If he's going to buy a safe and not a locking cabinet I hope the company delivers or he brings along 3 or 4 guys to help load it into his truck.

where one weighs the risks and benefits.

I'm glad to hear your husband is buying a safe. Bolted down securely and positioned well in the house a safe can be very difficult for the average thief.

Once the safe is installed and all but one gun is stored away, buy him this for his birthday.

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Its made by a top of the line company, its small for the end table draw, and its biometric for quick access. A thief will be able to bust the drawer and cart it off, but at least it will keep children's fingers off the trigger should their be little visitors.

I actually use this:
Its made by a good company (AMSEC) but it has mechanical push buttons and doesn't rely on electricity or batteries. It costs about $125-150.
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I recently moved to Texas, and we were shopping for homes. At first I had no idea why people were so insistent upon having large safes in their master bedroom closets. And then I saw an array of 50 of them for sale in a sporting goods store. They were marked "Gun Safes", and the bulb finally lit. It was my "welcome to Texas" moment.

or in simple wooden rifle racks in the hall way, (or living room), making rifle racks was almost as common as making chopping blocks in wood shop.

Back then the keys were left in the cars also, and I never had a house key (one reason the keys could be left where they were used, in the car's ignition), My mother might have had one, but I don't recall seeing it.

to a friends house and gave it to him...

It hadn't been driven in 8 months, he needed a car. Tags were still good and I still had insurance on it, so I drove it from WV down to NC and gave it to him.


However.com I gave my "showcase" gun cabinet away.




I also once gave a whole keychain full of old keys away to a kid to play with. They were keys to the old locks on the house we live in now.

I'd rather order online. There are many good safe makers out there and you can probably score a deal on shipping and installation. At the gun show, you're cash and carry for the most part. You want to make sure that it is UL rated for security and fire. Anything not UL rated is just a lock box, that's one of their lower ratings as well.

One of the more important things is to make sure that the safe has no external hinges, that makes it about a million times easier to break into.

Like, 2 $600-MSRP boxes for $800 out the door. Granted at the time I had a truck and the guy selling them had the dollies and ramps to load them, but I couldn't argue with UL listed, 10 rifles + 4 handguns and proper dial locks (electronics have no place in a gun safe IMO) for quite a healthy discount. Externally hinged doors, but there's pins on all four sides of the door so it's a non-issue.

If you don't happen to be as fortuitously equipped though, I would at least go to your local Cabela's/Bass Pro/Gander Mountain and see what kind of deals they can cut you.

Last edited Sun Sep 16, 2012, 01:48 PM - Edit history (1)

I bought mine after a B&E where I realized my gun cabinet with it's glass doors and skeleton key were obsolete.

I have a pistol safe in our bedroom for me EDC's but all others reside in my 28 gun safe.

800lbs of security is pretty nice considering just one of the firearms it houses is more valuable than the price tag.

my husband put his guns in a metal closet with a combination lock. He said then he didn't like the idea of a gun cabinet with glass doors because anyone could see what was in there, break the glass, and steal the guns. Makes sense.

It's where I also hide my wife's birthday and Christmas presents.

That's what a strong marriage is built upon, not digging in your heals and being stubborn.

Now just anybody can buy a gun safe from a private seller without a mountain of government paperwork. What's this world coming to?

I would completely understand if you do not wish to answer this question.

Would you say that your husband is a know-it-all?

The reason I ask, is that in my own personal dealings with know-it-alls, is that they all have one thing in common, especially if they are smart. Is that when dealing with them, I never even suggest that they are wrong. What I do instead, is slowly and subtly give them the impression that they have come to the conclusion that I'm trying to point out. Know-it-alls tend to be pig headed, but if they think that they have come to the conclusion on their own, then it must be correct. Generally what I do is a slow methodical process of planting seeds when I want them to see my point of view. Give them time to digest the evidence, then see where it takes them.

In this case, I would have never just stated outright that a safe would be needed. Instead I would have asked the question "Wouldn't a safe be a more secure solution than stuffing them in the attic when we go away?". This forces them to look at the situation, then come to their own (your solution from the get go) conclusion that a safe would be a more appropriate solution.

My father always (and still does) keep all of his guns in a beautiful wood and glass display case. His guns (like many of mine) are works of art and he wishes to display them.

If you don't have children in the house, I don't have a problem with this. Yes, they are not secure from burglary, but if they are locked up in your house that's good enough for me.

I do think it is a bit ridiculous to have firearms "in every room".

If you want to have a firearm available for quick access, as was pointed out above there are quick-access safes.

You should be aware, however, that many "safes" are not all that secure. Particularly if you buy a safe that meets the minimum requirement by law in places like California. I own such a "safe" and it is really just a lockable filing cabinet. It will not stop any thief, only casual access attempts as from children.

"Real" safes will have a UL rating such as UL-15, which indicates the safe is designed to delay a dedicated attack for 15 minutes. As you go up in times the price of the safe goes up accordingly.

That would include 4 each1/2" bolts installed in the floor and 4 each 3/8"X 4" lag screws installed in the back of the safe. They should be screwed into wall studs.