If you own a firearm, a gun safe is a necessity. There are a number of reasons for this. First and foremost is safety. A gun safe will give you control over who has access to your guns. Most people only think of burglars when it comes to people who shouldn’t have access to their firearm. But they forget about other individuals who should not be given access to a firearm, such as children, visitors, friends with spare keys, and individuals who have no training in the handling of a gun.
Another important reason is that a gun safe helps protect you from liabilities. There are no federal legal requirements that mandate a gun safe, but there are many states that specifically require guns to be locked up in order to keep them out of children’s reach. A gun safe will keep you compliant. Additionally, you will have an easier time getting your gun insured if you own a gun safe.
First things first, make a list of all the guns you own. Then add all the guns that you would eventually like to buy on your list. Finally, you should also list down the mounted accessories for your gun, such as rings, scopes, bipods, grips, fore-ends, and every other accessory you plan to store in the safe. You should also list down other valuables that you would like to store in the safe. The key is to always plan ahead and make sure that you have room, in case you want to add more items in the safe.
Make sure you add up the replacement value of all the items in the list that you made, as this will help you determine the kind of safe you need, as well as your budget.
If you don’t have plans to open your gun safe frequently, you have more flexibility with your choice for gun safes. But if you just plan to store a concealed carry gun or a home defense weapon, then you have a narrower range of options.
It is important to note that a safe’s security and fire protection rating are not mutually inclusive of each other. If you need protection from fire and theft in a single safe while maintaining a budget, you have to find the sweet spot. You can check out our FAQ for more info.
Gun safes can be heavy and bulky. So you need to consider the location that you want them installed in. Find out if there are weight and size limitations before buying a gun safe. You don’t want to go through all the trouble of having it delivered for installation, only to find out that it won’t fit in your desired location.
If your gun is insured, you should call your insurance company before purchasing a gun safe. This is because many insurance companies will give you a discount if you have a gun safe, because it lessens the risk of your gun being stolen or lost. This is a very good idea for the budget conscious because the insurance discount could end up paying for the cost of the gun safe over time.
One of the most important steps in buying a gun safe is choosing the size. It will affect everything from your budget, to the quality of the safe, and even how much you can store before you need to replace the safe or buy a new one. To help you choose the right size, you need to look at a few things:
You have to add a little bit of allowance to advertised capacity. Manufacturers are not providing misleading information, but you need to understand that most of them only state the capacity for how many guns you can fit inside a safe. They can’t account for accessories. A gun can be advertised as big enough for 10 bolt-action rifles, but when you factor in the rifles that have scopes or modifications that could take up space, you’ll end up with a smaller total capacity.
Another important consideration that many gun owners forget is the accessibility of the stored guns. If a gun safe can fit 10 guns and you store exactly 10 guns in it, you will realize that you can’t take out a single gun without removing most of them as well. It’s a situation that is untenable if you think you need to have immediate access to your guns.
Lastly, you also want to have enough space to accommodate new guns. So make sure you put in some allowance when you are deciding on a size of a gun safe.
Some manufacturers tend to advertise dimensions in order to match competitors’ models, so you shouldn’t rely solely on advertised dimensions. This is particularly important if space is tight on the place you plan to put it in. You can check the model in the showroom and measure it first, to see if there are small variations in the size. This consideration applies to both internal and external dimensions. The Safe Company will help you with this. Just ask us and we can provide exact measurements for the safe that you are eyeing.
Longtime gun owners who purchased a gun safe can attest that what they initially thought they need, will eventually turn out to be lacking. This is because most people acquire new guns over time. So if they bought only the exact size they need, they eventually run out of space.
The alternative to buying oversized safes is just dividing your gun collection among several safes. If you fill up your current safe, just buy another one and store your new guns in them.
In this case, you can just choose a size that you are comfortable with, on a price that you can afford. But in the interest of cost-efficiency, you should also remember that the incremental cost of buying new safes over time will sharply go down if you buy bigger gun safes.
We also service the following areas: Garnet, Sky Valley, Sunfair Heights, Dos Palmas Corners, Sunfair, Landers, Morongo Valley, Rimrock, Flamingo Heights, Hidden Rivers, Little Morongo Heights, Pioneertown, Joshua Tree, San Jacinto, Yucaipa, Beaumont, Big Bear Lake, Banning, Twentynine Palms, Yucca, Salton City, Fern Valley, Pine Cove, Idyllwild, Mountain Center, Pinon Hills, Borrego Springs, Anza, Bermuda Dunes, Desert Hot Springs, Coachella, Indio, Indian Wells, Cathedral City, Thousand Palms, La Quinta, Palm Springs, Palm Desert
A lot of new gun owners tend to ignore the need for a gun safe, thinking that it is an unnecessary expense. While it is true that you need to spend money on a gun safe, you also need to consider the value of your guns. If your guns are worth $10,000, it is reasonable to expect to spend a bit of money to protect it and keep it from getting stolen or falling into the wrong hands. If you have $10,000 in cash, are you willing to store it under your bed or in a drawer?
The real question is not whether you are willing to spend money on protecting your gun. The true question is just how much should you spend. The Safe Company understands that you need to be wise with spending money. So we will help you find a gun safe that fits within your budget, while having the right kind of security and protection that you need. Contact us today and we will gladly walk you through the process.
The steel sheets that make up a gun safe will play a huge part in the protection of your valuables. So when you purchase a safe, you need to consider the actual steel thickness of the individual sheets in both the walls and door. As expected of any commercial products, gun safe manufacturers provide specifications designed to make a product more appealing. They’re not necessarily inaccurate, but you can expect that they are presented to accentuate positives. There are a few things you should know if you want the nitty-gritty on a gun safe:
Do not confuse steel thickness with total door thickness. Some new gun safe buyers tend to confuse the total door thickness for the actual steel sheet, because it is what the gun safe manufacturer will advertise. Many safes have thick robust looking doors, but you should check if the door is actual steel or only a small portion of it.
It’s not that total wall thickness is not indicative of a gun safe’s quality, but you should expect that the numbers they indicate are very dependent on context. A 2 inch thick wall made out of 14 gauge sheet and a few layers of drywall is not as strong as a 2 inch thick wall made out of solid steel. Make sure you ask The Safe Company for more details if you are not sure about a product.
Drop By Our Showroom
Contact Us
77682 Country Club Dr
Suite B, Palm Desert, CA 92211
Operating hours:
Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat 8:30am-1:30pm
Copyright 2023 The Safe Company