A place for everything, everything in its place. It’s a familiar adage that reinforces the need to be organized. This is especially important with firearms. Misplacing a firearm, or allowing one to get into the wrong hands, whether that’s a smash-and-grab home invader or a child, could have fatal consequences. In addition to protecting people from your firearms, you also want to protect your firearms themselves. Housefires, floods, and tornadoes have all claimed their fair share of gun collections. But everything from your budget to the size and makeup of your live-in family will influence exactly how much and what kind of storage options are best for you. Here is a rundown of various storage & protection options for firearms that run the gamut of price, capacity, and security.
GUN ROOM
If you happen to have a spare bedroom or closet in your home, and enough guns to fill it, converting an entire room in your home to a dedicated gun storage room may be an option. What exactly constitutes a “proper gun room”? The short answer is whatever you think is necessary and can afford. The most grandiose examples involve burying a shipping container in your yard and building an access stairwell, or closing off a room of your house behind a false bookcase.
More practical executions of the concept could be as simple as using storage racks or shelving in your garage or basement to store your firearms and related equipment, then making a few simple security upgrades. Replace that regular residential doorknob with one requiring fingerprint or key-code access to unlock. While you’re at it, just replace the whole door. Swapping that molded hollow-core door with a steel slab or steel core security door and using heavy-duty 3-inch screws on the hinges provides a substantially elevated level of security. If you’re using your garage, consider adding a locking bar to your garage door opener so it cannot be activated automatically. Or at least consider the use of wireless IP security cameras to keep an eye on your gun room while you’re gone.
GUN SAFE
The gun safe is perhaps the most iconic and instantly recognizable method of storing your guns. In addition to security against access and theft, many gun safes also offer a degree of fire protection. Individual makes and models will have varying levels of security and fire resistance, but once you decide your desired features and price range it’s just like shopping for anything else.
The gun safe’s boxy shape, distinct colorways, and large vault-like doors might in fact be a downside to using one to secure your firearms. Any home burglar remotely familiar with guns or gun storage will likely know exactly what’s in that big metal box with the ship’s wheel door handle. Having said they, they’ll likely need a particular set of tools to get inside. But the hard truth is that all locks are temporary, and you’re only setting a metric for how determined someone must be to get through it. Safes are also a pain to transport and install. Companies like Steelhead Outdoors offer modular options that can be assembled in place. But any good-quality safe is going to cost you a pretty penny in shipping and delivery.
GUN CABINETS AND LOCK BOXES
Though they are a step down from the safe in terms of security and fire resistance, gun cabinets are lighter and less expensive. Cabinets come in all shapes and sizes, from models that will hold 2-3 long guns, all the way up to military surplus armor cages that can hold dozens. Newer models may have electronic keypad or biometric locking mechanisms as well. If you don’t own any rifles or shotguns, or if you’re looking to secure a single handgun by your bed for easy access, then a handgun lock box may be a better fit. Many newer lock boxes are designed from the ground-up for bedside use and include fast access locking mechanisms that range from fingerprint, to hand-shaped button pads that only require pressure from a specific combo of fingertips to open, to RFID readers that interact with key fobs or other chips. In the case of RFID lock-boxes, there is even one story of a person who had the RFID chip implanted in the back of their hand so the lock box would open when they waved their hand near the lock. This example is a little extreme, but illustrates just how thoroughly technology has been integrated into these products. Regardless of how far down the fast-access rabbit hole you choose to dive, there are no shortage of options that no longer require you to trade firearm security with the ability to retrieve it at a moment’s notice if something goes bump in the night.
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
While conventional wisdom mandates that big, heavy, multi-lock options are the only way to keep your firearms secure, there is another approach to be considered. Sometimes referred to as security through obscurity, the concept focuses on storing your firearms in a place that nosey neighbors, prying children, or seasoned cat burglars wouldn’t think to check. These take the form of cabinets and lock boxes that are built to look (and function) as everyday household items. The market for these unconventional products has blossomed in recent years and include everything from clocks and tissue boxes to coffee tables and bed frames that have built in storage for firearms of all types. There are even racks that can be recessed between the studs of a residential wall, then covered with a mirror or painting that swings open to get to your firearms.
Regardless of what products or methods you use, your firearms are not only important tools, but investments that—at least in today’s market—continue to gain value over time. Protect them accordingly!
OTHER BLOGS YOU WILL FIND OF INTEREST:
- How to Select the Best Gun for Home Defense
- Selecting a Handgun
- Collectable Firearms; What Makes Them?
CLASSES YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN:
- Firearms Safety & Storage in the Home Seminar in Chanhassen or Eagan
- Modern Handgun Maintenance in Chanhassen or Eagan
- Surviving a Home Invasion in Chanhassen or Eagan
