locked up or hidden?

Slackdaddy · Sep 11, 2020

Handguns, I always thought a nightstand handgun safe was counter productive,, I mean they will just grab the whole safe in a daytime "smash and grab".

I always thought well concealed but accessible was the best way to go ?

teratos · Sep 11, 2020

Slackdaddy said:
Handguns, I always thought a nightstand handgun safe was counter productive,, I mean they will just grab the whole safe in a daytime "smash and grab".

I always thought well concealed but accessible was the best way to go ?

I'm not going to disagree. The other option is to open the locked box in the evening and lock it in the morning. Since my main HD gun is a 2 stamp gun, it is in an in-wall safe. I just unlock it when I get home....

I have handguns stashed in other rooms not locked...

Jed195 · Sep 11, 2020

The best place to hide something is where everyone can see it. E.A.Poe

Lots of places to put a gun where no one would know its there. Hollowed out dictionary, hinged picture frame on a wall, in a drawer but holster mounted above the drawer in the table-open drawer 1/2 way gun is up above the top of the drawer box.

A guy makes furniture with hidden compartments between the panels (behind the pilasters) thick shelves with gun drawers, magnetic releases and hidden catches. Neat stuff, if I can find the name I'll post it up.

Biggfoot44 · Sep 11, 2020

Multiple factors , multiple variables . A ( thing that goes bang ) is just one part of your multiple layers .

What's your balance between preventing access from 'yutes , casual visitors , etc vs. resistance to semi- serious burglars ?

joppaj · Sep 11, 2020

Do you ever have children in your home?

MaxVO2 · Sep 11, 2020

Slackdaddy said:
Handguns, I always thought a nightstand handgun safe was counter productive,, I mean they will just grab the whole safe in a daytime "smash and grab".

I always thought well concealed but accessible was the best way to go ?

******You can do both. My HD handgun is in a small pistol case under my bed, but the AR's and other stuff are hidden behind a sort of hidden wall that most people would miss. I have an alarm, and cameras with motion detection, so if someone does break in I at least know it is happening in real time and can call the police, the Anti-Antifa, etc.. I do hide the less hidden firearms way out of sight when I travel.

If someone breaks in, and has some time, they will get into whatever safe you have. All you can do is slow them down. Years ago, a group of burglars broke into a home in this area that had a safe, and they tried to use pry bars, and finally some kind of cutter to get into it and one of the thieves gutted his head open when his reciprocal saw with diamond blade kicked back from a safe that was built to not make it so easy to just use that kind of device (Graffunder brand). The thief was severely injured and almost bled out. He had to go to the hospital and the cops figured out that it was this guys blood all over the floor of the house he had tried to rob. Very expensive safes are much tougher to get in to and have multiple layers of protection besides steel. However, given enough time and the right tools, anything can be broken in to.

Anyway, hidden would be best but at least have something to slow folks down or keep kids, etc.. from just getting to the firearms easily. I would never just have a firearm out in the open or in a nightstand, etc.. without it being in some kind of pistol safe. It seems like too much of a liability.

There are several companies that make awesome hidden pistol boxes, furniture, etc.. to store an HD gun. Some are quite expensive, some less so.

Squaregrouper · Sep 11, 2020

Deleted. Non WC thread.

teratos · Sep 11, 2020

joppaj said:
Do you ever have children in your home?

I hate it when we have kids over. Then I have to try to remember what is where and lock it up.

gwchem · Sep 11, 2020

joppaj said:
Do you ever have children in your home?

Exactly. Safes in my house aren't for burglars.

joppaj · Sep 11, 2020

gwchem said:
Exactly. Safes in my house aren't for burglars.

Same at my place.

Johnconlee · Sep 11, 2020

Combination chamber/trigger locks for kids many, many hiding places for thieves. Safe or not I'm not putting all of my guns, money, or ammo in one central location or even on one property. If I had high dollar guns or nfa stuff I would make extra special storage arrangements for those items. I usually set the correct combination on my hd gun lock when I get in for the night and turn it when I leave in the am.

Bullfrog · Sep 11, 2020

gwchem said:
Exactly. Safes in my house aren't for burglars.

Ditto.

Like most people, I own power tools. Sawzall, angle grinder, etc... burglers could come empty handed and given time they would find any safe and any tools required to wreck them, no matter how much you spent on the safe. *

Small handgun safes for accessibility, large ones for fire safety, all of them to keep little fingers away. Like Teratos said... I don't want to have hidden stuff I have to remember when grandkids stay over.

Anything bigger than a .177 airgun is locked up.

* On a related note, other than buying for more reliable locks or increased fire resistance, expensive safes are money flushed down the toilet. Is it really cost effective to spend $900 more so the guy needs 5 minutes to cut through with a angle grinder instead of 2? Worried about burglers? Buy a mid priced safe and spend the money on a motion camera in the room where the safe is that alerts your phone (and sends pics, so you know it isn't the cat). Then he has minutes instead of hours before police arrive to investigate.

duckduckgoose · Sep 11, 2020

My long guns are in a locker (I know...), and my pistol is in the bedside table. Wife's always home, otherwise I'll put the pistol away. If folks are over, the pistol gets hidden so that at least I can still grab it in an emergency. I'm not keen on the bedside finger reader things.

Safe is hopefully coming soon now that I'm a homeowner and I won't have to move every couple years.

delaware_export · Sep 11, 2020

Over decades, I’ve done both.

Early on, decades, single, and early marriage, no kid, hidden when not in use. Loaded stuff in, on, next to the bed and night stand.

As a kid, my dad did the hidden thing as well, only 2 shotguns, his and mine. Under his bed. DON’T TOUCH!

Then, still pre kid, locked closet.

Kid changed all that.

Wife said: safe! Now.
I said: Yes dear.

Funny: when looking for a house back in the early ‘90’s, one house I looked at followed my philosophy. Hidden. Oddly, they were having buyer walk throughs, where people look in every closet, and hadn’t hidden them better, or arranged for offsite storage while selling.

When we sold my house, I took everything valuable to my very trusted cousins house for security. All I could think of was the house I looked for 10 years earlier.

Name Taken · Sep 11, 2020

Before kids it was hidden....or if it was just me and the wife it would be out on the table.

With kids...they need to be secured. Even if you trust your kids (I wouldn't) once they start having friends over it is a real concern.

It might save a few of them from walking out as well. Workers in the home and other guests are going to have a hard time walking out with a safe.

namrelio · Sep 11, 2020

I keep them loaded and handy in most of the rooms in the house. The ones not for protection are in a VERY heavy gun safe I finally bought. Before covid when the grandkids started showing up, the loaded ones get put in a closet. I took the door knob off and replaced it with one that can be locked with a key. The closet is where we are at while the kids are there. The kids leave, the guns come back out.

The worst thing that could ever happen is a gun accident with a grandkid. :sad20:

spoon059 · Sep 11, 2020

Like others, my guns are locked in portable safes (duty gun in the kitchen, home defense gun in the bedroom) to abide by MD law and prevent my kids from accessing. I also have an agreement with my kids (5 and 7) that they can see any of my guns whenever they want, they just have to ask. They can hold them, they can look down the sights, they can use the optics on rifles, etc. I'm trying to take away the curious factor from guns so they don't go snooping around for them. They are learning gun safety rules, they watch me clear guns before handing them over, they know not to ever point a gun at anything they aren't trying to shoot and they know not to put their booger hooks on the bang switch.

My long guns are locked in a wooden cabinet in the basement.

Neither will prevent someone from stealing them if they want, but it meets the state law criteria and hopefully prevents the kids from sneaking a look when I'm not there.

In my forever house which I am hoping we will have built, I plan to have a corner or the basement as a mini vault. Cinder block interior walls and a steel core door with deadbolt. Store weapons and keep my reloading supplies there as well.

teratos · Sep 11, 2020

spoon059 said:
Like others, my guns are locked in portable safes (duty gun in the kitchen, home defense gun in the bedroom) to abide by MD law and prevent my kids from accessing. I also have an agreement with my kids (5 and 7) that they can see any of my guns whenever they want, they just have to ask. They can hold them, they can look down the sights, they can use the optics on rifles, etc. I'm trying to take away the curious factor from guns so they don't go snooping around for them. They are learning gun safety rules, they watch me clear guns before handing them over, they know not to ever point a gun at anything they aren't trying to shoot and they know not to put their booger hooks on the bang switch.

My long guns are locked in a wooden cabinet in the basement.

Neither will prevent someone from stealing them if they want, but it meets the state law criteria and hopefully prevents the kids from sneaking a look when I'm not there.

I had the same agreement with my kids. Worked out great. They are now 18 and 16. They handle guns very well and are nonplussed by firearms.

GuitarmanNick · Sep 12, 2020

No kids in my place and someone is home just about all of the time. This allows me to keep things placed where they are withing easy reach.

Johnconlee · Sep 12, 2020

spoon059 said:
I also have an agreement with my kids (5 and 7) that they can see any of my guns whenever they want, they just have to ask. They can hold them, they can look down the sights, they can use the optics on rifles, etc. I'm trying to take away the curious factor from guns so they don't go snooping around for them. They are learning gun safety rules, they watch me clear guns before handing them over, they know not to ever point a gun at anything they aren't trying to shoot and they know not to put their booger hooks on the bang switch.

Mine are 3 and 6 we are working on the same program.

locked up or hidden?

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