Gun storage

Keunert · December 21, 2012, 04:16:11 PM

i was just wondering something lately. when i turned 18, my godfather gifted me an ak-47. my mother was furious and instantly took all ammunition and hid it. i didn't mind. if i went shooting i asked her to give me ammunition and after that i gave her what was left. the gun was under my bed, unloaded and unusable.

on this board are many careful gun owner. how do you handle this? how do you storage the families guns? how do you handle gun access with your kids, your teenagers and your young adults still at home?

DoctorQuest · December 21, 2012, 04:20:33 PM

All guns have trigger locks and stored separately from ammo which is also under lock and key. I am the only one who has keys.

Jarhead0331 · December 21, 2012, 04:27:07 PM

All of my firearms are locked in heavy duty safes, or gun lockers/cabinets. Only I have the keys and codes. I keep one handgun in a nightstand next to my bed. I will have to re-evaluate this practice after the baby comes and begins to get a little older.

Ammunition is generally stored behind a locked door, and magazines are stored in separate room, as well. I do, however, keep a few loaded mags for my "go to guns." The loaded mags are locked in my bedroom safe.

I do not use trigger locks.

Barthheart · December 21, 2012, 04:30:05 PM

Interesting subject. JH, why don't you use tigger locks? Personal preference? Or are they not/too effective?

Jarhead0331 · December 21, 2012, 04:38:56 PM

Sorry Barth...I accidentally modified your post with my response. Here is what I said...

Waste of time. They are simply a redundant measure I just don't feel I need. Besides, in a pinch, if you actually need your gun for any reason, the last thing you want to do is fiddle with a trigger lock.

Silent Disapproval Robot · December 21, 2012, 04:45:54 PM

My rifles and pistols are locked in safes (one for rifles, one for pistols), magazines removed and all firearms have trigger locks on them. Ammunition is locked in a separate location. Magazines are left in locked transport cases for when I take the firearms out to the range. (I forgot my mags on my cleaning bench once. Felt like a complete asshat when I got to the range.)

Barthheart · December 21, 2012, 04:46:26 PM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 21, 2012, 04:38:56 PM
......

Waste of time. They are simply a redundant measure I just don't feel I need. Besides, in a pinch, if you actually need your gun for any reason, the last thing you want to do is fiddle with a trigger lock.

That's what I thought. Sounds reasonable.

MikeGER · December 21, 2012, 05:02:56 PM

A gun safe (Waffenschrank) according to latest German laws.
With a combination lock only ...and no kids in da house. 8) (mounted in the bedroom for quick emergency access ;D)

LongBlade · December 21, 2012, 06:12:39 PM

One gun has a trigger lock, the other is locked in a case. Ammo behind locked door.

Staggerwing · December 21, 2012, 07:00:01 PM

My only gun has resided in my parent's basement ever since my first child was born. It's a 22 bolt action rifle and is probably more useful there at their house the woods than it would be at my home in the 'burbs.

OJsDad · December 22, 2012, 10:28:24 AM

I'm in need of a gun safe. Nothing fancy. Currently I have a .22 rifle. I'll be brining home a 410 single shot shotgun and a WWII German Luger once I have one.

Do you guys that own one perfer key or combination locks. Electronic or dial combination. I plan on getting it next week right after Christmas.

Staggerwing · December 22, 2012, 10:37:06 AM

I don't own a gun safe but I'd say that keys can get lost. Or 'borrowed'. A mechanical lock would require a little more patience (remember school lockers?) in opening but be reliable. An electronic keypad lock would be quicker but you have to factor in batteries, etc. At my former job we had office safes with electronic locks and they frequently required two or three attempts to open. It be interesting to hear from those who actually have experience with gun safes.

Silent Disapproval Robot · December 22, 2012, 01:32:27 PM

I have an 8-gun combination safe from Stack-On. It's cheap and kind of cramped (really only good for 3-4 rifles if they're scoped) but it gets the job done.

Greybriar · December 23, 2012, 09:31:28 PM

How times have changed. When I was a boy I remember seeing rifles and shotguns hanging above the doors in my grandfather's house. I don't know if they were loaded or not, but I suspect that was the way they were kept handy when my grandfather was growing up in the "Injun Territory" where he was born in 1878.

I haven't used my rifles and shotguns in years. I keep them in gun cases in my attic.