self defense

Not a bad idea

Posted on by Caleb

My older brother is looking to purchase his first defensive handgun.  While he seems hell bent on ignoring my advice of “just buy a Glock 19 and a bunch of mags”, one of the things that I do recommend for people like my brother is a good “quick access” gun safe.  See, my brother has kids – kids that are at that age where they’re just like little velociraptors.  They’re learning to open doors, and systematically attacking the fences to test for weaknesses.  Needless to say, you need a place to lock those guns up.

Now, in order to keep the FTC happy, I should tell you that I’ve never received a dime from GunVault, the people whose safe I recommend.  I just think it’s a good, solid design with the right features at a reasonable price point.  The nice thing about the “quick access” safes is that if they’re coupled with a good alarm system, it’s not really that much slower than opening up a drawer to get at your HD handgun.

I do believe that if you have kids in the house you need to secure your firearms in some way or another, especially if you keep a gun for home defense.  GunVault isn’t the only company that makes a quick access safe, so do your homework and shop around.  Maybe the solution for you isn’t a safe, but rather to store the gun with the magazine out.  While I’m generally opposed to storing home defense guns in such a way that they don’t go “bang” right away, there is a time in a child’s life where they’re not old enough to understand firearms safety yet, but have the velociraptor-esque skills to manipulate a firearm.

Caleb

9 Comments

  1. Glock 19, GunVault, and a rail light. If I had a gun store, that would be my “home defense bundle”.

  2. CZP01, S&W 39-2, extra loaded mags, all in a double GunVault. 3-cell Maglite on the shelf beside. Spare ammo in a locked cabinet elsewhere. I have four kids and keep both guns loaded at all times. When I’m not traveling to a prohibited place, one of the pistols is IWB.

    I don’t think of the GunVault as a safe (i.e. it won’t deter/prevent theft) just a secure quick-access storage container. It works. Replace the double-stick tape on the upper foam liner with hook-and-loop tape, since you’ll need access to the battery compartment from time to time.

  3. I have two small boys who know not to touch my guns, but I can’t be around them all the time. For me, using a Gunvault safe is definitely just as fast as stashing a pistol in a drawer.

    Think about it: That pistol in your night stand shifts around every time you open the drawer or bump into it, meaning that it’s wont be where you left it when you need it the most.

    My pistols are always exactly in the same place inside my safe, meaning I can find them in the dark first time, every time. Yes, there is the possibility that in my rush to protect myself and my family, I’ll Charlie-Foxtrot the entry code, but that just forces me to slow down and do it carefully. Given that slowing down and doing it right is a key to accurate pistol shooting, that’s not that much of a bad thing…

  4. Dude, if you are reading, listen to your little brother. if you don’t like the Glock, buy a Springfield XD like i have. and the GunVault works great too. Get the basic gun first, and then think about getting something exotic.

  5. Gunvaults are nice, I have two around the house, use some big washers when you install them so nobody just takes off with the vault (it would fit real nice in one of your pillow cases/backpacks if you did get robbed) and just possibly what you attached it to. Change the batteries regularly, mine will make it over two years but I change them every other year just to be safe because a gun no one can get to is pointless. remember that they have an accessory cable that can be used to lock the box to stuff and that makes em great in cars when you can’t carry somewhere.

  6. The Mrs and I have had 2 GunVaults for going on13 years now. One is the older no lighted non beeping non externally powered version, one the newer version. They’re bolted to the floor and under dash structure in the trucks for storage while at work. We work on campus at a public university. No guns allowed in the buildings.
    Gotta say these where the best investments we ever made.
    Anyone with kids should definitely consider them for their house storage for quick access.

  7. I don’t have any children, but still have a quick access safe. Getting into the big safe, with a dial combo, would be way too slow in the case of a home invasion (especially since I would first have to find my reading glasses). We got a Stack-On safe with push buttons and it now holds a G17, with a fully loaded mag.

  9. Of course, it should go without saying that quick access safes are far from Fort Knox, but they are infinitely better than night stand drawers or under pillows. That’s why we in the Greater Rochester Libertarian Party are running this PSA on cable access TV in Rochester:

    We want to get the message in front of gun owners who might not be members of firearm related organizations that you don’t have to sacrifice one type of safety for another.

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