Displaying vs. Securing Firearms?

[HetchHetchy]

Went I went to High School 45 years ago, Gun Cabinets and Gun Racks were the number one project in Wood Shop. Everyone I knew had either a glass front gun cabinet or several gun racks on the wall, plainly in view in their home. As a kid, you knew to keep your hands of the guns in your house till you were of age and you knew not to touch guns in other folk's homes unless they handed it to you. Many of those folks had very few material things of value besides their firearms. Nowadays folks have several computers, big screen T.V.s, art, stamp and coin collections, and small portable household appliances that have as much if not more value than their guns. All of these are on display, yet no one is concerned about them being stolen. I see no reason one cannot display their firearms and still have them secured, or insured against theft.

Thanks for your comments. I use the analogy of a fine painting or work of sculpture. People who collect such art definitely take precautions but they typically don't keep their art in a safe. I'm beginning to feel the same about my firearms. I wouldn't advertise their existence to anyone (easy enough to keep people out of the room) and I could take steps to harden my proposed gun room, but to default say that they must be in a safe is rather odd.

 

[RX-79G]

Thanks for your comments. I use the analogy of a fine painting or work of sculpture. People who collect such art definitely take precautions but they typically don't keep their art in a safe. I'm beginning to feel the same about my firearms. I wouldn't advertise their existence to anyone (easy enough to keep people out of the room) and I could take steps to harden my proposed gun room, but to default say that they must be in a safe is rather odd.

Art isn't as easy to fence as firearms, electronics, or jewelry.

Does anyone keep valuable jewelry on display in the living room?

 

[HetchHetchy]

Art isn't as easy to fence as firearms, electronics, or jewelry.

Does anyone keep valuable jewelry on display in the living room?

Poor analogy. I never said anything about keeping my guns in my living room.

 

[HetchHetchy]

I love it when people talk about how they would never do something because of the world we live in today.
Crime has been steadily dropping for the last 30+ years, not increasing.
Now I am not saying that displaying your firearms in the open is a wise thing to do, but the reasoning should not be because of the times we live in because the times we live in are safer than they have been in my lifetime.

Sorry to go off on that. Here is a door you could use if possible. It would help, but of course would signal to everyone that something valuable was behind it.
Of course if the walls weren't re-inforced it wouldn't be difficult to just knock through the sheetrock.

http://www.gunsafes.com/store/p/644...Xq_rR_eguVeQLge_VWYyJMLMNgVG2GkkKuxoC08fw_wcB

Thank you very much for your comments and information.

 

[RX-79G]

Poor analogy. I never said anything about keeping my guns in my living room.

But you keep art in your living room, and that's the comparison your brought up.

Really, I was just comparing easy to fence items that we tend to not leave out with ones that are hard to resell and we do. The specific room wasn't what I was getting at.

 

[FAS1]

I think I would enjoy being able to easily view and touch them.

Sounds like you're just not getting enough range time to me.

 

[buck460XVR]

I can see one beyond the standard Crackhead Steals Your Gun & Kills Innocent Person thing ...

But according to most 2A supporters, guns don't kill people. Why is this scenario any different? Responsible gun owners even tho they may display their firearms will have the ammo securely stored somewhere else. Do you hide your kitchen knives because a crackhead may kill someone with them? There is a myriad of reasons why and why not to display one's firearms. They are all subjective.

 

[Speedo66]

Valuable art may not be recognized by all, but everyone knows what a gun looks like.

 

[CraigC]

IMHO, some of the responses are either not very well thought out or bordering on paranoid. Folks typically have lots of valuable items in their home. My lawnmower cost $3000 and is just sitting in the garage. Same for my $70,000 truck. Thousands of dollars worth of tools, power tools and even the friggin' Christmas tree cost more than many guns. Yet none of those things are kept in a safe. Same for stuff in the house, particularly artwork. There's a print just around the corner from my desk that has a $550 frame. I have a $1500 laptop in a bag on the floor next to me, along with a $1000 iPad. Thousands of dollars worth of books on the shelves. The $650 boots I just bought are out in the open. In the closet, there's 12 pairs of dress shoes ranging from $200-$400. Not to mention 17 more pairs of boots ranging from $175-$600. How are those things any different from the $700 1911 in my desk drawer? I do what I can to keep my valuables in my possession and it's a rare thing for a stranger to enter my home but let's not get carried away.

Now I'm not going to broadcast that I might have guns in my vehicles but you don't always have control over the places you park.

All that said, I'm not going to let the criminal element dictate how I live my life, nor do I take responsibility for what they do with stolen property.

 

[GBExpat]

But according to most 2A supporters, guns don't kill people. Why is this scenario any different? ...

??? Well, in the the portion of my response that you quoted (or the remainder of my post that you did not quote) I never suggested that "guns kill people".

 

[HetchHetchy]

But you keep art in your living room, and that's the comparison your brought up.

Really, I was just comparing easy to fence items that we tend to not leave out with ones that are hard to resell and we do. The specific room wasn't what I was getting at.

Please read what I actually wrote (emphasis added):

...I would really like to plaster the walls of my study with my guns -- much like others would do with paintings -- expensive or not and other objects d’art...

 

[HetchHetchy]

Sounds like you're just not getting enough range time to me.

Probably a lot of truth to that. I'm planning a camping trip on some family property in 2017. I am going to take every gun I own -- including the two wall hangers. I am going to do nothing but shoot and clean (or just clean in case of the wall hangers.) Should make for a cool three day weekend.

Even though they are all 100% legal (well, except for one), I do wonder what would happen if a Federal Firefighter or Ranger dropped by (I think they smell the coffee) while the collection was out on tables?