Gun Safes and Storage Strategies

A Selection of Firearm Safe Options and Storage Methods

An Introduction to Firearm Storage Strategies

There are an estimated 450 million privately-owned firearms in the United States. Yes, that means more firearms than people. The average firearms owner has five to ten firearms, from shotguns to handguns to rifles, and all of them should be safely and securely stored when not in use. Not simply stored to keep the firearm secure and out of reach of untrained family members, but also to prevent degradation to the firearm from time and elements.

The best gun safe will depend on what you plan to do with your firearm.

What is Your Expected Firearm Use?

Not all firearm storage methods work for the same purposes. Some methods are excellent for preventing the firearm from getting into the wrong hands, but aren’t effective against a serious threat of theft. Some methods that work great for theft protection are terrible for quick retrieval in an emergency. The question to ask yourself is: how and when do I plan to use this firearm?

If you have a beautiful embossed over-under shotgun for bird hunting, that’s probably not going to be your first choice weapon to defend the house from a home invasion. A solid pistol caliber carbine, or a full-sized handgun, would work better in a home invasion scenario. That means if you own both of these tools, they should probably not be stored the same way.

For firearms that you use regularly, perhaps even daily, or those designed for your home defense plan, a quick access or concealment safe is the superior choice. This gun safe should be strategically placed so you can access the firearm as fast as possible in an emergency.

And don’t forget, you need to practice access and deployment! You won’t be able to magically access and use a firearm under the stress of a home invasion if you’ve never practiced before.

For firearms that are used seldomly, or are designed for a specific sporting purpose, a large, heavy, environmentally-controlled safe is your best option. The firearm safe should be somewhat concealed in your home and bolted to the floor to make it as hard as possible for a thief to steal.

Quick Access Gun Safes

These smaller, lighter gun safes are generally designed to hold one or two firearms of a particular type, with the goal of quickly accessing the tool when it counts. From a secure storage standpoint, these safes are on the low end. Even if they are made with solid materials, they’re not designed to endure a sustained assault or forced opening. That means these firearm safes are best used for short-term gun storage, meaning you left the house for the day to go to work, or you want to store your everyday carry firearm while your kids have friends over. If you’re going to be traveling to Europe for two weeks, you should not leave a firearm in a quick access safe. Instead it should go into your heaviest and strongest long-term storage safe.

Think strategically about where you will place firearm safes in your home. Ideally, they should be in defensible positions that you would use in defending your home during an invasion, or places where you could acquire them rapidly (say from your bed in the middle of the night). Practicing opening these quick access gun safes should be part of your regular training. Imagine waking up from a dead sleep and having to open this safe quickly… that will take practice. Don’t neglect this part of your training.

I generally recommend quick access firearm safes with mechanical locking mechanisms rather than electronic or biometric options. While the electronic or biometric options may be faster, they have a significant failure point: battery power. If that were to fail, you’d need to get to your firearm through a secondary unlock mechanism like a key, which could add significant time to deployment.

Look for quick access firearm safes from companies similar to V-Line for this purpose.

Long-Term Storage

This investment is your number one security tool to keep your firearms safe from theft, fire, and the elements. These long-term storage gun safes are larger, heavier, and much more expensive than quick access gun safes. They come with mechanical, digital, or biometric locks. As with quick access safes, I recommend using a mechanical locking system rather than digital or biometric to reduce possible failure points.

It is important to get the safe that you think you will need in the future. It isn’t unusual to have a client purchase a small safe, then buy or receive more firearms than the safe can hold. Now you’ve got to get a new gun safe and generally can’t get rid of the old one! So when your partner asks why you bought such a big firearm safe, just tell them that you want to make sure you got the safe you’ll need permanently and not have to buy another one later!

This long-term storage firearm safe should be in an inconspicuous location in your home and bolted to the floor. If thieves discover this safe in searching your house, they’ll devote all their efforts in getting it open or dragging it out of the house to put in their vehicle to open later. Remember that the goal of this long-term gun safe is to be theft-proof and bomb-proof!

Finally, keep in mind that a third party manufactured this firearm safe. That means it is possible that they have “master” codes or combinations for it. You should ask about this and choose a company that will give you all codes AND the ability to change codes on your safe at your discretion.

Keep Safes Hidden in Plain Sight

Gun safes have improved dramatically in options for concealment, including safes that hide in the walls, behind normal looking doors, and even in pictures. If you have the option to conceal your safe in what looks like an obvious and innocuous object, consider it… but make certain that it is still a high-quality firearm safe that will provide you with the security you desire.

The old survival maxim is true in most of human history: you only own what you can keep. You have the right to own firearms, for now, and there are many thieves that make their living by taking firearms from responsible owners to sell on the black market. There are also family considerations to be aware of, from little children to your teenagers’ friends who you do not want to have access to your tools. Having effective storage can give you peace of mind and a tactical advantage in a home invasion.

If you have any questions or concerns about firearm safety or gun storage, don't hesitate to contact our qualified firearms instructors at Defensive Mindset Training.