If you can't afford a safe, you can't afford a gun.

[trevorlc]

I personally choose to have a safe for my firearms, but I do not think its practical to push that on others; especially considering the safe market right now.

Most LGS have two classes of firearm storage options. (I've been in 15 or so over the last 2 months, exploring many in San Diego and several in the bay area when I was up there for the holidays.)

Lock Boxes - These are quick access devices, they are designed to keep a kid or an opportunistic person from accessing your gun. Anyone who wants to open it with the right tools can do so in a matter of seconds and if they didn't bring the right tools its likely they can find something in your house to do the job. The fact that many have the CA DOJ Approved thing on them is VERY misleading.

Gun Safes - Most of these are fairly large and designed to hold several rifles, for the person just starting out spending $500+ on a safe plus the commitment of dealing with a 300+ pound safe for the foreseeable future is a lot to ask.

Personally I would like to see more mid range options, smaller safes that can be bolted down that hold a couple of hand guns for instance. (Like actual safe quality, not these flimsy lock boxes) I'd also like to see LGS carry them... The biggest problem I see is many people just getting into this are not going to spend hours reading on-line about different safes and storage options they are going to pick something they can buy from the LGS when they pick up their gun.

[Sakiri]

Diesel, from what I heard, they weren't in a safe, but a closet. If you have a link to different info, toss it my way.

[tcrpe]

It has been reported that the CT firearms were NOT in a safe.

[xibunkrlilkidsx]

I have always wondered why gun owners dont bat an eye at spending 1500 on a firearm..but dont want to spend more than a few hundred on a quality safe.

[warbird]

Any safe that can be moved into a house with a dolly and can removed with a dolly and portable torch. If someone wants your guns they are going to get them unless you put in gun room that basically meet the standards AFT requires for gun stores. You can slow them down but not stop them. alarms, God aweful sirens that will drive your neighbors crazy, and an independent power source burglars can't find quickly are about the only way to encourage them to go elsewhere.

[thmpr]

I noticed the OP has only two posts and did not continue to add inputs to everyone's feedback. I do agree that owners must take responsibility to safekeep and guard their firearms at all times. But to mandate a storage device, safes, is going to far.

[Merc1138]

Very well said as always.

That was one of the most poorly worded statements in this thread.

Myk seems to forget what happens when a government requires you buy a safe and keep your guns in it.

1. Guns locked in a safe are useless to defend yourself with
2. The UK requires the few firearm owners it has left to keep guns secured in safes. Guess how they make sure the person complies? That's right, mandatory searches and inspections of their personal property by the local PD.

So are you really sure you want to compliment someone who is OK with infringing on the 2nd amendment when such a law also comes with infringements on the 4th? Anything else in the bill of rights you'd care to see trampled on?

[TigerShark]

As RESPONSIBLE gun owners, it is our responsibility to make it as hard as possible for a thief to steal our guns. Does that mean the guy with a shotgun and a handgun needs a $1000 safe, not necessarily but he should have some way to secure them when the house is empty (ie: vacations, etc.).
Once someone has multiple guns, especially the AR's and AK's that are so controversial today, a safe becomes much more important. I do not think the gov't should force it on anybody because all circumstances are different but I would feel like crap the rest of my life if an unsecured weapon of mine was stolen and used for a mass murder. I agree that safes will not stop the determined thief but it will slow them down some.
If you've got $2500 in guns and ammo, a $500 safe is a reasonable expense to keep an amatuer thieves hands off of them. With only a home defense handgun and shotgun worth less than a grand, maybe a $80 stack-on does the trick depending on the situation.

Our responsibilty for gun safety does not end once the gun is no longer in our hands. (just my opinion)

[Merc1138]

Our responsibilty for gun safety does not end once the gun is no longer in our hands. (just my opinion)

I assume you have a car, truck, or some other sort of automobile, right?

If you fail to park your vehicle in a secure parking facility(guards, gates, etc.), are you responsible for what happens if your vehicle is stolen? Is it your responsibility if a criminal takes your 3,000-4,000 pound, 200+ horsepower vehicle and plows their way onto a school playground running kids over? Are you responsible now for the injuries and deaths of those children because someone stole your property and used it to commit crimes?

Ok, fine. Vehicular manslaughter a little too extreme? What if you're working in the driveway on your car, step inside to use the restroom and leave a wrench out front. Someone(a criminal) steals the wrench and then beats someone else to death with it. Are you responsible for that because a criminal stole your wrench and used it to murder someone? No, of course not. You would be the victim of a theft. Is that as much of a problem for you as the person who was murdered? No, but does that mean you're somehow responsible for it?

I'm not against the idea of owning a safe. I have a safe. However this lame mentality of feeling responsible for a criminal stealing my property and then using it to commit more crimes is insane. A safe is not going to stop a determined criminal. If my safe gets cut open, do I have responsibility for any crimes that the thief commits using my property because I didn't have a 40 ton bank vault and armed guards watching it while I'm away from home?

I am responsible for my property and my actions. I am not responsible for someone else's actions with my property, if the only reason they obtained my property was stealing it. Now if someone asked to borrow a shotgun and I gave it to them, only to find out an hour later they murdered someone with it, that's different. However even that doesn't necessarily make me responsible for the murder, even though I'd probably feel pretty damn guilty for loaning it to the person.

[MrTokarev]

I assume you have a car, truck, or some other sort of automobile, right?

If you fail to park your vehicle in a secure parking facility(guards, gates, etc.), are you responsible for what happens if your vehicle is stolen? Is it your responsibility if a criminal takes your 3,000-4,000 pound, 200+ horsepower vehicle and plows their way onto a school playground running kids over? Are you responsible now for the injuries and deaths of those children because someone stole your property and used it to commit crimes?

Ok, fine. Vehicular manslaughter a little too extreme? What if you're working in the driveway on your car, step inside to use the restroom and leave a wrench out front. Someone(a criminal) steals the wrench and then beats someone else to death with it. Are you responsible for that because a criminal stole your wrench and used it to murder someone? No, of course not. You would be the victim of a theft. Is that as much of a problem for you as the person who was murdered? No, but does that mean you're somehow responsible for it?

I'm not against the idea of owning a safe. I have a safe. However this lame mentality of feeling responsible for a criminal stealing my property and then using it to commit more crimes is insane. A safe is not going to stop a determined criminal. If my safe gets cut open, do I have responsibility for any crimes that the thief commits using my property because I didn't have a 40 ton bank vault and armed guards watching it while I'm away from home?

I am responsible for my property and my actions. I am not responsible for someone else's actions with my property, if the only reason they obtained my property was stealing it. Now if someone asked to borrow a shotgun and I gave it to them, only to find out an hour later they murdered someone with it, that's different. However even that doesn't necessarily make me responsible for the murder, even though I'd probably feel pretty damn guilty for loaning it to the person.

Agreed. The only reason I even have a safe is because I have some nice C&R rifles I wouldn't want stolen but if I run out of room in the safe, keeping cheaper guns in the closet isn't going to keep me up at night. I might feel differently if I had kids in the house but I don't feel the need to make my life revolve around the actions of thieves.

[Horton Fenty]

That's my new mantra. If you lock up your guns, no one will steal them. If no one steals them they won't be used in crimes. Less crimes with guns means less bad press. Less bad press means we get left alone. When I am at home, my firearms are accessible. When we go to work in the morning or go away for the weekend they are locked in the safe. I wouldn't mind seeing an ad campaign by the NRA, the manufacturers and maybe even the government stressing the importance of gun safes. They do get expensive but I think in this day and age they are a necessity and would solve a lot of problems.

Your can't be serious.

[chickenfried]

Well said, Merc, and I own a safe too.

I assume you have a car, truck, or some other sort of automobile, right?

If you fail to park your vehicle in a secure parking facility(guards, gates, etc.), are you responsible for what happens if your vehicle is stolen? Is it your responsibility if a criminal takes your 3,000-4,000 pound, 200+ horsepower vehicle and plows their way onto a school playground running kids over? Are you responsible now for the injuries and deaths of those children because someone stole your property and used it to commit crimes?

Ok, fine. Vehicular manslaughter a little too extreme? What if you're working in the driveway on your car, step inside to use the restroom and leave a wrench out front. Someone(a criminal) steals the wrench and then beats someone else to death with it. Are you responsible for that because a criminal stole your wrench and used it to murder someone? No, of course not. You would be the victim of a theft. Is that as much of a problem for you as the person who was murdered? No, but does that mean you're somehow responsible for it?

I'm not against the idea of owning a safe. I have a safe. However this lame mentality of feeling responsible for a criminal stealing my property and then using it to commit more crimes is insane. A safe is not going to stop a determined criminal. If my safe gets cut open, do I have responsibility for any crimes that the thief commits using my property because I didn't have a 40 ton bank vault and armed guards watching it while I'm away from home?

I am responsible for my property and my actions. I am not responsible for someone else's actions with my property, if the only reason they obtained my property was stealing it. Now if someone asked to borrow a shotgun and I gave it to them, only to find out an hour later they murdered someone with it, that's different. However even that doesn't necessarily make me responsible for the murder, even though I'd probably feel pretty damn guilty for loaning it to the person.

[Citadelgrad87]

You see sonny, the problem with that logic is called Saws-all.

If they want in your safe badly enough, they'll get in your safe. Safes SCREAM "hey I got valuables in here!" are only deterrent, not protection.

I'll give it that they're good for keeping kids out(if you get a good one), but that's about it.

PS: If you're looking for a quality safe, you're spending 3x the gun's price. The one I'm looking at runs about 4 grand.

"Sonny"? Wow.

Do you lock your front door? Why bother, if they want in they are coming in, and you know it. You sound like my former know it all neighbor, who blabbed that a would be burglar would simply poison my rottweilers. I informed him that 99.9% of criminals would, instead, do it the easy way and NOT bother with my house when his was across the street without a dog to have to poison. Its about odds, in a residentail neighborhood, nobody is scoping out safes to intentionally target, at least not in my neighborhood. For purposes of this discussion, I want to confirm we are talking about safes and not sheet metal locking cabinets. I don't know what kind of criminals you are expecting, but there aren't enough sawzall blades in my garage to get into my safe.

Typical residential burglaries are quick smah jobs, druggies looking for something of value, laptops, tvs, jewelry. These thieves are not casing homes with safes over those without, and are not equipped to deal with a safe they cannot take with them.
Anyone who puts a safe where it can scream anything is foolish. Far harder to ge into than looking under mattresses and on closet shelves. And good luck with the sawzall while the alarm is screaming and local pds response time is 4 minutes. Its not cardboard, its plate steel.

Layered defense and smart about it. Not ready to advocate a law, but not locking up firearms because sawzalls exist is, imho, stupid.

[Supertac916]

I assume you have a car, truck, or some other sort of automobile, right?

If you fail to park your vehicle in a secure parking facility(guards, gates, etc.), are you responsible for what happens if your vehicle is stolen? Is it your responsibility if a criminal takes your 3,000-4,000 pound, 200+ horsepower vehicle and plows their way onto a school playground running kids over? Are you responsible now for the injuries and deaths of those children because someone stole your property and used it to commit crimes?

Ok, fine. Vehicular manslaughter a little too extreme? What if you're working in the driveway on your car, step inside to use the restroom and leave a wrench out front. Someone(a criminal) steals the wrench and then beats someone else to death with it. Are you responsible for that because a criminal stole your wrench and used it to murder someone? No, of course not. You would be the victim of a theft. Is that as much of a problem for you as the person who was murdered? No, but does that mean you're somehow responsible for it?

I'm not against the idea of owning a safe. I have a safe. However this lame mentality of feeling responsible for a criminal stealing my property and then using it to commit more crimes is insane. A safe is not going to stop a determined criminal. If my safe gets cut open, do I have responsibility for any crimes that the thief commits using my property because I didn't have a 40 ton bank vault and armed guards watching it while I'm away from home?

I am responsible for my property and my actions. I am not responsible for someone else's actions with my property, if the only reason they obtained my property was stealing it. Now if someone asked to borrow a shotgun and I gave it to them, only to find out an hour later they murdered someone with it, that's different. However even that doesn't necessarily make me responsible for the murder, even though I'd probably feel pretty damn guilty for loaning it to the person.

What happens if you leave your car running and your 8 year old jumps in it and kills innocent people, himself, or backs over a sibling? Pretty sure that any parent would feel responsible, whether the law will prosecute you or not. Same goes with guns. There are certain things in life that are worse than death itself, it's the death of a child and especially living with the fact that you could have possibly prevented it. If in the unlikely event that happens, but it accidents do happen. Do you think those parents would blink any eye spending $2,500 or even $100,000 to bring their child back?

You wouldn't understand because you don't have kids nor do you care about anyone elses. I'm assuming your still fairly young, but once you have kids of your own you'll understand the importance of owning safes. Unless of course you trust your 8 year old kids with loaded guns because your parents supposedly did for you. Haven't met a 8 year old yet that had full access to his parents loaded firearms. You would be the first.

[Springfield45]

Getting a safe for your guns is not a guarantee that you will never be robbed of your guns. But it does make them harder to steal.

I think most people with $1500 given the choice of buying a gun or a safe would buy the gun.

Do Farmers build their barns first or buy their horses? I bet they start with horses.

I have owned guns for a long time and only had lockers for them. I have only recently got a real safe. I think safes are necessary but $1500 buys a real nice gun.