Gotta be Safe

Now I have 3 long guns and a handgun. They don’t fit in the closet anymore, propped up in the corner. And I want to actually, you know, keep ammunition with the guns. I live alone so I COULD just keep the handgun in the bedside table, but that is so trite and over-done. And with my luck, the first time a niece or nephew comes over they’ll head STRAIGHT to the drawer it’s kept in and start playing Cowboys and Indians with it. I’m not happy with trigger locks, either, despite their enthusiastic endorsement by the Nanny State. The ex-wife insisted I have a trigger lock on the ’03 before I knew what type of cartridge went in it. And I noticed how you could dry fire the rifle even with the lock on there. And a closet is the first place a burglar looks for guns after he has all your electronic spirited away and has looked under the bed for goodies. So I wanted something more secure. 2 things actually.

I bought a lockable hard case for the Smith and Wesson revolver when I purchased the gun. Inside the gun was unloaded, but I did have two Speed-Loaders in the case. The key was well hidden but easily accessible by me. Still, the delay in getting the case open and the gun loaded in time to greet a goblin bashing down my front door with a baseball bat at 3 AM was excessive. 20-30 seconds on a good day. The solution to keeping the gun concealed in the bedroom, secure from visiting nephews and nieces even if they find the box, resistant to burglars, and ready for instant action was one-gun combination safe.

It screws to the wall and takes 2 seconds to access. I leave the revolver loaded in there, and I feel much better. I’d prefer to meet prowlers with the shotgun, but I must compromise here. If, in the future, I become a large caliber semi-automatic pistol enthusiast I may swap out the revolver for a .45, but that is way in the future.

For the other guns I got an 8-gun gun safe from Stack-On. Well, it isn’t REALLY a safe. It’s a cabinet. Same gauge metal that they make school lockers out of, but the lock is better. A safe has MUCH thicker walls and usually a high quality combination lock. Mine is burglar resistant as I have screwed it to the floor and wall studs with lag bolts. I say ‘resistant’ for both safes of mine, as a burglar that finds the safes and really wants them can go at it for a little while with a crowbar and get them out. The same is true for the more expensive safes, it would just take him more time and be heavier to get out of the house. Even if I cemented a safe into the wall, anchoring it to the very foundation and turning it into a gun VAULT, even then, a determined burglar will always get through.

It sounds like I am reassuring myself, doesn’t it? They are good systems, and appropriate, and they were well within my budget, and any very expensive upgrade wouldn’t secure everything TOO much better. I just hate the thought of some reprobate rooting around in my house while I’m not there.


I can keep all my long guns in the cabinet, easily, and have room for anticipated future purchases. In my wildest dreams I anticipate, at most, 5 more long guns and 3 more handguns acquired over many years. The wish-list should be a subject of another post… But those acquisitions could all be crammed in there. Barely. No much room for the ammo and cleaning kits and spare clips and other accessories I have in there now. I need to get some dessicant to inhibit rust in there, soon.