Mel Gibson keeps a gun "stowed away" in his house.

The 'Edge of Darkness' actor - who lives with his girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva and their two-month-old baby daughter Lucia - has admitted he has a dangerous weapon hidden away in his home in case an intruder breaks in during the night and puts his family's lives at risk.

He said: "I did have bodyguards for a little while but it's a drag. If your number's up, it's up. If I'm lying in bed and somebody comes into my room, I'll either wake up or I won't. And I'll either hit 'em with my big stick that I've got or my gun that I have stowed away… or they'll hit me."

The 54-year-old actor insists there is nothing unusual about his outlook, as in modern society, times have changed to the extent where people need to be "tooled up" with weapons to defend themselves, their loved-ones and their homes.

He added: "Look, in this day and age you've got to be tooled up."