Self-Storage

SPEC.A · Jan 31, 2017

I'm thinking about opening a self-storage facility specially for pistols & rifles. Constructive feed back would be greatly appreciated. The basics would be a month-to-month or pro-rated fee. An annual fee would be a choice for a year's rental. Storage space choices would consist of individual safes that could hold 1-2 pistols, 8 rifles, or 16 rifles. Entry to the facility would be through two doors via a security key pad and video security in and outside of the building.

1. What would you except from a business like this?
2. What services and features would you be interested in?
3. Would you be interested in cheap lockers for a reduce price and/or a safe with burgular and fire protection for a premium price?

Thanks!

djont57 · Jan 31, 2017

I don't know about anyone else; but, no one is storing my firearms except me!

<*(((>< · Jan 31, 2017

I think "djont57's" response is going to be a common theme around here, it is my response anyways.

However, I think the location of such a facility would be the crucial piece of the puzzle as to it's success. If such a facility were located near the border of a prohibitive state regarding certain firearms and had good nearby (if not on the same facility) access to an indoor/outdoor firing range then you might have something going for you. Such areas in my neck of the woods would be any state that borders California, but there are some metro areas around the U.S. where people are prohibited from storing a certain firearm, then such a business you are proposing might work. You would need to be aware of FFL laws as correct me if I'm wrong you would need to be an FFL and the firearms would have to be signed in and out of the FFL log each time, which would make necessary to have an employee there at all times. It's not as easy as just walk up to a kiosk enter your code and away you go when firearms are involved.

But I'm with djont57: "No one is storing my firearms except me!"

coloradokevin · Jan 31, 2017

This might be a viable idea for certain types of collectors. Personally, I'm with djont57... no one is storing my guns except me!

lpsharp88 · Jan 31, 2017

To be blunt, this seems like a non starter to me, unless it's in a highly restrictive locale that requires specific levels of storage. My guns do me no good if I don't have ready access to them, and driving across town to get them does not appeal to me at all. On top of that, there are quite a few gun owners who don't necessarily want other people to know that they're owners, and being seen going in or out of that place ruins that for them.

Squire Western · Jan 31, 2017

djont57 said:
I don't know about anyone else; but, no one is storing my firearms except me!

Every time you leave a firearm overnight with a LGS for cleaning, or send it off to Ruger or S&W, or whoever for repair, somebody else is storing it besides yourself.

OP, I like your idea! Don't be discouraged by the naysayers. Think positive and think hard about the pros and cons of Post #3.

tubeshooter · Jan 31, 2017

It's a novel idea. I bet the insurance on a business like that would be insane, though.

SPEC.A · Jan 31, 2017

I appreciate all of your replies. There are multiple reasons why one can't or don't want to store firearms' at home. A local range near me offers storage for pistols only. They have roughly 70 stalls and all are full with a waiting list of 8 months - 1 year.

Looking forward to more suggestions, thanks!

SC Shooter · Jan 31, 2017

This is an interesting concept, but I think you will need to set up in an area with a very large population as I don't see this as being in high demand. Also, you better check on the cost of your liability nsurance. I would think this could be some what prohibitive.

Teachu2 · Jan 31, 2017

I would expand the clientele by having sizes from safe deposit box to small room vaults, marketed as high security storage for valuable heirlooms. Climate controlled, 24 hour on-site security. Separate building for flammables, explosives, etc. Secure facilities for personal, business, industrial, and government uses.

Skeet 25 · Jan 31, 2017

My gun storage is a hidden place in a home I built myself , family other than my sons and wife don't know that it even exists. It is also protected by its own alarm as is the entire house. I would never use a lock-up like your suggesting.

lysanderxiii · Jan 31, 2017

SPEC.A said:
I'm thinking about opening a self-storage facility specially for pistols & rifles. Constructive feed back would be greatly appreciated. The basics would be a month-to-month or pro-rated fee. An annual fee would be a choice for a year's rental. Storage space choices would consist of individual safes that could hold 1-2 pistols, 8 rifles, or 16 rifles. Entry to the facility would be through two doors via a security key pad and video security in and outside of the building.

1. What would you except from a business like this?
2. What services and features would you be interested in?
3. Would you be interested in cheap lockers for a reduce price and/or a safe with burgular and fire protection for a premium price?

Thanks!

Insurance.

SPEC.A · Jan 31, 2017

Insurance seems to be a big one and I've already been reaseching this. I have yet to look into the need for an FFL. Expanding the clientele could be an option and market as a mini/small box storage with the ability to store firearms with high security. The name of the businesses should not include firearm related terms to please those discreet customers and not to attract thieves. The facility will be climate controlled. Regarding large population, the facility will be located in Northern California, specifically in the Bay Area.

Thanks, keep the positive ideas coming!

Ramone · Jan 31, 2017

I'd ask at that range about the FFL log book aspect. My first thought was that you'd have to do a 4473 every time you picked up one of your guns. I guess that if it's secured so no one else has access to it, you could get around that.

there has been times when such a option would have been really handy for me- but I'd be really concerned about security.

X-Rap · Jan 31, 2017

Having an FFL would enhance your business. I can see this as an addition to a high end storage facility but there are some definite concerns I'd have.
Will this be self storage?
Will security be present 24/7?
Will they be armed?
Will they have access to individual units?
Will you have restrictions on what is stored?
How will you know?
Your basically offering walk in safety deposit boxes so the responsibility of keeping them secure will be immense.

.308 Norma · Jan 31, 2017

SPEC.A said:
I'm thinking about opening a self-storage facility specially for pistols & rifles. Constructive feed back would be greatly appreciated. The basics would be a month-to-month or pro-rated fee. An annual fee would be a choice for a year's rental. Storage space choices would consist of individual safes that could hold 1-2 pistols, 8 rifles, or 16 rifles. Entry to the facility would be through two doors via a security key pad and video security in and outside of the building.

1. What would you except from a business like this?
2. What services and features would you be interested in?
3. Would you be interested in cheap lockers for a reduce price and/or a safe with burgular and fire protection for a premium price?

Thanks!

This is more of a question than a response. I'm wondering about the legal issues involved with storing someone else's firearms. What I mean is, I took an old rifle to town today to drop it off at a gun store that has an on-site gunsmith. The rifle has some rust inside the firing pin assembly, and I don't have the tools to take the assembly apart in order to clean the rust out myself. Anyway, the gunsmith wasn't there, won't be in till Friday, so I just left the rifle's bolt at the gun store. They specifically asked me if there was anything else wrong with the rifle that I knew of, because they'd prefer to not have to do the paperwork they'd have to do if I left the whole rifle there.
Anyway, that says to me that essentially the gun store is "storing" my rifle's bolt until the gunsmith comes in on Friday, and for that all they had to do was give me a little receipt. But if they would have had to "store" my whole rifle until Friday, there would have been a few legal hurdles to jump over. Am I wrong?

hso · Jan 31, 2017

I see more problems for you than benefits.

How do you ensure that firearms will not rust? How do you ensure fireproof storage? What insurance would you have to carry?
You'll need both a secure and a climate controlled storage, but you face the issue of what humidity level to maintain to prevent rust, but to keep stocks from drying and cracking.

IF you had a climate controlled storage facility already you've avoided the expensive infrastructure requirement and would concentrate on the security aspect. Customers would place RSCs or real UL rated safes in a small climate controlled space like a standard climate controlled storage facility typically has. That way only the customer would have their combination. Each one would have individual padlocks that the renter supplied just to keep amateurs out of the "locker". All spaces would be block sides and fronts and concrete ceilings and floors fire rated for over an hour.

c1ogden · Jan 31, 2017

I actually thought about this a few years ago. I'm in a NJ suburb of NY City. Both NY and NJ have severe restrictions on things like EBRs (evil black rifles) and magazines with greater than 10 (NY) or 15 (NJ) round capacity. Since many NJ residents were travelling to PA to shoot anyway I thought of renting a small warehouse on the PA side of the river and charging people to place their own safe there. Since I was only renting space for your own safe and not taking possession of the guns or having any control over them it was my understanding that an FFL wouldn't be needed. I even considered a fully equipped gun cleaning station for the customers to use. As an alternative to a small warehouse I considered renting a large climate controlled self storage unit. A unit designed for parking an RV could easily hold 30 safes. In the end, after doing some market research, I determined that I couldn't offer the service at an affordable price due to the cost of the warehouse space and the insurance. I also found that most self storage places don't allow the storage of firearms or ammunition.

There is a company near me that does this although their business model is quite different. This is their website - http://gunsitters.com/index.html

Good luck with your endeavor!

SPEC.A · Jan 31, 2017

c1ogden said:
I actually thought about this a few years ago. I'm in a NJ suburb of NY City. Both NY and NJ have severe restrictions on things like EBRs (evil black rifles) and magazines with greater than 10 (NY) or 15 (NJ) round capacity. Since many NJ residents were travelling to PA to shoot anyway I thought of renting a small warehouse on the PA side of the river and charging people to place their own safe there. Since I was only renting space for your own safe and not taking possession of the guns or having any control over them it was my understanding that an FFL wouldn't be needed. I even considered a fully equipped gun cleaning station for the customers to use. As an alternative to a small warehouse I considered renting a large climate controlled self storage unit. A unit designed for parking an RV could easily hold 30 safes. In the end, after doing some market research, I determined that I couldn't offer the service at an affordable price due to the cost of the warehouse space and the insurance. I also found that most self storage places don't allow the storage of firearms or ammunition.

There is a company near me that does this although their business model is quite different. This is their website - http://gunsitters.com/index.html

Good luck with your endeavor!

Do you know what kind of vault or safe options they offer? Fire protection, burgular protection, climate control, humidifier?

jdc1244 · Jan 31, 2017

Skeet 25 said:
My gun storage is a hidden place in a home I built myself , family other than my sons and wife don't know that it even exists. It is also protected by its own alarm as is the entire house. I would never use a lock-up like your suggesting.

An option not available to those who live in an apartment, or who might be living somewhere temporarily, or who otherwise have no place to safely store their firearms.

The OP's idea has merit, and is worth pursuing.

Havok7416 · Jan 31, 2017

c1ogden said:
I actually thought about this a few years ago. I'm in a NJ suburb of NY City. Both NY and NJ have severe restrictions on things like EBRs (evil black rifles) and magazines with greater than 10 (NY) or 15 (NJ) round capacity. Since many NJ residents were travelling to PA to shoot anyway I thought of renting a small warehouse on the PA side of the river and charging people to place their own safe there. Since I was only renting space for your own safe and not taking possession of the guns or having any control over them it was my understanding that an FFL wouldn't be needed. I even considered a fully equipped gun cleaning station for the customers to use. As an alternative to a small warehouse I considered renting a large climate controlled self storage unit. A unit designed for parking an RV could easily hold 30 safes. In the end, after doing some market research, I determined that I couldn't offer the service at an affordable price due to the cost of the warehouse space and the insurance. I also found that most self storage places don't allow the storage of firearms or ammunition.

There is a company near me that does this although their business model is quite different. This is their website - http://gunsitters.com/index.html

Good luck with your endeavor!

They say on their site that you can drop off your guns if you are no longer able to own them, but on the same page they say you retain ownership with no FFL involved. Something doesn't seem right there...

SPEC.A · Feb 1, 2017

Well it looks like an FFL may or may not be needed for a non-custody firearm self-storage business. In reality I'm not taking pocession. The customer is renting a storage safe and storing his or her goods, but I'll have to look into this throughly.

Regarding fire protection, my thoughts are the storage room is not fire protected rather the safe is for a certain amount of time like 1hr. - 1.5hrs (Think of a room with 50-250 standard and premium pistol and rifle safes).

The storage room that houses the safes would be burglary proof with heavy door with key pad entry and alarm. Also, Individual safes would have an alarm as well.

All safes will not be burglary and fire protected. Premium safes will have these features along with a digital and dial combination lock for a higher rental fee. Standard safes would be locker type with lock and alarm.

Temperature control will be standard. Each premium safe will have its own dehumidifier.

I'm looking into insurance and have contacted several firearm specific insurers. Not sure if this will be standard per contract or optional to be purchased by the renter. If it is standard, maybe it will be set up so that the renter agrees not to store anything over $5k unless pre agreed upon.

I am not thinking about having a security guard 24/7. About controlling inventory, I'm sure I'll have a restriction list and a contract for renters to sign. If they decide to go outside of that, the liability will be on them.

SPEC.A · Feb 1, 2017

Havok7416 said:
They say on their site that you can drop off your guns if you are no longer able to own them, but on the same page they say you retain ownership with no FFL involved. Something doesn't seem right there...

If you drop them off and have to give up possession for legal reasons they FFL it and store it for you. However, if you store it yourself no FFL is involved.

Decoy80 · Feb 1, 2017

At least you dont have an idle mind. In a major metro area the concept may be a good thing for folks without home security. Showing all your tools is never a good idea in my opinion. Lead poisioning being known is the best security possible for your firearms. I have a safe myself but common sense says it just keeps an honest person honest. To a professional criminal a bank vault only presents more of a challenge. To some the more difficulty involved creates couriousity and more expertice required challenge that is irrestible to them. The less folks who know what you own,= less problems.

old lady new shooter · Feb 1, 2017

The one use for such a facility that occurs to me is to keep a clone of your HD weapon if you live in a state with a waiting period, so if you have to use your weapon and the police take it away as part of their investigation, you could go to the storage and get the clone so as not to be left defenseless. This is partly because I don't know whether in such a situation they would also take away any other guns you have in your house even if you didn't use them in the incident. But for sure a gun stored off-site should not be a problem because it could not have been used. (Assuming the facility keeps some kind of check-in/check-out records.)

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