Safes

[Andrew Leigh]

You cannot own a firearm in my country without first owning a safe. The authorities will randomly check for these prior to licencing and you need to declare on your application for a licence that you have the prescribed safe and indeed that it is either bolted to the floor or wall.

 

[BPops]

Safe considerations

I am trying to determine the right safe for me. Money is a concern, however, I will pay whatever is necessary to get the right safe. Having read through this forum one thing stood out. X must be Less than Y where X=time of LEO response and Y= time it takes to break into your safe. Here are my concerns...I want to secure my firearms (a meager group-a couple 9 mm hand guns, a M & P 22lr, a 22 bearcat, .25 Lorcin [will probably be melted down for scrap], and a Remington 870 wingmaster). My greatest concerns are: first simply to secure my guns for safety reasons when other family especially kids are in the house and second, I never want one of my guns to end up on the street. I have a burglar alarm so considering the above X<Y equation, I think I could go with a relatively cheap safe. But I waffle, because if the safe is obvious, I might become a target, so...bigger, better safe, or just hide the thing? I hope I'm making sense. Obviously any safe is better than none, but if a contractor see's a safe in my house, and tell's a friend, yada yada I'm a target right? So an inexpensive safe may just make me a target for ne'er-do-wells and I defeat the purpose of having a safe if it's too easy to break in to...any thoughts?

 

[Reloadron]

I am trying to determine the right safe for me. Money is a concern, however, I will pay whatever is necessary to get the right safe. Having read through this forum one thing stood out. X must be Less than Y where X=time of LEO response and Y= time it takes to break into your safe. Here are my concerns...I want to secure my firearms (a meager group-a couple 9 mm hand guns, a M & P 22lr, a 22 bearcat, .25 Lorcin [will probably be melted down for scrap], and a Remington 870 wingmaster). My greatest concerns are: first simply to secure my guns for safety reasons when other family especially kids are in the house and second, I never want one of my guns to end up on the street. I have a burglar alarm so considering the above X<Y equation, I think I could go with a relatively cheap safe. But I waffle, because if the safe is obvious, I might become a target, so...bigger, better safe, or just hide the thing? I hope I'm making sense. Obviously any safe is better than none, but if a contractor see's a safe in my house, and tell's a friend, yada yada I'm a target right? So an inexpensive safe may just make me a target for ne'er-do-wells and I defeat the purpose of having a safe if it's too easy to break in to...any thoughts?

Well your thinking seems to run with what I generally suggest. You buy a gun safe or in most cases residential security container based on your needs leaving room for possible future expansion. While having a home security system is a good start I appreciate your concerns as to keeping guns away from prying eyes or children while the dwelling is occupied.

What this always comes down to is getting what you need for what the budget allows. You don't need a $7,000 safe to protect a few thousand dollars in guns. Most homeowners insurance will cover guns up to a specified limit, like maybe $5,000. Enter your concerns for children visiting or finding access to a gun.

Places like Gander Mountain or Farm and Fleet have security containers in the $400 to $700 range if that suits your budget. I suggest you visit a few retailers and actually look at some of these things with your budget in mind. Most also allow you to lag them to the floor or walls. Just making it more difficult (not impossible) for someone to drag away. Just about all of them allow guns to be secured from children. Many containers can also be secured into a closet for example making them less visible to visitors.

Just My Take....
Ron

 

[Elkins45]

I have your basic Liberty mid-range safe (Fatboy Jr.). The main thing a person should worry about these days is what happens to you if it's too easy to steal your guns and someone dies because a bunch of kids broke in through a window and took your guns off a wall rack (like we used when I was a kid when you didn't have to worry much about stuff being stolen). In this lawsuit happy country you could end up being culpable for the wrongful death of some rival gang banger. They find new ways to pin things on lawful gun owners all the time and I don't want to be the poster boy for being "responsible" about owning guns. With the vast majority of my guns locked up in a RSC the courts will likely consider I did my part to keep them from being stolen too easily. The key word about being a "responsible" gun owner is obviously "responsible". I can see it happening that we will be held "responsible" for what happens with guns that are easily stolen. Yes I keep my guns available for SD. I really should lock up the ones I don't take with me when I'm gone. I think I'll start doing that now that I think of it. I just hope I can find room in the safe.

I have come to the exact same conclusion. If somebody wants to disregard your good advice and leave a gun lying around then it should probably not be one they filled out a 4473 for at the very least.

Here's some more good advice: if you have a safe or gun cabinet you should actually close and lock it before you leave the house. I'm ashamed to say I was reminded of this rather obvious advice the hard way.

 

[tnxdshooter]

Just ordered me a champion model t 24 gun safe from. DT McCalls. Can't beat free delivery.

Now to figure out the best way to bolt it to my laminate floor that has a wood sub floor.

3/8" lag screws perhaps?

 

[tnxdshooter]

DT McCalls said that they didn't have the model t in stock when they called me today. However, they did advise me they had a challenger (made by champion) ch21 that they would let me have for the same price. I checked with champion via phone and they said the challenger has 60 minute fire rating as opposed to 45 on the model t and weighs 525 as opposed to 475(model t). It also has a door organizer and electronic lock so I had them change the lock out for a dial lock.

They are supposed to deliver it Friday afternoon.

 

[JohnBT]

"All safes / residential security containers truly do is buy you TIME."

Right, and that's why I keep $300 and a bottle of Jack Daniel's on the safe. Maybe they'll take the money and run. Or pass out. It's less than my deductible.

 

[a1abdj]

that's why I keep $300 and a bottle of Jack Daniel's on the safe

It's not a bad idea, but there is a proper way to do this. If you leave $300 in cash, they will quickly pocket the money and go about stealing you blind. The proper way is to put $300 worth of change in a big water bottle. That way they will spend the time they could have been going through the rest of your house wresting it outside.

 

[tnxdshooter]

It's not a bad idea, but there is a proper way to do this. If you leave $300 in cash, they will quickly pocket the money and go about stealing you blind. The proper way is to put $300 worth of change in a big water bottle. That way they will spend the time they could have been going through the rest of your house wresting it outside.

300 in change. I like this idea.