Best way to secure your firearms at home.

[Tony2]

when I was a class 3 dealer the thing I worried about was not so much as them getting into the safe,but them walking up to you in the yard,while you are cutting the yard,puling a gun on you taking you in the house and making you open the safe are taking your life.Most class 3 dealers did not run ther h head about their guns they had.Talking to much will get you in trouble ever time

Good point about talking to much. also having a favorite gun manufacturer's sticker on the back window of your truck should be avoided.

 

[Willy]

I've always wanted to build a hidden room in my house. I would install plywood instead of drywall for the safe room. The hidden entrance would be in the master bedroom closet. The original door on the floor plan would be framed in and covered with plywood and textured and painted like drywall after the safes and any other large furniture was put in the room. The room would house my computer, security camera monitoring, small media room, small fridge, and maybe a water fountain. Don't forget ventilation.

 

[matefrio]

darn it I just spent 15 min of my life on a Lazarus thread

How long do you see yourself staying in one place? Renting or owning a home?

A person just graduating college isn't going to settle down most likely. If you move every 2 to 3 years like I did at your age you'd loose your investment unless you could take it along with you. Renting you just don't have the option of modifying the closet.

My advice at your time in life that I bet you're not going to take?

For your home security invest in window locks, cameras, door jam reinforcement and audible alarms with motion detection and glass break flood and fire sensors and a monitored wireless solution.

Next get a gun locker. Cheep thin metal one. Bolt it down to the ground and surround it on all sides, top and bottom with three layers of the best fire rated dry wall they have at home depot or lowes put that in the closet and a lock on the closet door with a SEPARATE camera and alarm.

Next get some insurance. I bet I could do all that to an apartment or small home for $1,200.00 and it'll last move after move with very little lost investment.

 

[Cordell]

Thanks for the opinion. Yes, I am a recent college grad and I own my own home. I have no intention of moving for at least 6 years. I have a pretty damned good monitored security system but my thing is, a large safe will not fit into my closet and I plan on expanding my "armory" exponentially. Although I live in a neighborhood that is almost property crime free (based on personal knowledge and info from the Sheriff's Office) I am concerned about the minuscule that an intruder is able to gain entry into my house when I am not home. I know the deputies that work the area that my house is in and will be here very quickly after receiving an alarm activation.

While I am concerned about losing my firearms to fire or water damage, the main reason for wanting to fortify my house is to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands and being used during the commission of a crime.

 

[mitchntx]

Went down this thought path.

While the cool factor is WAY up there, its a lot cheaper to buy a BAS (big-ass safe).

For a safe room, 1/2" plywood over studs on 12" centers.
Most recommendations I read had a mesh wire sandwiched between or horizontal rebar runs every couple feet.

 

[556.45.12]

I went the closet reinforcement route. Scrap steel sheet can be found on the cheap if you know where to look, just be sure to have your closet measured correctly and they'll most likely cut it for you to size for next to nothing, if not free. Reinforce your doorjamb, put a steel door and a Medeco lock on it... The weakest point in my "safe" is that the ceiling isn't armored. There is one entrance to my attic and it is guarded by 3 very large, well-trained pits. I show no one, and I mean NO ONE where I keep my guns, and if I have to leave my home for an extended period of time, I get my brother to watch my house. I saved a ton over a gun safe. To buy a safe to hold all of my ammo and weapons would have cost me at least 6 times as much. Plus, it just looks like a closet. Thieves will instantly be drawn to a safe and will do everything in their power to get into it. Another tactic I use it to leave a Hi-Point on my night stand when I leave the house. I've never fired it (value my safety too much) but I imagine most thugs who know ass-nothing about firearms would see it and think they made a major score, not even thinking to look for the stash of "real guns"...

 

[Mikeinhistory]

Any safe can be broken into. I know from experience. I was cased. It took the robbers 8-10 hours of blowtorch time but they got into it. They knew when and where I would be and how to bypass security. I won't go into details, but they were all customers and by simply going in and out the front door as normal customers were able to figure out where everything was. The safe was not visible from the front nor talked about but they knew it was there. The best defense is information. Don't let anyone know how much you have and where exactly it is.

 

[Cordell]

Any safe can be broken into. I know from experience. I was cased. It took the robbers 8-10 hours of blowtorch time but they got into it. They knew when and where I would be and how to bypass security. I won't go into details, but they were all customers and by simply going in and out the front door as normal customers were able to figure out where everything was. The safe was not visible from the front nor talked about but they knew it was there. The best defense is information. Don't let anyone know how much you have and where exactly it is.

Holy crap. 8-10 hours. That's friggin' ridiculous. I am sorry to hear that. I hope they caught the scum that did that to you.

As for the other two comments, I appreciate the input. They are great points to consider and as the post above states, if somebody truly wants to steal my stuff, I can't make my stuff completely theft proof. I'd like to think that the only thing I can do is make it exponentially harder to steal what I've got.

By the way, the comment about the Hi-Point, that's effing hilarious and pure genius. Props to you.

 

[Cogent Design]

My thinking is if you have a gun safe full of guns, it would be worth it to invest in another quality safe to protect your new purchases.

Also, what are you trying to secure them from? Trigger locks and such can be effective too.

 

[lonestarag]

Find an ugly old full size freezer, with a good lock on it, and keep the surplus in your garage. And buy insurance.