What To Consider When Purchasing A Gun Safe

Whenever one takes ownership of a gun, whether it be for business or personal use, they are also taking upon themselves the responsibility of securing the gun against any unauthorized handling and, most certainly, use. When looking to purchase a gun safe, there are a number of things to consider.

The first thing to consider when purchasing a gun safe is the size of the safe that is required. A gun safe should be able to comfortably hold all of one’s guns as well as any ammunition and gun related accessories. Guns come in all shapes and sizes but it is quite helpful that most gun safes will have the number of rifles and or hand guns that they can hold explicitly marked. There is nothing worse than purchasing a gun safe only to wish later that you had purchased a larger one.

One should also keep in mind that in addition to their guns, people will generally use their gun safes for containing non-gun related valuables. Thankfully, there are a number of accessories to gun safes that can be used in order to maximize the space that the safe provides. Door organizers can be purchased and hung on the back of the safe door to hold a variety of loose items such as small handguns and ammunition. Pistol racks can be purchased and used to organize and hold one’s pistols. Cash boxes and jewelry drawers can also be added to the safe allowing people to hold their cash, jewelry and other valuables.

For those people with a substantial collection of fire arms, ammunition and other gun related items to hold; it is worth considering the purchase of a large, free-standing gun safe. For those people that own a single handgun or would like to keep a handgun separate from the rest of their gun collection, a pistol or handgun safe would be ideal. Pistol safes are significantly smaller and less expensive than the more traditional gun safes and can be easily hidden under a bed or in a closet.

One of the key components of any gun safe is the steel plate that is encased within the walls of the safe. This steel plate is what prevents burglars from drilling through the safe. The thickness of this steel plate is measured according to gauges where the thickness increases as the gauge number decreases. In order to illustrate this, a 10 gauge steel plate will have a thickness of 9/64th of an inch and a 12 gauge steel plate will have a thickness of 7/64th of an inch. As it turns out, the most common steel plate gauges are 10 and 12.

Gun safes come with a variety of different lock types. The most common lock type available is combination. Electronic locks are also quite popular and are a bit easier to open. In addition, electronic locks will usually come with an additional feature that will temporarily disable the lock in the event that the incorrect code was inputted several times. Somewhat less common but equally secure are biometric, or fingerprint, locks. Biometric locks are capable of storing a number of fingerprints and are easier and quicker to open than the other two lock types, especially in the dark.

Other features that people look for in their gun safes are fire and water resistance. While most gun safes will offer some semblance of fire and water resistance, the degree to which they are resistant will vary from safe to safe. The Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) is an independent organization that establishes the industry standards for qualifying water and fire resistance in safes. The location of the safe and the danger that the location poses to the safe from fire and water exposure should govern the level of fire and water resistance that one should seek in their gun safe.

One proactive measure that one should consider when purchasing a gun safe is having it mounted to the floor. This simple action will prevent any burglar from simply taking off with the entire safe. As one might expect, gun safes will most commonly come with pre-drilled holes as well as the relevant mounting equipment to secure the safe to the floor.

Always Locksmith has all of the finest gun safes from the most reputable companies in the industry. Our call centre is open 24/7 and our experienced and knowledgeable customer service representatives will field your call, answer any questions, and dispatch a technician to your location at your convenience to deliver and install your gun safe.