How do you keep your gun safe accessible in the event of emergency, but away from the reach of a determined child or teenager? It’s harder than one might think, but this is a riddle that responsible, gun owners with families must tackle. The answer is to use the right equipment.
How to keep your gun safe accessible
Obviously, a large gun cabinet or rifle safe will never be very portable. But specific types of safes provide great options to balance accessibility and safety.- Under bed gun safes: Perhaps the most obvious choice for accessibility, thesesecure safes can be easily stored under the bed, in a vehicle, or in a closet. They are designed to be bolted down for security and quick access.
- Biometric safes: A biometric handgun vault can be accessed incredibly quickly and can be stored almost anywhere. One example is theSentry Safe QAP1BE Quick Access Biometric Pistol Safe. These may not provide total protection from intruders, but family members won’t take a sledgehammer to your gun safe in order to open it
- Drawer safes: Another very compact yet secure option,drawer safes are easy to store, easy to access, and difficult for an unauthorized intruder to open.
- Trigger locks: Simple and affordable, many guns are now sold with these. A trigger lock will prevent any unauthorized users from firing a gun. These are perhaps less secure than other options, but for accessibility, it’s hard to beat a simple trigger lock.
- Hide your gun safe:If your gun safe is hidden somewhere close at hand, behind a book case or in a wall, for instance, you’ll be able to use a somewhat larger safe while still keeping accessibility.
How to keep your gun safe secure
Many of us who grew up with guns could have gotten into our parents safe any time we wanted, even if they didn’t realize it. Never underestimate the power of children or teenagers to figure out a combination. Here are some more precautions for keeping your weapons safe.- Change your combination frequently: Children will find out safe combinations by chance. If you change your combination on a regular basis, the risk that something will slip is all but eliminated.
- Keep your gun unloaded, store ammunition separately: Gun owners are sometimes loath to do this because they fear being caught flat-footed in the event of an emergency. However, if you keep your gun and your ammunition in separate but easily accessible vaults, you greatly increase your security on a day to day basis without losing too much speed should an intruder come calling.
- Consider staying away from revolvers:Even if your children get their hands on your weapon and your ammunition, they may lack the dexterity to properly load a semi- automatic weapon. With revolvers it’s easier. As guns, revolvers have many advantages, but consider a high-quality semi-automatic pistol instead.
