Gun Safe - Thieves or Kids?

Dragon55,

Yes, a safe screams "steal me" because everyone thinks there are valuables in it EVEN IF IN REALITY IT IS EMPTY (so they would steal an empty safe, not knowing what, if anything, was in it)! But what's the alternative...NOT getting a safe because of that and letting criminals EASILY steal your guns "hidden" under the bed or "hidden" in some closet? So you're damned if you do get a safe, damned if you don't, but at least make the low-lifes work for your stuff. Besides, you may slow them down enough so you can get home while they are still trying to get into your safe...

And I agree with Regolith since I live in an apartment and you have to let maintenance men (of dubious character) in sometimes. Also, after hurricane Ike hit here, we had all kind of "imported" workers (Hispanics/Mexicans -- almost NONE of them spoke English) in all the apartments here ripping out sheetrock, replacing it, then the painters, then the carpet guys, and if you were not AT HOME while they were IN your apartment -- like MOST of the tenants who had evacuated and were not allowed to come back yet (the island was "closed" for 3 weeks) -- the guys stole people's stuff (the management was not supervising them properly...but *I* sure was when they came to MY apartment). So a safe would help at least a little. And also as Regolith says, the "gone in 60 seconds" thieves (which means MOST thieves) can't get in and out very fast as per their usual plan when they have a safe to deal with. So we just do what we can.

The TV show "It Takes a Thief" on the Discovery Channel woke a lot of people up (probably theretofore cluless or in-denial liberals) about the realities of home burglaries (and was a good advertising vehicle for Gardall Safes).

Naturally, as we all know, ANY safe, even one costing $50K (an arbitrary number thrown in) can be broken into, but a safe is better than nothing at all...AND shows you TRIED to be responsible and lock your guns up.

I guess the good news is if they steal the safe, at least you can get a new one with the insurance money (if you have Renter's insurance...but most renters do not even get that). As for the safe's contents, takes pictures of it all, write down serial numbers and try to get as much of it insured as you can also.

-- John D.
 
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I plan to buy a cheaper safe, fill it with rocks and weld the door really carefully so its not visible... Should give a thief something to do for a few hours. I'll make sure I leave a note that says "please only put the cash and the jewelry on only the top three shelves the rest is for my guns!" :D

I figure a nice score of guns cash and jewelry should have them so tickled that they will just try to get away with it as fast as possible.
 
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no kids here, no safe either tho :( what id really like to do is build a vault. i gotta room in my hous ethat would be perfect for that! if god willing i ever won the lotto, id definetly build a nice big vault in my house. but all dreaming and wishing aside, i plan on getting a very nice safe here in the next year or so.
 
Hi, stilettosixshooter!

That’s a pretty sensitive question you’ve put forward!

Believe it or not, there is a school of gunhandling thought which holds that “All firearms should be secure at all times.” (Yup, just like in many elite military establishments.) Radical as this thinking may seem, it is enforced in certain parts of the world (the simple rationale being that guns are dangerous tools, and shouldn’t be left lying around).

Let me cite one old example, and a fairly recent one:

In the old days, in South Africa, you were allowed to carry a weapon, with the stipulation that you kept your weapon within arm's reach at all times---that is, always under your immediate control.

Today, in the state of Victoria in Australia, you are not allowed to own a pistol until you have complied with storage requirements, which stipulate a lockable, secure steel container with walls no less than 5mm thick, with recessed hinges to make unauthorized penetration more difficult. The storage unit needs to be bolted to the floor/walls of the structure it is in. (Police actually come by to check on your storage facilities before approving your first handgun purchase, and physically try to pry the storage compartment loose from its moorings when they come to visit. If your storage facility passes the test, you get your permit to purchase a handgun.)

The standards are the same for any sort of center fire rifle, and are only slightly less rigid for airguns, .22’s, and single- or two-cartridge shotguns (!)

The same legislation stipulates that you can’t store ammunition with your guns---ammo has to locked in a separate receptacle in a different part of the storage facility(!)

I know that these sort of requirements sound positively Draconian by U.S. standards, but they do exist and are enforced in other parts of the world.

Personally, I like the old South African rule. And I also maintain several safes to secure the guns I don’t happen to be using at any given time. (I can only use two at a time on regular carry days; maybe four on a trip to the range.)

I’m not saying that this is the way to go, only that I abide by the system because I find that it works for me. Other people I know simply dismantle any guns not in current service and stash the components in different locations, in lieu of maintaining a gun safe.

So having a gun safe isn’t just protection against kids, unauthorized handlers or burglars and such. It’s also a guarantee that one of your own guns can’t be used against you in a home-invasion scenario, because apart from the one(s) you have under your immediate control, the rest of them are securely locked away.

Give it some thought as your gun collection grows!
 
FIRE!

I bought my safe because I lost a fairly nice collection when our house burned to the ground. Kept everything is a walk-in closet, locked. Fire doesn't care if it's locked or not.

Not to mention all the ammo.

What struck me was when I told the firefighters about all the ammo I had, they shrugged it off, said, "No problem", and went to work.

Volunteers. Go**am heroes.
 
I have 2 safes 1 in the bedroom with 3 loaded guns and one behind a locked closet with all the others and my ammo bolted to the floor and bolted in 2 walls.
Kids and thieves
 
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