BTW, if is something happened in the middle of the night that warranted grabbing a firearm, I will be plenty awake and alert.
No you wont.
To each his own and we could discuss it until the cows come home and wouldn't change our opinions until we were in that situation.
Several years ago 2 of my kids (12 and 14 years old) and I were on a camping trip. We had our hammocks setup around the camp fire in a triangle pattern. Around 2am a coyote let out a howl, what sounded like maybe 20 feet on the other side of my daughter.
Me - camp fire - daughter ---- sounded like coyote
Half asleep I rolled out of my hammock, grabbed my maglight and 9mm pistol off the ground and moved in-between where I heard the coyote and my daughter. After I got out of the camp site the safety went off. I saw a couple of eyes moving through the woods, but they were gone in a split second.
Thinking about the situation, I am so glad that the pistol had a safety. Grabbing a pistol in pitch-black darkness, half-sleep, in a rush to secure the area, could have been a recipe for disaster. But I knew one thing, the safety was on.
As for the OPs hobby, I want to see some pics of the girlfriend.