Thread: How should I lock up my pistols?

Okay. I traded with my dad and I'm getting a .357 S&W and a .40 cal Beretta. I have 2 little girls. These will be the first guns I've personally owned. Do I get a lockable case? What's the best thing to do with these? I know many of you have experience with this. I'm trying to keep it inexpensive, so I won't be buying a fancy safe. I would like to be able to get to it pretty easily (call me paranoid). I also want it impossible for my girls to get to.

An age old issue.

To keep them handy, but keep them from the girls. That is an impossible goal.
Something has to give. Either accessibility or the kids figuring out what they are.

Make sure you educate them and as soon as you can teach them how to,shoot , which includes gun safety.

Get a safe with a thumb print scanner

Take no chances, get a lockable case. Don't let the girls know where the key is. You can still leave the lock box and key accessible to you if you need it in a hurry.

I hide my guns when the nephews and niece come over. I've got a lockable case for the shotguns but not the pistols which i hide on the top shelf of my closet that i can lock the door too.

I keep the Judge loaded when their not there, but empty it and hide the bullets when they are. Their pretty well educated on guns though due to their dad being a bit of a pistol nut. But i still don't take any chances. Not on my watch.

While not the ultimate in protection from a thief, these were very good for quick access, but keeping them from kids. There are few options that provide the speed/security of gunvault products. They have double high models that can hold more guns, as well as smaller ones, but those doors don't pop open.



http://www.gunvault.com/gun-safes.html/

There are other, cheaper options, but with those your access time will be much lower.

Regardless of what route you go, just don't go with the 'hide it' route, because the ramifications of a kid finding a gun are far too high to allow it to chance by just hiding it in a sock draw, under a mattress, etc.

By the way, the prices on gunvault's site is higher than you can buy them for. Don't get me wrong, they aren't cheap, but the best combination of speed and security. You can get the double decker standard model (no light, maybe no power backup, only batteries) for $100-120. Or, the single model which you might be able to fit two guns in if you show the smaller one into the back, but it might be tight, for $80-100.

If you don't care about the quick access (gunvault you enter a pin in an intuitive way, and the door pops open), then there are cheaper lockup options such as combination lock cases like this that gunvault, stack on and others make, which are typically $20-30 and will hold one pistol. You can either get them with a combo lock like you would see on a briefcase, or with a key.

All i can say is to ensure the safety of your children do whatever it takes to make sure they are locked away. Any shortcuts or loopholes will leave the door open with tragic results.

Originally Posted by MasterShake

lmao! a more natural way to get a good nights sleep

Shake, no joke, I've known people who have mounted holsters to the backside of their headboard and/or night stands to keep pistols in and the kids never even know they were there. Safest way to do it? Absolutely not. Neat though.

Step one is never have your gun loaded in the house. I have always had guns. It's part of the lifestyle I grew up with. My dad is a hunter. He made me take hunter's safety when I was 9 (a course I think every gun owner should take). He always had his guns locked in a gun cabinet. If you don't want to spend a ton of money on a gun safe you can have a cabinet built pretty cheap.

Another simple alternative is to buy the pad locks they make for the trigger, which is easy access and cheap.

I don't have a gun cabinet or a safe. My rifles and shotguns are in my closet, but they have no ammo in them. All of the ammo is on the top shelf of our closet where the kids can't reach. That's also where I keep my pistols. My firearms are never loaded. If I really had to I could get a pistol off the top shelf and stick a clip in it in just a few seconds. More than likely though, if someone broke in I would just break out some freaky hand to hand stuff on his sorry butt.

Originally Posted by Al Wilson 4 Mayor

Step one is never have your gun loaded in the house. I have always had guns. It's part of the lifestyle I grew up with. My dad is a hunter. He made me take hunter's safety when I was 9 (a course I think every gun owner should take). He always had his guns locked in a gun cabinet. If you don't want to spend a ton of money on a gun safe you can have a cabinet built pretty cheap.

Another simple alternative is to buy the pad locks they make for the trigger, which is easy access and cheap.

I don't have a gun cabinet or a safe. My rifles and shotguns are in my closet, but they have no ammo in them. All of the ammo is on the top shelf of our closet where the kids can't reach. That's also where I keep my pistols. My firearms are never loaded. If I really had to I could get a pistol off the top shelf and stick a clip in it in just a few seconds. More than likely though, if someone broke in I would just break out some freaky hand to hand stuff on his sorry butt.

Hunter safety used to be mandatory for boys in my junior high (7th grade, I think). We learned how to shoot (22 rifle) in the effing classroom (not outside).

It's pretty funny to think about that now, given our current environment.

Originally Posted by slim

Hunter safety used to be mandatory for boys in my junior high (7th grade, I think). We learned how to shoot (22 rifle) in the effing classroom (not outside).

It's pretty funny to think about that now, given our current environment.

Yeah it is. I was in grade school in the late 70's and early 80's. They were still giving out spakings with a wooden paddle at the elementary school I went to.

I've never seen a trigger lock in person. Do they work okay?

Originally Posted by dbfan2007

I've never seen a trigger lock in person. Do they work okay?

Yeah, it just prevents you from pulling the trigger. Head to your local Cabella's and ask them what the have for either hammer or trigger locks. If you ask them what the safest way to keep your guns is they're going to take you to the $10k safe. They're salesmen dude.