Is Your Gun Safe Safe Enough?

If you keep your firearms housed in a padlocking or combination lock gun safe, you probably assume that this is sufficient security to help keep you and your family safe from intruders (as well as to prevent the theft of your guns). However, there are a number of methods that can help you increase the security of your existing gun safe. Read on to learn about three of these methods and how they may be able to keep your family safer.

Make your safe unobtrusive 

Many gun safes are designed to be seen -- made of rich wood or polished metal, with emblems or even monograms. However, this visibility can come at the expense of safety. If you have young children in your home, your best bet is to store your gun safe in an area they are unable to access. This reduces the risk of accidental injury or death to your children or any of their friends.

Unfortunately, a large number of home burglaries -- particularly those in which guns are stolen -- are committed by those who are familiar with the victims and aware of which guns are in the victims' possession. Breaking into a home in which you're unsure of the contents is too much of a risk for many criminals. For this reason, keeping your gun safe in a bedroom or somewhere else out of plain sight of visitors can help keep you and your family safer.

Invest in trigger locks

Devices that ensure your gun is unable to be operated by a non-owner can also substantially decrease your risk of injury. Trigger locks prevent anyone from cocking or shooting a gun -- so whether a curious child has decided to play with one of your guns, or an intruder sees it as a quick way to ensure that he or she leaves no witnesses to his or her burglary, the use of a trigger lock can ensure that no shots are fired.  

Keep your ammunition separate

Another way to reduce your risk of accidental injury is to ensure that all ammunition is kept in a separate location from the guns themselves. Whether you choose to purchase an additional, smaller safe, or simply put your ammo in an out of the way location like the top of a closet, keeping your guns unloaded and away from an easy source of ammunition ensures that anyone who wishes to shoot your gun must jump through a number of hoops to do so. 

If the idea of an unloaded, locked-away firearm seems to counteract the idea of using a gun as home security, you may wish to purchase a small, fingerprint-lock gun safe to keep by your bed. Because this safe can be opened only by those whose fingerprints have been programmed, the risk of keeping a loaded gun inside is significantly lower than that of keeping a loaded gun inside a traditional gun safe.

For more information about options for your gun safe, contact a local expert from a company like Fradon Lock Co Inc.