Change your batteries!

An easy way to keep up with it is to change them with the time. When I set my clocks forward or back I change the batteries in all weaponlights, my EOTech, BSA red dot, clocks, and smoke detectors.

1. That's why I don't own and never would own a safe with an electronic locking mechanism.

2. If you have to get your gun out of the safe to defend yourself, there's a good chance you're never going to get to use it. It's one thing to have UNused guns in a safe, quite another to have NO gun ready at hand for self-defense.

Or put Lithium batteries in, instead of Alkaline. Having only grown children I take my carry gun and put it on the nightstand and when I get up it goes back in my holster. All others but my backup and shotgun are in my safe

I have two cheapo Harbor Freight safes, both work fantastic. And... when the batteries start to lose power a red light tells you. (when it lights up you better listen, however)

Do they make such a safe that has both the mechanical and electronic keypads so you can use the mechanical in case the battery dies or the electronics go south?

NFW I'd trust an electronic safe.

"Change your batteries!"

Very good advice!

Do they make such a safe that has both the mechanical and electronic keypads so you can use the mechanical in case the battery dies or the electronics go south?

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Yes. I have a small Sentry 14-gun safe with an electronic lock, and a key backup.

Cheap harbor freights have keys, as well. But if you can see the red light, change the batteries...

If you're considering one of these, I suggest the ones that are 120V for primary power, with a battery back-up. You will still want/need to change or monitor battery life, but with "wall-power" running the memory most of the time, the batteries will tend to last a LOT longer. Just my .02

Oh yeah, EVERY electronic safe that "I" have ever seen has a manual key backup as well, just in case.

An HD gun in the safe is about as useful as smoke detectors on the outside of your house.

As a previous poster suggested...When the Daylight/Standard Time thing rools around, change batteries in EVERYTHING that uses batery power...

smoke/CO detectors, safes, lights, etc. Costs me about $20 to change out the batteries, but I KNOW things are going to work.

haven't tried the Lithium vs Alkaline life test yet, but I may give that a whirl this time around.

1. That's why I don't own and never would own a safe with an electronic locking mechanism.

2. If you have to get your gun out of the safe to defend yourself, there's a good chance you're never going to get to use it. It's one thing to have UNused guns in a safe, quite another to have NO gun ready at hand for self-defense.

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I respectfully disagree.
If you have to get your gun out to defend yourself, I want to see you spin the dials in the dark, with your adrenaline pumping.
My guess is that folks with dial safes, either never open them or never lock them.

But, changing batteries is a good idea, I'll do mine this week. (My lock says the battery is good for 7 yrs, but I don't want to find out it was only 6.)

I use a gunvault, it has an AC adapter and a battery backup. If the batteries get low it beeps once in a while. Works pretty well so far Something to think about....

Dope

I've been using a GunVault for about ten years now. It's on it's third set of batteries, and has never failed to open as long as I punch the code in correctly. It has a key just in case, but I've never needed it.

For anything of importance, I change the batteries at more frequent intervals than their reccomended. There's a reason for this, different brands and production batches of batteries will perform differently.

For a safe, every 3 months. Take the used batteries and throw them in a box to be used until ran out with less important electronics, like remote controls or portable audio devices.

That way you don't "waste" any batteries, and your safe is always adequately powered.

Also place a tag inside the safe door with the last battery change...always write the tag after swapping the batteries. This will also serve as a reminder in case you ever doubt that you swapped them.

About the kids thing...

I let my kids look at my guns all the time. No firearm that my kids can cycle the action on is loaded. There are 4 handguns in the house that are loaded, and I know for a fact that none of the kids can rack the slide on any of them. I told them that if they could work the slide, they can shoot them, and the oldest wants to.

The 12 guage, the 22's, I can work with one finger. Those don't stay loaded. The kids know where most of them are, none of them are in a safe. I am not scared that they will touch them, because they know they aren't allowed to, and I will blister the hide of their a$$ if they try.

I have made it a point to teach my kids that guns are not toys, and I have been quite successful. I learned those same lessons as a kid. In fact, I learned how to pick locks opening the gun cabinet. However, when my brothers and I snuck my dad's guns out when the parents weren't home, all we did was burn up his ammo, not end up in the morgue. Honestly, I don't worry about it. My kids have better muzzle discipline than some of the military security that I work with. Turns out, getting thumped upside the head any time the gun looks like it will be pointed in the wrong direction is pretty solid behavior modification.

Is the fact that one of them could get hurt scary? Yeah. But I am more worried that they will jump off the top bunk and break an arm, or electrocute themselves trying to plug something into an outlet, pull a pot off the stove, get abducted from school by some psycho, be in a car wreck, or a thousand other things than that they will pick up a gun. All you can do is train your kids right and hope for the best.

And for people that think an electronic safe is safe... I started hacking parental codes on stuff when I was ten. All it takes to break a 4 digit code is patience. All it takes to learn the combination is to watch you a few times. All it takes to find the key is to look around. Our kids are smart enough to figure out all kinds of stuff.

To my knowledge, none of my children has even touched one of my guns without my supervision. And the truth is, if I asked them, I think they would tell me, because I think I am bringing them up right. They tell me all kinds of other things that they know are going to get them in trouble because I taught them that the truth always hurts less than lying to me.

People freak out about kids being able to have access to guns, but let me ask the questions:

1) Are your electrical outlets locked? It takes .1 ac ampere across the heart to cause death. Minimum human resistance to ground is 300 ohms, therefore, a voltage of 30 volts can be fatal. (Go Navy Electricians!!)
2) Is every knife and/or pointy object in your house firmly secure behind lock and key? Because turns out, a knife or a pencil or a sharp pair of scissors, a letter opener, the large number of rotating blade power tools in your garage behind lock and key? Pretty sure that any one of those could cause massive blood loss and death, even in an adult. Does your wife know how to use your table-saw?
3) Is there a single toxic chemical in your home that is unsecured? I would wager that there are more fatal and non-fatal ER trips for children each year from 'household chemicals' than from firearms. I'm not quoting any stats here. None of this makes the news except on the slowest news day. Just about every single juvenile firearms incident does.
4) Are your car keys unsecured? There are numerous newsworthy articles about very young children taking cars out. Turns out, a five year old behind the wheel of a car is pretty dangerous. This happens all the time, kids driving their drunk parents home, stealing the keys to go see some person they want to see, etc.
5) Unsecured fire starting implements. Matches, lighters, candles, fireworks, stoves, ovens, batteries and some bare wire... Ok, I don't know if most kids know you make lighters out of batteries, but the info is on the internet, and I promise you that even my six year old knows how to go on Google and look stuff up.

My tools are in the garage, knives are in the kitchen drawer and the butcher clock, matches are all over, chemicals under the sink, electricity all over, guns where I placed them, keys on the counter. There isn't any difference. Anyone who believes different is fooling themselves. I FREQUENTLY train my kids (and my wife) on the 4 rules, just like I point out all the things that are dangerous.

To me, guns are a tool. They can put food on the table, fight wars, or defend my home. I was taught that guns are just tools, and not really any different than any other of a thousand things that can cause harm.

Just because YOU choose to lock up your guns doesn't make it the right answer. Locks only keep honest people honest.

And none of this means I am right either. I'm just stating the perspective. Do you teach your family fire drills as well as intruder drills? Do you have poison control numbers posted? Are your fire extinguishers as strategically placed as your guns? Is your first aid kit stocked? To be honest, I think that not doing those things is exactly as negligent as leaving loaded guns laying out.

My 8 year old can load the Beretta Neos (the only firearm I have let them shoot). She also knows how to call 9-1-1 and to stay on the phone talking in the case of an emergency. My 6 year old knows that you have to stay calm in emergencies. My 4 year old knows that when things are going down to follow the example of her siblings.

Sorry, but that went longer than I had thought it would go. Lots of frustration at level-headed people who are afraid of all the wrong things.