sword being on your bed while you sleep as being a sign of paranoia, necessarily. The same goes for guns, as far as I can tell, or a baseball bat, or a cellphone, or much of anything else for that matter. I wonder why others might think so, though.

A gun shouldn't be comfortable, but it is comforting

[polyanarch]

It has a lot to do with how a person sleeps and what kind of self-trust you have when in a dream-state. If a person sleep-walks at all I'd suggest that they definitely NOT sleep with a gun under the pillow. Plus there is the weapon's configuration as well. Would you sleep with a cond-1 glock under your pillow? That's a bomb waiting to go off unless you had it in a hard holster which makes for a pretty thick "rock" to create a stiff neck. A 1911 cocked and locked? More safe than that glock but still instantly able to be readied for action. Although there is but a faint buffer for safety if you groggily reach for it under your pillow in a dream and flick off that safety instinctively as you have thousands of times at the range

Re: A gun shouldn't be comfortable, but it is comforting

[apotheon]

Hah. I love that your commentary includes educational materials on the subject of sleeping with a gun under the pillow.

I, for one, am unlikely to have a round in the firing chamber of my Glock under any circumstances aside from the minutes immediately preceding firing it. If I had something with a more traditional safety mechanism (such as a 1911 or Beretta model 92), I might keep a round in the chamber if I had it in a nightstand drawer or something like that, but I prefer to minimize any chance of accident and thus keep all ammunition in the Glock in its magazine until I'm about to start expending it.

The first thing I'd do if someone broke in would be to roll off the far side of the bed, anyway, I think - not just start firing from where I'm lying. I blame the Army for that. Even soft cover's better than nothing.

Re: A gun shouldn't be comfortable, but it is comforting

[polyanarch]

I feel that the most likely scenario for discovering an intruder would be either very early (as they broke in and made a lot of noise -or the dog was barking

[smjayman]

"Do you sleep with that thing?"

"I would, if I slept."

Heh, I don't put a gun IN the bed, but certainly have one nearby...

[ilcylic]

My shotgun would make a vastly uncomfortable lump under my pillow.

It lives within reaching distance of the bed, though.

Maybe it's a condemnation of my mental state that hearing the phrase "he sleeps with a gun under his pillow" inspires me to think "there's someone who takes adequate precautions."

But I live in bad neighborhoods, and always have, and unless I move to the middle of nowhere, probably always will. (I get fewer neighbors harassing me for my hobbies in less stuck up neighborhoods.)

-Ogre