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Thread: New to guns and scared to bring gun home...

  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Colorado Foothills

    Question New to guns and scared to bring gun home...

    Hi all,
    I'm new to guns.
    Took few sessions (only handguns) and CCW course.
    I'm renting guns as I'm scared to bring them home with two small kids.
    My biggest concern is kids (accidental shooting).
    Not that worried about fire or burglar stealing the safe.

    Is a small gun safe good idea to safe keep the guns.
    I don't think I'll have more than couple of handguns, well at least not planned.
    Thanks for info.

  2. #2
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    In the desert, looking for water.
    Hi! Welcome.

    Keeping guns out of unauthorized hands is important. Kudos for that. A small, 2-4 pistol sized safe is a great idea.

    Just remember: it is more important to gun-proof your kids (a possible thing) than to kid-proof your guns (not nearly as likely).

    So, yes, buy a 2-4 pistol sized safe. Bolt it in place, and get comfortable with its operation. One with an electronic punch code might be a good idea. Bit spendy, but worth it. Ask kids if they can get into it, if you want to be sure they’re locked. A simple lock on a wooden cabinet doesn’t cut it. A hardside integral locking suitcase doesn’t cut it. Serious Abus padlocks on a Pelican case cabled to your bedframe can work, but a safe is your best, most secure bet.

    Teach the kids safe gun handling. If they’re little, start with “no guns till you are (x) years old.” But let them watch you clean them. Let them touch them (under your direct supervision only) and let them be involved in the actual cleaning. It demystifies them, and essentially “defangs the snake.”

    When they reach whatever age you deem old enough, introduce them to a BB gun, and then a .22. Insist on strict, proper gun handling. Let them progress from there as prudence, age, maturity, and interest dictate.

    Your kids will be safer in every house they enter, b/c they will know how to be safe around guns. When they are little, that means “don’t touch, leave the area, tell an adult.”

    Good luck!

  3. #3
    Modding this sack of shit BehindBlueI's's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Midwest
    Quote Originally Posted by Mystery View Post
    Is a small gun safe good idea to safe keep the guns.

    Yes, and thanks for being responsible. There are other options as well, depending on budget, how concerned you are with a readily operable firearm, and if you mind cutting drywall. There are some pretty inexpensive in-wall units.

    Lucky Gunner tested a bunch of handgun safes here: https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/g...-pistol-safes/
    Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.

  4. #4
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Northern Virginia
    This is an excellent article and video from Lucky Gunner https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/g...-pistol-safes/

    Based on my experience with an electronic quick access safe, I agree with the recommendation of sticking with a mechanical simplex lock.

  5. #5
    Deadeye Dick Clusterfrack's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Wokelandia
    I'll add to the very good advice above. Every time you bring a loaded firearm into your house, you need to consider how to manage it safely. Bullets will penetrate walls, floors, and ceilings, so a negligent discharge is of mortal danger to your family. Figure out a protocol to eliminate the possibility that you will shoot someone by accident. Even holstering your gun is a concern. Who is downstairs under the muzzle? Any time you load, unload, holster, etc., you must make sure that if the gun fires, your family is safe.

    Some people use a sand filled bucket as a safe area. There are commercial products as well.
    Last edited by Clusterfrack; 02-11-2019 at 09:42 PM.
    "You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
    Shabbat shalom, motherf***ers! --Mordechai Jefferson Carver

  6. #6
    Site Supporter
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Fort Worth, TX
    How small are your kids?
    Advice may differ with age.
    "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776

  7. #7
    Hey!

    I really appreciate you thinking this through.

    Not sure what ages your kids are, but we've gotten good mileage out of Julie Golob's book on gun safety.

    If you use This Link, p-f will get tiny affiliate payment.

    This is a really good place for new shooters to find solid information, so you've come to the right place!
    I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.

  8. #8
    Student
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    Arizona
    Hi and welcome.

    In addition to the Lucky Gunner article that BBI and joshs linked, I'd also suggest skimming over Handgun Safe Research.

    https://www.handgunsaferesearch.com/

    Some of the videos are quite eye-opening on how easy some models are to bypass. The site author's few recommendations as posted in his FAQ are all based on simplex locks.
    Last edited by Yung; 02-11-2019 at 10:48 PM.

  9. #9
    Member TGS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Back in northern Virginia
    Hi Mystery,

    Where are you located?

    I have a brand new, in box AMSEC Hide-Away-Safe. It's enough to fit 1, maybe 2 pistols depending on size. It's one of the best built handgun safes on the market, retails at about $250, is built with very thick steel (thicker than most full-size gun safes), a top quality mechanical Simplex lock, and lacks any of the faults that plague most cheap box-store pistol lock boxes.

    Simply by virtue of the first question/post you ever made on this forum, you're in the running for member of the year and I'm feeling generous. If you're local to the Northern Virginia area, it's yours.

    If that's not an option, anything made by AMSEC and Fort Knox is usually of superlative quality. On the other end of the spectrum, most anything you buy in a big-box store has lots of vulnerabilities, though the companies in the cheap-safe market have gotten a little better over the last few years with testers exposing their products' weaknesses.

    ETA: Oh, and if you end up buying something, always buy bigger than what you're planning to need. You're only thinking of buying one gun, maybe two...sure, just wait. Everybody will go through a phase of collecting (some longer than others), but even if you slim down you'll likely still end up with 3-5 guns. Nothing wrong with getting a starter for now, though, even if it's a wafer equipped lock box to keep the gun secured safely from little kids.
    Last edited by TGS; 02-11-2019 at 10:53 PM.
    "Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll."- Last words of Todd Beamer

  10. #10
    banana republican blues's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    Blue Ridge Mtns
    For your consideration, V-Line also makes a number of great boxes. I personally use the "Brute" which is also of 10 ga steel construction like the safe that TGS recommends.

    TGS, that's an awesome offer you made to our new member. Makes a guy proud to call you friend.
    There's nothing civil about this war.

    Read: Harrison Bergeron

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