Safe Storage from Children

[BigH]

I have 2 young boys 7&10 and my wife is very concerned about me keeping the firearms in the house. Driving me crazy is more like it but I do respect her concern. I am sure she would feel different if someone tried to break in and we had no way of protecting ourselves. I am a huge supporter of the police, and they do a great job, but the fact is that it may take a minute or two for them to get there.

My boys do not normally come into my bedroom but I am sure they will as I did when I was younger. My plan is to get a safe and put it in an area that is not visible or accessible to anyone accept me. I am thinking of a small gun box that has the hand print type of combo lock. I will keep another similar box with one full clip on the other side of the same closet. If there was ever an emergency I should be able to be armed in less than 30 seconds.

What do you guys suggest.

[Greg Bell]

What do you guys suggest.

A quick access pistol safe with pistol, spare mag and light in it is what I would do with children in the house. Whatever you pick has to be operable from a half awake stressful situation.

[Seth]

I have a 2 year old who is starting to get curious. I am wrestling the same problems and this is what I've done... First, long guns are in a locked gun locker, unloaded with the mags and ammo up high. I do not have concerns of theft, so I didn't spend $1000 on a fancy safe, only a Stack-on sheet metal locker. This won't work forever, but it'll do for a number of years.

Pistols are in a locked box on top of the locker with mags empty as well. My carry gun is placed in that box at night. Bedside gun is in a drawer safe and can be opened in about 2 seconds. These are the only 2 guns in my house that are loaded. They're both plastic guns that have all the necessary lawyer safeties built in. Neither will fire without a proper grip.

All my ammo is now separate from guns, and with the exception of the competition gun, all guns are locked. My 2011 is unloaded and shown clear at the range. Its mags are kept empty all the time, no exceptions - if for no other reason that to preserve the springs! Since I do a lot of dry fire the gun is accessible but its in a pistol rug, inside the range bag. My 2 year old can't work a zipper yet, so its good enough for now. Later, I'll need another lock box just for the 2011 next ot my dry fire area.

Obviously, this is a zero failure issue, so I'm interested in others solutions as well....

[bbbean]

I have 2 young boys 7&10 and my wife is very concerned about me keeping the firearms in the house. Driving me crazy is more like it but I do respect her concern. I am sure she would feel different if someone tried to break in and we had no way of protecting ourselves. I am a huge supporter of the police, and they do a great job, but the fact is that it may take a minute or two for them to get there.

My boys do not normally come into my bedroom but I am sure they will as I did when I was younger. My plan is to get a safe and put it in an area that is not visible or accessible to anyone accept me. I am thinking of a small gun box that has the hand print type of combo lock. I will keep another similar box with one full clip on the other side of the same closet. If there was ever an emergency I should be able to be armed in less than 30 seconds.

What do you guys suggest.

I'm inclined to think an unloaded gun makes an excellent paperweight, and 30 seconds is a loooooong time to be fumbling around with two locks, loading a mag, and racking a slide in a dark closet. Throw in a good dose of adrenaline and fear, and you could add a minute or two to be looking for the mag on the floor in the dark.

When my own kids were that age, I always kept a loaded gun in a pushbutton combination type lock box under the bed. That kept the gu safe from bored kids, but allowed quick access.

More importantly, I took the kids shooting, and made sure they'd had the opportunity to see and shoot my guns. I took as much of the mystery out of guns as I could, and taught them to respect guns like a hot stove. I also taught them to treat a toy gun like a real gun - i.e. don't point at people, so that safe gun handling skills would be as ingrained as possible.

There is no perfect solution, but mine allowed me to raise a couple of kids safely without giving up the option of fast access to my self/home defense weapon.

Edited March 9, 2009 by bbbean

[Nik Habicht]

All my ammo is now separate from guns, and with the exception of the competition gun, all guns are locked. My 2011 is unloaded and shown clear at the range. Its mags are kept empty all the time, no exceptions - if for no other reason that to preserve the springs! Since I do a lot of dry fire the gun is accessible but its in a pistol rug, inside the range bag. My 2 year old can't work a zipper yet, so its good enough for now. Later, I'll need another lock box just for the 2011 next ot my dry fire area.

Obviously, this is a zero failure issue, so I'm interested in others solutions as well....

Seth,

One thought: any ammo in your range bag? Loose rounds rolling around in the bottom or under the inner bag, or in some other recess?

[Seth]

I keep it empty. I use ammo boxes and when I get home from matches the ammo boxes get pulled from the bag and put back in the reloading area. I don't like stray rounds (I'm WAY anal), so I try and keep the bag pretty clean.

[bierman]

I have 2 young boys 7&10 and my wife is very concerned about me keeping the firearms in the house. Driving me crazy is more like it but I do respect her concern. I am sure she would feel different if someone tried to break in and we had no way of protecting ourselves. I am a huge supporter of the police, and they do a great job, but the fact is that it may take a minute or two for them to get there.

My boys do not normally come into my bedroom but I am sure they will as I did when I was younger. My plan is to get a safe and put it in an area that is not visible or accessible to anyone accept me. I am thinking of a small gun box that has the hand print type of combo lock. I will keep another similar box with one full clip on the other side of the same closet. If there was ever an emergency I should be able to be armed in less than 30 seconds.

What do you guys suggest.

More importantly, I took the kids shooting, and made sure they'd had the opportunity to see and shoot my guns. I took as much of the mystery out of guns as I could, and taught them to respect guns like a hot stove. I also taught them to treat a toy gun like a real gun - i.e. don't point at people, so that safe gun handling skills would be as ingrained as possible.

There is no perfect solution, but mine allowed me to raise a couple of kids safely without giving up the option of fast access to my self/home defense weapon.

+100. I did the same thing with my daughter and she proved me right one day. I left the safe door open one day after getting ready for work. My wife called me to let me know that Samantha, who was 7 or 8 at the time, came to her and told her the safe was open. A locking cabinet or safe is great, but education is the key to safety.

[sslav]

I have a 6 year old son. I keep one loaded gun in a concealed drawer with a hidden magnetic lock by the bed. The rest are always locked up unloaded.

I have also been very active in educating my son about firearms and firearms safety. He's been shooting since five and has zero curiosity about guns. He knows that he is not supposed to touch gins without my supervision. He also knows that even the area of the basement where the gun safe is located is off limits to him. So even if a toy of his ends up going into that area during play he calls me or my wife to get it for him.

Even though my son is both educated and well behaved, I am beginning to look for a better storage option for my bedside gun.

[p99shooter]

I have a Gun Vault quick access safe. It is push button combination, and it has tamper indicators and lock-out functions which will disable the safe if a certain number of incorrect entries are made. I have one of these on the nightstand by the bed. I have an 8 year old and a 2 year old.

[hitman]

Got one of these bolted to the bed frame rail.

Works quite well form things that go bump in the night.

http://winchestersafes.com/flyers/eVault_catalog_sheet.pdf

If I was going to upgrade this is what I would go with.

http://www.safetysafeguards.com/site/402168/product/INPRINT

As far as storing the rest anything that locks securly will do if you cant afford a safe.

[Storm52]

Got one of these bolted to the bed frame rail.

Works quite well form things that go bump in the night.

http://winchestersafes.com/flyers/eVault_catalog_sheet.pdf

If I was going to upgrade this is what I would go with.

http://www.safetysafeguards.com/site/402168/product/INPRINT

As far as storing the rest anything that locks securly will do if you cant afford a safe.

I bought my son in law one of the Winchester eVaults for Christmas. My grandson is 2, his Dad is a hunter and CCW holder and he already has a nice gun safe. I found the eVault at Bass Pro locally. Purchase some trigger locks for the balance of your firearms until you can afford a quality safe.

[bbbean]

Purchase some trigger locks for the balance of your firearms until you can afford a quality safe.

I'd re-think trigger locks. If not set properly, and on some guns, these can slip and allow the trigger to be pulled. If you must use a gun lock, I strongly recommend opting for a cable lock through the chamber.

[BigH]

Great stuff. I built a high shelf in my closet and am getting a vault with a push button lock where I will keep one gun and a clip. My other gun will be locked in a separate vault elsewhere. I also will keep the ammo locked up as well.

Many of you mentioned your children shoot. At what age can a child shoot a handgun. Not that my wife will let me take him but I have 10 year old built like a brick s house-over 4 ft and 98 pounds. I would love to share this with him eventually. I take him shooting with a pellet gun and he is a crack shot.

Thanks

[AlamoShooter]

I think a long gun / rim fire is the best to start on = one bullet at a time.

Age I had a 10 year old Sporting Clay Student that was and is a great kid. You have to invest the time, keep the sections short & make sure its time to go before they had all they wanted.

It is very easy to do too much.

Give the why with each rule , and if you can find an instructor get the best start you can for the JR.

Many coaches / instructors will put in three to 10 times the time with a JR than what you pay.

Get your wife to go with the child too for the instruction. But don't take them to a Ninja instructor make it a sport shooting instructor.

[Mark Bellon]

I eventually caved in and went for a safe that has a digital lock (double key access for absolute resets) so I can get into it just as fast as a lock box.

Before that and for fast access to a single gun I went with a V-line (http://www.vlineind.com) mechanical lock box bolted in the bedroom closet. I have a little pouch that has a cell phone, a spare magazine and flashlight in there too. It's got a loop of string attached so I can throw it over my neck and have a few things around - just in case. My gun as an LED rail light.

Anything with a fingerprint reader that I tried I wasn't happy with the (rapid access) reliability, even when I was allowed to record the same finger multiple times (so it would recognize the finger from multiple aspects). YMMV.

Education can't be overlooked. Start early.

Kids will get into anything. Change the combination once in a while! It's amazing how patient a child is and a brute force attack on a four digit combination is likely to succeed much sooner than you might expect.

mark

P.S.

Anything with batteries - remember the old camera rule! Replace the batteries on your birthday.

[hitman]

My son started shooting a 22 rifle when he was 7. He didnt start shooting 22 pistols till 10, his choice, he was capable of shooting 22 pistols when he was 9, big strong kid.

[HRider]

I have a seven year old daughter. I have been teaching gun safety to her since she was two. When she was three, she could name the major parts of an AR15 (still can). She learned about the trigger and when the selector was on "fire" or "safe". Most of my guns stay in the safe. I have a "no ammunition in the safe policy" both for reasons of walking out of the room with the door open and in case of a house fire (wouldn't want ammo to cook off in the safe and ruin guns that otherwise might survive a fire). Ammunition is kept in my closet and out in the shop where my reloading equipment is. My daughter has shot a pistol before (a suppressed Ruger MkII) and really liked it. She is scared of noise and has been present when I have shot before. I can regurlarly leave my safe open and if she wants to see one of my ARs (she doesn't seem to be interested in any other guns), she will ask if she can look at one. Even though she has shown me that she is resonsible, I wouldn't leave a loaded gun around where she could easily get to it. My house gun is a Remington 870 sitting in truck gun racks mounted over the door inside of my closet. My closet has an exterior style door knob (key locking) on the door and is locked when I am not at home (my wife has a key also, but usually doesn't open it).

I have a shooting friend whoose son started competing in steel plate and IPSC matches when he was eight. His son is now fourteen and a very safe shooter. I commended my friend for spending time teaching/coaching his son. His reply to me was "I have always heard that you cannot child proof a gun, but you can gun proof a child".

Hurley

[waktasz]

Just picked up one of these last week. It sits in the bottom of my closest and holds my 3 pistols. I keep my carry gun and my IDPA gun in there loaded.

[Seth]

I continue to improve my security for my daughter. I picked up:

http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-3035D-Digi...l/dp/B000MPO6OY

for a lock box for my loaded pistols. It takes exactly 1.25 sec to open it. Its not fancy, its not a SAFE, its a locked box that keeps my kid safe... Its not a substitute for the drawer safe, but it gives me a place to unload when I walk in the house and drop my wallet and keys in it too. Makes me more religious about carrying.

Edited March 19, 2009 by Seth

[High Lord Gomer]

Many of you mentioned your children shoot. At what age can a child shoot a handgun. Not that my wife will let me take him but I have 10 year old built like a brick s house-over 4 ft and 98 pounds. I would love to share this with him eventually. I take him shooting with a pellet gun and he is a crack shot.

My 11 year old started shooting 9mm when he was 9. He now shoots .40s and .45s, too.

... But don't take them to a Ninja instructor make it a sport shooting instructor.

*NOW* you tell me! All this time I've been wondering why he was rolling around yelling "Contact!"

[Graham Smith]

The one I have seen at my local gun shop that looks most promising is from GunVault

[Canuck223]

Up here we have to keep our guns unloaded and locked up. Pistols need 2 layers of protection unless they are in a "safe".

I keep my competition pistol trigger locked and in a locked gun rug in my range bag. Mags are always loaded.

I keep my rifles and shotguns in the safe in my workroom, and the ammo is in a seperate cupboard.

I'm giving serious thought to getting a 12.5 inch Norinco (Rem 870 clone) that feeds from a 5 round box magazine, and keeping it in a push button trigger locked high mount in the closet.

My boys are 7 and my daughter is almost 10. I've had both boys to the range to watch dear old dad shoot IPSC. They enjoyed being the range brass and mag rats for the day. My daughter tells me she'd like to go to the range. Hopefully this year I'll get her and MrsCanuck223 out for a demonstration.

[bw210]

Just picked up one of these last week. It sits in the bottom of my closest and holds my 3 pistols. I keep my carry gun and my IDPA gun in there loaded.

+1 - I have several single shelf gunvaults around the house and one in each work truck, all bolted to the floor. You can find anywhere for under $100 - small price to pay for security. Knock box for long guns and ammo for now, keep spending my big safe money on more guns and ammo though.

[Steve J]

When I was in elementary school, I knew where the guns were (in Dad's closet) and I knew where the ammunition was (in the cabinet above the refrigerator). I also knew not to get into either without permission. If I asked, I could handle both, obviously not at the same time. That thought never crossed my mind because I knew what guns where about and what they did. Locks are not important. Education and openness is. That is the America I grew up in. YMMVAPW.

[IL-SIG]

Steve - I grew up just like you. My Dad was a police officer. We had many guns all over the house ever since I could remember. They were actually mostly loaded. We were taught to never ever touch any weapon without adult supervision...and we never did. I know - shocking. Kids that followed the orders of their parents.