Long-Term Temporary Firearm Storage?

[Jaywalker]

If you plan on leaving the US for a couple of years what are your choices for firearms storage? Is there anything but letting family or friends babysit them for the duration?

Let's say you're in the DC metrolitan area - Northern Virginia or Maryland - and you get notified you've got an assignment in Europe for two years, and it's with only a couple of months' notice. Let's also say family is willing to help but is a thousand miles miles away so a car trip either direction isn't feasible.

I have to think this has come up before this. I had TDYs when I was in the Air Force, but when that happened my wife stayed at home and I didn't have to worry about it. What do you do if you plan to rent your place for the duration and there's no Significant Other in the picture?

Does anyone babysit firearms commercially?

[lwt16]

We have a company here in town that will rent secure vault storage for such things.

They deal with document storage as well. I'd start there locally and see what pops up.

No telling what that will run you.

Regards.

[willie]

I knew one person who used a bonded storage facility for this purpose, and because of it rating, his insurance company allowed him to buy coverage for the weapons. For protection against rust, I suggest Rig Gun Grease, a product with good history over time. Also I suggest visiting a rust store website and ordering vapor paper for wrapping weapons. Then you can forget about them. However, I would place them on an elevated surface in case of flooding from a broken water main, which if one breaks up hill from the storage facility will flood the area.

[Jaywalker]

Thanks. Those would be good places to start.

[RJ]

Could you not just rent a safety deposit box at a local bank?

[powell556]

A) I know of more than one gun store that secures firearms for you at the cost of about $15 per month per gun

B) There's private security vaults that are like a hybrid between a safe deposit box and a storage facility.

C) Safe deposit boxes generally preclude you from storing firearms in them per contract but it's not a crime. If going this route you could strip the guns down to their lower recievers and store only the receivers in the safe deposit box and the uppers can go in whatever insecure storage you do everything else. I might also put aimpoints or high end optics in the safe deposit box too since those run $600+ and on a cost-volume ratio are worth the extra money for the larger box to store them.

D) Split them up amongst friends. One gun per friend. That won't put a burden on one friend to store a dozen of your guns and reduces the risk of that one person stealing all your shit.

E) Be in a state with red flag laws. Pay two Nigerian-American brothers to call the police and say you're a potential danger and you own guns and you own a MAGA hat. When the cops knock, strip naked (except for the MAGA hat) so they don't shoot you and because it will be funnier. Give them your guns. Immediately initiate due process to get them back. By the time the due process concludes, it will be a couple of years and you'll be back in the US.

Pro Tip: If going route E, pay them in cash.

[mmc45414]

Could you not just rent a safety deposit box at a local bank?
Rich, sorry but pretty sure the rest of us have more guns than you.... :)

[TQP]

Yeah, I'm guessing most of P-F is more in the 'rent a local bank' category. Which is cost prohibitive.

[RevolverRob]

Not ideal, but as a last resort, storing a safe in a storage unit that is inside, video surveilled (ideally with remote video access), and pre-paid for longer than the time one will be gone. Generally, if you've pre-paid for a long period of time, the storage companies will allow you to use two disc locks on the doors.

[rcbusmc24]

Make friends with your local friendly FFL, and then move your safes into his back store room with personal collection/ not for sale tags on the outside of the safes for compliance purposes. Thats what I do for deployments down here. Works out pretty well.

Before that I used to do the climate controlled storage unit and collectors insurance.

[TQP]

Not ideal, but as a last resort, storing a safe in a storage unit that is inside, video surveilled (ideally with remote video access), and pre-paid for longer than the time one will be gone. Generally, if you've pre-paid for a long period of time, the storage companies will allow you to use two disc locks on the doors.

I'm not sure the safe does anything positive in this case, since I assume you can't bolt it down. I'd be hesitant to haul a safe into a storage unit if I couldn't disguise it somehow.

When my grandmother died, we stored her household goods. The place I used was inside a former indoor soccer gym(?). The units inside the building could only be accessed during certain hours, with an individual key code. The facility had wall to wall video surveillance ( there was a big screen in the office/lobby that showed all the camera feeds). The facility staff lived on site in an attached apartment.

It also had a loading dock and pallet jacks, so assuming you got past the security all a safe would do would accomplish would be to make it easier for the bad guys to get your stuff all in one trip.

[Josh Runkle]

I have been in this situation before. My parents were kind enough to take a couple of safes at their house, without knowing the combinations. If I didn’t have that option, I would use a climate controlled storage facility and make sure that you have electricity for an in-safe dehumidifier.

For what it’s worth: I was gone for almost 2 years. I came home for Christmas halfway through and opened the safe (to check that everything was ok). I didn’t re-lube anything. Everything had a basic cleaning, and everything was completely fine. The environment inside and outside the safe (when you close it) are probably more important than the lubrication product used.


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[Ed L]

Not ideal, but as a last resort, storing a safe in a storage unit that is inside, video surveilled (ideally with remote video access), and pre-paid for longer than the time one will be gone. Generally, if you've pre-paid for a long period of time, the storage companies will allow you to use two disc locks on the doors.

Some storage units have a prohibition against storing firearms or ammo. you could probably get away with storing them in discreet boxes, but if you try to move a gun safe in there all bets are off.

[TGS]

I'm not sure the safe does anything positive in this case, since I assume you can't bolt it down.

Depending on the safe it'd at least get you fire and flood protection.

[RJ]

Rich, sorry but pretty sure the rest of us have more guns than you.... :)

Hah can’t disagree with you there.


I cleaned out my dads safe deposit box after he passed a few years ago (RIP). I hadn’t been in it for years even though I was on the box.

He was in one of the first units into Tokyo after the surrender of Japan. I must admit I was a little bummed he didn’t leave me a army Colt .45 all wrapped up in wax paper in there for me to find. :|


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[Jaywalker]

Yes, this question is for specific requirement - someone I know is on short notice for a temporary move, but I’d like this thread to be useful for anyone in that situation, so it might be a military move, a civil servant move, or a pure civilian. Give them a place to start looking; so far, there are some fine ideas, thanks.


We have a company here in town that will rent secure vault storage for such things.
This sounds excellent. Unfortunately, my search for “security storage vault” yields results for safes, gun safes, drive up storage, software “vaults,” and many other non-relevant results. Sharing a couple of specific companies might help with additional search terms.


I knew one person who used a bonded storage facility for this purpose, and because of it rating, his insurance company allowed him to buy coverage for the weapons. For protection against rust, I suggest Rig Gun Grease, a product with good history over time. Also I suggest visiting a rust store website and ordering vapor paper for wrapping weapons. Then you can forget about them. However, I would place them on an elevated surface in case of flooding from a broken water main, which if one breaks up hill from the storage facility will flood the area. This is also a good idea and pretty specifically worded. There aren’t many of them, and being totally ignorant on the subject, I’d think it refers to a completely open bay. It sounds like it would need the vapor paper and gun grease.


Could you not just rent a safety deposit box at a local bank? Yes, if all that was needed was handgun storage.


A) I know of more than one gun store that secures firearms for you at the cost of about $15 per month per gun

B) There's private security vaults that are like a hybrid between a safe deposit box and a storage facility.

C) Safe deposit boxes generally preclude you from storing firearms in them per contract but it's not a crime. If going this route you could strip the guns down to their lower recievers and store only the receivers in the safe deposit box and the uppers can go in whatever insecure storage you do everything else. I might also put aimpoints or high end optics in the safe deposit box too since those run $600+ and on a cost-volume ratio are worth the extra money for the larger box to store them.

D) Split them up amongst friends. One gun per friend. That won't put a burden on one friend to store a dozen of your guns and reduces the risk of that one person stealing all your shit.

E) Be in a state with red flag laws. Pay two Nigerian-American brothers to call the police and say you're a potential danger and you own guns and you own a MAGA hat. When the cops knock, strip naked (except for the MAGA hat) so they don't shoot you and because it will be funnier. Give them your guns. Immediately initiate due process to get them back. By the time the due process concludes, it will be a couple of years and you'll be back in the US.

Pro Tip: If going route E, pay them in cash.

We'll call some gun stores, thanks.


Not ideal, but as a last resort, storing a safe in a storage unit that is inside, video surveilled (ideally with remote video access), and pre-paid for longer than the time one will be gone. Generally, if you've pre-paid for a long period of time, the storage companies will allow you to use two disc locks on the doors. Good idea. Additionally, since I didn't know what a "disk lock" was I got to go research padlocks - worthwhile.


Make friends with your local friendly FFL, and then move your safes into his back store room with personal collection/ not for sale tags on the outside of the safes for compliance purposes. Thats what I do for deployments down here. Works out pretty well.

Before that I used to do the climate controlled storage unit and collectors insurance.
Good ideas. Might be a little late for the FFL-friends route, but worthwhile if there's time.


I'm not sure the safe does anything positive in this case, since I assume you can't bolt it down. I'd be hesitant to haul a safe into a storage unit if I couldn't disguise it somehow.

When my grandmother died, we stored her household goods. The place I used was inside a former indoor soccer gym(?). The units inside the building could only be accessed during certain hours, with an individual key code. The facility had wall to wall video surveillance ( there was a big screen in the office/lobby that showed all the camera feeds). The facility staff lived on site in an attached apartment.

It also had a loading dock and pallet jacks, so assuming you got past the security all a safe would do would accomplish would be to make it easier for the bad guys to get your stuff all in one trip.Worthwhile concern. Maybe crate the firearms instead of moving in a safe?


I have been in this situation before. My parents were kind enough to take a couple of safes at their house, without knowing the combinations. If I didn’t have that option, I would use a climate controlled storage facility and make sure that you have electricity for an in-safe dehumidifier.

For what it’s worth: I was gone for almost 2 years. I came home for Christmas halfway through and opened the safe (to check that everything was ok). I didn’t re-lube anything. Everything had a basic cleaning, and everything was completely fine. The environment inside and outside the safe (when you close it) are probably more important than the lubrication product used. Parents are always Choice One, if they're available.


Some storage units have a prohibition against storing firearms or ammo. you could probably get away with storing them in discreet boxes, but if you try to move a gun safe in there all bets are off. Good point. Crate them?

[whomever]

"Crate them?"

If it were me, I think I'd put them in one of those $1XX Homak locking cabinets, just as a due diligence thing - if they do get stolen, at least you can say you had them locked in a case that was designed to securely store firearms.

If you put gun socks (towels? t-shirts?) on them and pack them like sardines - alternating muzzle up and down - you can fit quite a few in one of those.

Then I'd put the whole thing in one of those 'wardrobe' cardboard boxes UHaul sells, label it 'Winter coats', and hide it behind a bunch of nondescript furniture and boxes.

[lwt16]

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