House sitter and my obligations re: firearms

[ApronAmy]

I came across a situation earlier this month that has left me curious. I was considering going out of town for a long weekend and getting one of my daughter's college-aged friends to housesit for me. The potential house-sitter is 20 years old, reliable, and I've known her for years.

My question is, what obligations would I have to tell the house-sitter about my guns (unloaded, in the safe, in the closet) and what responsibility would I assume since she is not yet 21?

I'm imagining worst-case scenarios where someone breaks in and steals the guns. Or she somehow gets the crazy idea to break into my safe and mess around with the guns (totally not likely, but my imagination is bonkers). What laws apply and what are the risks?

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[Nick Burkhardt]

Put all your valuables in the safe and monitor it remotely

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[K-22]

I came across a situation earlier this month that has left me curious. I was considering going out of town for a long weekend and getting one of my daughter's college-aged friends to housesit for me. The potential house-sitter is 20 years old, reliable, and I've known her for years.

My question is, what obligations would I have to tell the house-sitter about my guns (unloaded, in the safe, in the closet) and what responsibility would I assume since she is not yet 21?

I'm imagining worst-case scenarios where someone breaks in and steals the guns. Or she somehow gets the crazy idea to break into my safe and mess around with the guns (totally not likely, but my imagination is bonkers). What laws apply and what are the risks?

Unless she has access to the safe, she does not need to know what is in the safe. If she cannot get access to the firearms, her age is of no concern.
If you have that little faith in your safe, methinks it is time for a safe upgrade.
Best,
Gary

 

[ApronAmy]

Unless she has access to the safe, she does not need to know what is in the safe. If she cannot get access to the firearms, her age is of no concern.
If you have that little faith in your safe, methinks it is time for a safe upgrade.
Best,
Gary

This all hypothetical But you answered my primary question - would I need to tell her what's in the safe?

 

[Nosferatu]

no

 

[arakboss]

This all hypothetical But you answered my primary question - would I need to tell her what's in the safe?

Tell her it's venomus snakes in the safe guarding your prized live tarantula collection.

 

[Kruel J]

This all hypothetical But you answered my primary question - would I need to tell her what's in the safe?

Absolutely not. Would you tell her what's in your bank account? Or what meds are in your bathroom? People don't need to know your business.

 

[Jason999]

I wouldn't have any unsecured firearms in the home, everything in a safe or with a locked chain running through their trigger guards.

Even people that I trust, I've learned not to trust them. I was robbed by a relative during a funeral wake, that opened my eyes to never trusting anyone.

 

[Nosferatu]

What meds are in your bathroom?

Speaking of that, it may be a good idea to put any prescription meds you're not bringing with you in the safe, if any.

 

[Kruel J]

Speaking of that, it may be a good idea to put any prescription meds you're not bringing with you in the safe, if any.

Any time I leave on a trip I gather up items that are of any value, monetary or sentimental, and put them in the safe. It's good practice in case of robbery OR fire.

I also have a Ring Cam pointed directly at the safe door with motion detection.

 

[Hueco]

Unless she has access to the safe, she does not need to know what is in the safe. If she cannot get access to the firearms, her age is of no concern.
If you have that little faith in your safe, methinks it is time for a safe upgrade.
Best,
Gary

This is my thought as well. We've gone out of town for some time (weeks) and left known individuals in charge (my daughter's old nanny) and strangers (pet sitting service provider).

In the case of our nanny, she knows that I shoot and guns are in the house. She also knows they're in a safe when not completely disassembled in the garage. (Everything got stored in the safe on trips).

In the case of the pet sitters or even hourly babysitters, I do not mention the guns.

In both cases, they were given a guidebook of instructions, where to find things, how to work the lights or electronics, and which rooms are available to them. Our master bedroom was specifically off limits at all times and the door closed.

I don't know the legalese around it, but do have written record of how they'll treat the property, have their signature agreeing to such, and have a locked storage for the guns with no keys on prem (I have one, wife has the other when we leave the house to someone else).

To gain access to the arms, they'd need to break their contractual (and moral/ethical) agreement and break into the safe. I wouldn't hire them if I didn't trust them - the rest is simply a CYA.

I know your primary concern are weapons, but there is also any expensive jewelry, tools, prescriptions, etc.

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

Put all your valuables in the safe and monitor it remotely

The Puck | WiFi Safe Monitor & Alarm System | Lockdown

The Lockdown® Puck™ is a state-of-the-art monitoring and security device for your safe. WiFi enabled with no monthly fees, monitor your vault with Logic

www.lockdown.com

+1 to this.
As stated above, I wouldn't tell anyone about anything I owned if they were house/pet/kid sitting. I would just make sure I had my items/firearm(s) unloaded and properly locked and secured.

 

[Alexx1401]

I like the camera. They make a few cheap ones that you could set on top of the safe that would trigger if someone opens the door to that closet and alert you. It would show video and sound showing you who opened the door and what was going on to your phone. Might give a little more peace of mind while you are gone.

 

[ma96782]

You can trust her but.......

Does she have a illegal drug user/dealer boyfriend (or whatever)?

Aloha, Mark

 

[DirectDrive]

You can trust her but.......

Does she have a illegal drug user/dealer boyfriend (or whatever)?

Aloha, Mark

This is a good point.
As we all know, drug users will happily steal from their own parents.

 

[CLT65]

People can be really snoopy. Many years ago I had a friend who was a nurse. She would often house-sit for doctors and other nurses that she worked with, because she was reliable and trustworthy. She would often have friends over when she house-sat, watch movies, eat dinner, hang out. We were all young and single, but really a pretty tame and innocent bunch. It surprised me how snoopy she was. She would go through people's houses and things just out of curiosity. It made me uncomfortable. She wouldn't dream of stealing anything, but it did surprise me how much she snooped.

In recent years we paid a teenage neighbor girl to feed the pets when we were out of town. After coming home a day early once, and finding lights on in rooms she had no business in, and the back door left unlocked, we became much more careful who we allowed in our house when we weren't home. She wasn't a bad kid, just really snoopy.

The average snoopy but otherwise honest house-sitter isn't going to break into your safe, but it is worth considering that even the most trustworthy sitter might be more snoopy than you would suspect.

On a similar note, a couple decades ago a friend's daughter was moving out of the house when they weren't home, and her dirt-bag boyfriend helped. He helped himself to several quality handguns that were carefully hidden in a closet. My friend didn't notice them missing for quite a few months.

 

[Hueco]

You can trust her but.......

Does she have a illegal drug user/dealer boyfriend (or whatever)?

Aloha, Mark

This is a good point. Our nannny's new boyfriend is apparently in the coast guard, so, . I kid - he's a great guy.

People can be really snoopy. Many years ago I had a friend who was a nurse. She would often house-sit for doctors and other nurses that she worked with, because she was reliable and trustworthy. She would often have friends over when she house-sat, watch movies, eat dinner, hang out. We were all young and single, but really a pretty tame and innocent bunch. It surprised me how snoopy she was. She would go through people's houses and things just out of curiosity. It made me uncomfortable. She wouldn't dream of stealing anything, but it did surprise me how much she snooped.

In recent years we paid a teenage neighbor girl to feed the pets when we were out of town. After coming home a day early once, and finding lights on in rooms she had no business in, and the back door left unlocked, we became much more careful who we allowed in our house when we weren't home. She wasn't a bad kid, just really snoopy.

The average snoopy but otherwise honest house-sitter isn't going to break into your safe, but it is worth considering that even the most trustworthy sitter might be more snoopy than you would suspect.

On a similar note, a friend's daughter was moving out of the house when they weren't home, and her dirt-bag boyfriend helped. He helped himself to several quality handguns that were carefully hidden in a closet. My friend didn't notice them missing for quite a few months.

On a similar note as @Kruel J and the camera…I've got Philips Hue lights running throughout the house, motion sensors in areas, and some custom apps going as well. It's real easy to see the motion sensor log history, see what the lights are doing and in what rooms.

Non-approved guests are grounds for termination and conspicuously timed visits cause for inquiry.

Reputation and reviews matter a lot to legit businesses. They're not about to eff that up.

 

[Ferryman]

I was considering going out of town for a long weekend and getting one of my daughter's college-aged friends to housesit for me. The potential house-sitter is 20 years old, reliable, and I've known her for years.

My question is, what obligations would I have to tell the house-sitter about my guns (unloaded, in the safe, in the closet) and what responsibility would I assume since she is not yet 21?

Not sure why a house sitter is needed for a long weekend. If you're gone a couple of weeks, maybe, but better yet perhaps you should consider installing an alarm system.

Giving a 20 year old the keys to the house for the weekend has absolutely no historical precedent, so yeah, probably nothing will go wrong with that.

If your brain has led you to worry about a 20 year old coexisting with a collection of guns, you should probably listen to the nagging inner voice that is urging you to really think about this here decision.... just sayin'

 

[Jay Walk]

WA requires you store them locked up in an approved safe. The end.

20 year old College chic? Maybe check the place over with a black light when you get back to see if she had any boys over.

 

[Lethal Defense]

@ApronAmy I teach legal aspects for most things firearms in WA. Respectfully the above post is an incorrect reading of I-1639. WA law does not require they be stored locked up, and there is no "approved safe" requirement (An Oregon law did just go into effect requiring this.) The WA law does state that IF you do not "secure" your gun AND someone else gets them and uses them, then YOU may be charged with a crime.
If the house sitter has a key or combo, or the safe is so cheap a kid could open it with a paper clip then she would arguably have constructive possession of it. This sounds unlikely and unless she uses it, you would have no criminal liability.
I agree with others above in not telling her what's in it. If she sees the safe your biggest risk is her telling her friends that you have a safe. Can't be too careful.