If you are not awake enough to open your lock box, or even rack your slide then you definitely are not awake enough to identify a target and deem it a threat.

^^^^^this

I too am a fighter in my sleep. I have hit my wife 2 times and missed multiple times. The punches are hard enough that I wake up from the jolt and make sure I didn't hit her again. Alcohol use to knock me out past the dream stage. I have lightened up on the cbd amount also so I'm not at that stage Similar my G19 is in my drawer of my night stand and the magazine is beside it. I have cleared the top of my nightstand a few times. I have 2 dogs who will give me a heads up if someone breaks in. I'm not worried about the mag beside it. Plenty of time.

Put in a drawer and maybe just set the mag beside it.

I have two German Shepherds and a Great Pyrenees in our "sun" room, right outside the bedroom door. The Great Pyrenees bark can be herd outside probably 50-60 feet from the house. We sleep well.

Put it in a retention holster where you have to use both hands to retrieve it.

I'm 68 years old and yes this is a one off instance. Much like Ckincaid, I'm a nocturnal fighter. I've kicked and punched several times without being aware of doing so until my wife awakens me. Glock has been removed from the bedroom and the Shield is in the bedside table drawer with the safety on. I'll be looking into a safe for the bedside.

A gun within reach sounds like a bad idea

Seriously, what percentage of us really have a need for a gun right there in our nightstand? If I did that, and I don’t have time to get a gun out of my closet, then I would be moving because that’s not the kind of neighborhood I want to live in!

I vote gun safe

Instances where you need a firearm to defend your family at night are rare in most neighborhoods. They are NOT nonexistent. Whether to have a firearm immediately accessible at night is a personal choice that only you can make after weighing all of the factors. However, living in a “safe” neighborhood does not make you immune from crime. It happens everywhere. You aren’t immune from a drunk neighbor, enraged that his wife locked him out of “his” house, breaking down the door or smashing a window. If you wake up to that, not knowing who’s breaking in or why, you’re gonna want instant access to your firearm. You’re going to be very upset that you have to turn on a light and rummage through a closet. And I’ve seen that happen more than once in “safe” neighborhoods. I’ve also had a crook wreck out in a pursuit, break into the nearest house, and take the resident(s) hostage. Granted, it’s rare, but it does happen, even in “safe” neighborhoods. Again, it’s your choice, but you have to consider the factors realistically. A “safe” neighborhood does not mean you’re safe, it just means “less frequently” threatened by crime.

After reading my post it occurred to me that someone’s going to pipe up about the hazards of responding to an unknown intruder who turns out to be a drunk neighbor with deadly force capability. Our “tactical guru” members here range from the chestbeaters who would kill everybody big enough to die at the slightest hint of a threat, to the “I’d have to take a bullet before I’d pull a gun” and “guns are evil” pacifists. I won’t go down that rabbit hole. Having a firearm does not mean that you have to take a life. Not having a firearm could leave you defenseless against a lethal threat. We don’t need to debate how to clear one’s house (or not) with a firearm.

Man
If I thought I was going to start shooting in my sleep
The gun would be gone
It’s really a no brainer