First thing I do when I go shooting is dump both of my EDC mags and have never had a hiccup with either gun I carry.
I can't imagine going a year much less 6 months without some shooting but really 3 months is a long time to go without shooting for me so my carry guns get rotated and shot often.
I also keep my EDC on me at all times, minus the shower but even then it's in the bedroom with my phone and keys.
My defense guns (EDC's, bump in the night gun and a shotgun) always stay loaded with a shell in the chamber, except the shoty which stays loaded but not chambered.
I never use any of the manual safety's on any of my guns so a loaded shotgun in a locked closet doesn't seem safe. The pistols are all in quick access safes except the one on me.
My kid is technically an adult now and there were lots of years (an eternity at the time but it feels like 18 years flew by now) where I did things far differently then I do now as a compromise with my wife (she's a Vancouver native and a city girl to the core - I'm the small town nitty gritty play in the dirt boy, opposites certainly attracted in our relationship haha). No loaded guns in the house or even loaded mags in safes - all guns and ammo were stored in different safes. Baseball bats were plentiful though.
Had a full time plus overtime job that I would loose becasue of company policy. Wasn't a big deal at the time, 9/11 and Katrina hadn't happened yet so gang violence in Portland was minimal and I was young, large and full of myself.
My long winded point is just that everyone's life is unique so you have to adjust and just do the best you can with what you have at the time.
Yep, good points Joe. I've got a young daughter at home, so having a gun sitting next to me on the end table or on a night stand is a no go for me. I have two loaded guns pretty readily available in two different locations on opposite ends of the house, behind a lock, just for her safety. We also keep 2 cans of pepper spray, out of reach/sight, near the front door and the back door. Anything else is in the safe. Once she's out of the home, I'll go back to having them more readily available. When I'm away from the house, it's on my person.