There are several ways to safeguard your handguns from your children, such as storing them in a locked container, using a padlock (locking it behind the trigger)BUT make sure your youngsters don’t have access to the keys. and Oh BTW store your Ammo separately, preferably in a locked container. I’ll echo this sentiment. I got one of the two-gun boxes for my bedroom, bolted and epoxied the thing to my nightstand; to get the safe, a burglar will have to take the whole heavy table. For fastest response, open it at night when you retire. Make opening the safe part of your bedtime ritual, and lock it up again in the morning.
The piece will be instantly available at night, and it’s a matter of seconds to open the safe if you need it during the day. This allows you to keep the gun loaded at all times. The Gun Vault may be good, but no mechanical device keeps guns “totally safe from the kids.” For some sobering reading on this subject, check out Lyn Bates’ award winning article “Keeping the Piece,” Women & Guns magazine, June 1993. The full text of Lyn’s article is available in the FAQ (thanks Lyn). I quote from the end of her piece: “Eleven and 12 year old kids broke into every box we tested with simple tools .
These boys had a hammer and a baseball bat available, but chose screwdrivers and a pry bar, which worked wonderfully. Two kids working together can exert a lot more force than one, but probably anything 2 kids can do in 10 minutes 1 kid could do in a couple of hours. Just remember the final scores: empty-handed kids 0, boxes 5; kids with tools 5, boxes 0.” Problem: lack of maintenance to the piece so concealed. Especially in humid climes, I have seen it recommended that, unless prepared for long term storage and then so stored, guns should be cleaned and lubed at least once every three months. If it’s behind wallpaper or behind glass, this is highly unlikely to get done. Yes, the gun is “secure through obscurity” with the wallpaper, but if it’s rusted so badly that it won’t work, it might as well not even be there.
