If you only have one gun is this enough security?

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CmdrSlander

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My friend just bought his first gun, a Rock Island M1911, for plinking and little else. He does not want to invest in a gun safe and does not plan on buying more guns. Is putting two quality padlocks on the hardcase the gun came with and then putting in the back of a closet enough security?
 
Depends on locale, etc.

Separating the parts and storing them in two cases in different locations might help. Easy to remove the slide, easy to put the slide back on. Wouldn't take much longer to deploy than having to unlock two locks on one gun case. Given you can find the keys right quick. Which I never can.

Like storing the bolt separately in bolted rifles for security.

Terry, 230RN
 
No. Closets are one of he first locations
that robbers check. Better would be in an
unused toaster oven or in a bag of pet food.
 
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If he's only going to have one gun, why bother investing in a safe? At that point the value of the safe is almost equal to the value of the gun its protecting. If it gets lost/stolen/destroyed by fire just buy a new one.
 
Is putting two quality padlocks on the hard case the gun came with and then putting in the back of a closet enough security?
Won't stop thieves, but then he's got bigger problems don't he. It will keep honest people honest and stupid people from doing stupid things.

Maybe he should get a little gun vault kinda deal and bolt it to his nightstand or inside his closet where he can get to it fast... then at least he can use it for home defense... instead of being a sheep.
I don't know, maybe he doesn't feel confident to defend himself, so maybe he's better off being a sheep.
 
He can buy a safe that bolts to the floor or between wall studs for less than $100. Although more of a cabinet (piscture a sturdy locking breaker box) than a safe, he could store other valuable in it. It depends why he wants it locked down.
 
Is putting two quality padlocks on the hardcase the gun came with and then putting in the back of a closet enough security?

Why bother? I'm sure a thief would just take the whole case and break into it later. The cases are plastic, no?
 
Enough security for what?

Securing something usually comes down to one or both of two goals:
1. Preventing unauthorized access.
2. Preventing loss.

Which one is he trying to accomplish?
 
Lots of different ways to look at the original question. Let's face it, an individual needs to make a firm decision to defend themselves. None of us can make it for them, each one of us needs to review our own situation and decide whether we're willing to do what it takes in bad circumstances (and I'll say a quiet prayer right here that I can live out my life without having to go down that road again....) to allow us and our families to survive and prosper. Many will choose (by default mostly) not to make any plans or the hard decisions that need to be made in bad circumstances.

No matter how many weapons you own and where you keep them - if you're not prepared mentally to defend yourself... they're of little value. Once you do, in fact, make the decision not to go "quietly" then a firearm is only one of many choices available to any of us. "It's not the arrow, it's the Indian" has been said more than once and it's absolutely true. You can defend yourself and your family with anything available - a firearm is just a better tool than others (and a very poor tool if you're not trained and willing to stand up when it counts and good judgment had better be in place -ask that guy Zimmerman, I'll bet he's learned more about that topic than he ever wanted to...).

In law enforcement I went 22 years straight where I always had a sidearm on my person (and occasionally more than one...), always, always wore body armor even in August in south Florida (even in the years when you had to buy your own - anyone remember the very first Second Chance vest?), and yet today I chose not to carry a gun under any circumstances, even with all the permits in place. That doesn't mean I'm not still committed to street survival and the protection of my family (maybe I just know a bit more about that sort of stuff than I did all those years ago when I went into police work....).

If a friend or acquaintance choses not to defend themselves (or at least prepare to do so) that's their business and I wouldn't waste a second of my time worrying about them. Everyone's got to walk their own path, and most of us still learn the hard way - I know I did.
 
Enough security for what?

Securing something usually comes down to one or both of two goals:
1. Preventing unauthorized access.
2. Preventing loss.

Which one is he trying to accomplish?

It is not enough security for anything but keeping a kid's hands off.

If he needs the gun fast, what's he gonna do?
If someone breaks in and finds it... it's easy peasy to grab the box and cut it open on your own time.
 
I bought a safe before I bought my first handgun. But later, I changed my view and I think it's not my fault if someone breaks into my house and gets their hands on a firearm. I lock my door, and the law says no one else may enter without my permission. If someone steals my guns, oh well. I leave my car outside, and it's worth more than all my guns, ammo, and accessories combined.

I hope a thief would steal my guns if that meant they'd leave my computers and documents.

I don't think a handgun is very useful for home defense if it's padlocked. The only reason to do that is if children would have access to it.
 
I bought a safe before I bought my first handgun. But later, I changed my view and I think it's not my fault if someone breaks into my house and gets their hands on a firearm. I lock my door, and the law says no one else may enter without my permission. If someone steals my guns, oh well. I leave my car outside, and it's worth more than all my guns, ammo, and accessories combined.

The big concern should be them being there with your gun when you get there.

I don't care if someone steals my gun. If not mine, it would have been another person's. But I believe in reducing risks. Having a gun unsecured in the house just feels wrong to me. My guns are locked up, on my side, or on my night stand.
 
If (when) I only had one gun, it was virtually never locked up anyway.
 
If he doesn't want the gun stolen, he needs to buy something a crook can't carry away or break into.
A friend of mine has a flalse heat vent in the floor where he stores his only handgun. If I were him, I'd get a carry license and have it with me all the time anyway.
 
The real concern is letting the gun get into the hands of a child or irresponsible adult who may be in the home. If I only owned one budget gun I wouldn't worry too much about theft. I think his plan is just fine.
 
Locks on the gun case will (maybe) prevent a family member from playing with it, as they know that you'll know if it's been tampered with.

This will do nothing to prevent theft.

If it is theft he's concerned about, forget the padlocks and hide it well. Try to think like a thief. They're not necessarily stupid, but they are usually interested in getting in and out quick. The average burglary is just a few minutes. So put it somewhere they'd be very unlikely to look for valuables;

No. Closets are one of he first locations
that robbers check. Better would be in an
unused toaster oven or in a bag of pet food

Or maybe at the bottom of a dirty laundry hamper, stuffed up in the floor joists above the water heater in the basement, etc.

Definitely not in the closet, under the bed, between the matresses, or any of these common "hiding places". They're obvious, and easy to check quickly. But most burglars aren't going to conduct a police-style search of the house. They simply don't want to be there that long, unless they're certain you have hidden something of enough value to be worth the risk.
 
A good quality handgun safe that is bolted down will give very quick one handed access if needed (even in the dark) and keep the gun much more secure than the case it came in. The ones that use mechanical push-button locks are usually more robust than the flimsey electronic ones made from 16ga steel or less. V-Line is 14 ga and reasonably secure. Ft Knox is 10 ga body and 7 ga door. FAS1 Safe is 7 ga on all sides and presents the gun to you, holstered with the trigger covered. The thicker the steel and more features will cost a little more.

VIDEO CLIP
 
I agree with posts 18 and 19. Get a gunvault or a mechanical push-button safe and bolt it to something. Like all safes, they have weaknesses, but 99% of your home burglars aren't going to have the knowledge and/or tools to break into them. If it's bolted down to a wall or a large piece of furniture it's very likely it will deter the theft.

I also agree that if he only has the one gun, it's probably best to just keep it on him until he goes to bed, and then put the gun in the safe. At that point, the safe simply becomes access prevention, and it might not need to be bolted down.

The advantage of carrying even in the home is that if your gun is locked up on the other side of the house when someone breaks in, then you might as well not even have a HD gun.

ETA: Why 2 padlocks? That just seems like it would be extra time to defeat, but if someone is capable of defeating one padlock they'll get the other pretty quick...or just go through the case. I'd say the second padlock is superfluous.
 
The real concern is letting the gun get into the hands of a child or irresponsible adult who may be in the home. If I only owned one budget gun I wouldn't worry too much about theft. I think his plan is just fine.
I agree. It is one gun. A safe would be the cost of an additional gun. If it gets stolen buy another gun.

I have been transferred around the country several times and have found myself in a similar position in new states more than once for several weeks at a time. My guns would go into storage, uncles house, etc, until I got settled in to my new house. I would always keep one gun. Before I had kids I never locked it up. This last time I had my day safe with me so I locked it in that.
 
Depends.....

It depends on a number of factors. Someone living in the wilderness will be most likely safer than someone living in or near a big city. Also depends on the kind of gun it is and, most importantly, whether the user is proficient with the gun.

Someone could be fine with a single-action cowboy pistol with speed loaders, if they are the fastest shooter in the world (the likes of Jerry Miculek)!

For the rest of us who could only dream of being that proficient, we may need semi-automatics of some sort with a variety of magazines, stripper-clips, etc.
 
Security as in .........from kids. Maybe, but with them you never know.

From some one stealing it form your buddy? It would be long gone.
 
I don't care if someone steals my gun.

You should. A lot.

I can't afford a $600 gun safe, but I do the best I can with a bolted-down $100 version. They'd have to work at it.

Guns are very powerful tools. Owners must have the mindset to prevent them from getting in the wrong hands. Much as we hate Progressives trying to curb gun ownership, can you blame them sometimes considering how many gun owners act?
 
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I agree. It is one gun. A safe would be the cost of an additional gun. If it gets stolen buy another gun.

A decent pistol gunsafe can be had for less than the price of a hi-point. Unless you guys are suggesting he get a full-on gunsafe, then yes a pistol gunsafe is a worthy investment. Access control cannot be provided by the plan to just buy a new one.

Guns are very powerful tools. Owners must have the mindset to prevent them from getting in the wrong hands. Much as we hate Progressives trying to curb gun ownership, can you blame them sometimes considering how many gun owners act?

Considering how many ways a criminal can get a gun, I would not feel responsible if a criminal stole my gun and used it in a crime. I believe we should keep guns out of the wrong hands by taking people who are guilty of violent crime and locking them up for a very long time, instead of treating anyone who wants a gun as guilty (although, stolen firearm is a slightly different issue, because he IS guilty in that case, but you get what I mean). If my guns are stolen from my home, I'm insured and I can replace them. The biggest deal for me would be potentially being out a defense weapon, especially because I spend a lot of time where I can't carry, so my guns stay at home.
 
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