Turning a closet into a gun safe - is it safe?

Anyone with a firearm in their home should make sure that the weapon is well protected from unauthorized access and theft. Let's go over the basics, a few tips for closet gun safes, and some of the pros and cons of this method of storing firearms.

Where will you safely store your weapons?

Perhaps it will be a closet in your house that you turn into a kind of gun safe or safe storage space by adding internal protection, a more secure door and a locking mechanism, perfectly hiding it from view. Usually this choice is made by people who already have a suitable closet that they just want to make safer, and not look for and buy a new one.

If you are going to build a house and want to include a weapon cabinet in the project, we recommend doing it right right away, ideally building a special secret room for storing weapons with a suitable door and lock for such storage.

You can also easily convert a cabinet into a gun safe by simply installing a freestanding gun safe into this cabinet and securing it with anchor bolts. Preferably both on the floor and on the wall. This option is reliable and easy to implement.

How to make a cabinet safe for storing weapons?

There are usually several approaches to placing a gun safe in a cabinet:

1. Adding a small gun safe to the wardrobe.
2. Installation of a free-standing safe for long guns in the closet.
3. Transform an existing closet into a secure storage space by reinforcing doors and locks. Weapon racks and even fire and/or kevlar panels are possible, ideally hidden behind a secret or hidden door mirror, bookshelf or similar.

How safe is it to install a gun safe in your bedroom?

Why don't you have to install a floor or in-wall safe in your bedroom closet? The main reason is that this is the first place where robbers look for valuables. Studies show that burglars typically expect to spend no more than 10 minutes in your home, so they mostly focus on searching the bedroom, bathroom, and closet. This is where most people store their valuables that thieves seek, such as money, jewelry, weapons, etc. (By the way, the garage is another place where thieves look for valuable items that can be quickly sold, such as hand tools.)

If you have decided that the bedroom is the most convenient place for you to place a safe, then choose the model and its location in the room responsibly. You can turn your private bedroom closet (like any other closet in your home) into a gun safe by choosing a custom certified gun safe that fits snugly into the closet space, allowing you to open the safe door just enough to quickly and easily access the inside when needed. take the weapon. All this behind a locked solid door or a hidden panel/mirror. The safe should be bolted to the floor and ideally to the wall.

Also pay attention to the models of safes for horizontal placement and storage of weapons, which can be hidden under the bed or in the lower niche of your wardrobe.

How to make a do-it-yourself weapon cache safe?

If you decide to turn an existing cabinet into a relatively safe place to store your weapons, you will need to reinforce and secure the body of the cabinet, such as using Kevlar panels and/or fireboard, framing it with wire mesh, and cladding it with drywall. Choose and install a more suitable lock with a numeric keypad or using a key, reinforcing the place of its installation with a metal plate. Place lodgements inside - holders for gun barrels, as well as hooks and canopies for easy placement of accessories. This, of course, is not a super-secure option, since it does not comply with law enforcement gun storage regulations, and most likely will not protect against hacking. But, even such a home-made version of the cache is the protection of weapons from children and accidental thieves.

In general, niches in kitchen furniture, behind mirror surfaces, under countertops, hanging shelves, etc. can be adapted for a hiding place by skilled craftsmen. It all depends on the possibilities of the interior and finances. And remember, the less people around you know about the hiding place, the calmer you will be.

Which is safer: a safe or a closet for weapons?

Objectively speaking, a real gun safe with top-notch security features, reinforced locking rods or bolts, automatic locking devices, anti-drill plates and reliable fire resistance will undoubtedly be safer than a gun cabinet protected by any wooden door and bolts.

What is the main advantage of the cache - in the non-standard location of its location. Those. finding such a place to store your weapons should be more difficult than opening it. Only this can guarantee safety. If a real professionally made safe is installed in such a secret place, this is ideal.

Otherwise, if your homemade weapon cabinet or secret storage place is discovered, it will be much easier for intruders to open or crack it than a strong steel safe with a special lock.

There are many videos on YouTube showing various cache ideas and their implementation. Hidden doors, niches behind mirrors and paintings, alteration of stairs, steps, cabinets and secret passages through them into special vaults, and much more. Look, think about what might suit your case. Calculate the approximate budget for the creation of a cache or for the purchase of a gun safe. In any case, while you are creating your unique cache, your weapons can be stored in a safe that has already been made and that you can buy from us at the safe store in Kiev.