Safety Issues
Securing Firearms
in the Home
By Jim Wurster
This article was written by Jim Wurster, a professional locksmith who
lives and works in Montana. Jim started in security work in the 1960’s
when he joined the U.S. Army and became a Military Intelligence Coordinator.
He has been around, and used, firearms all his adult life. He has lived
most of his life in the northern rocky mountain west, and was a professional
alpine ski instructor, part-time, for 21 seasons.
I asked Jim to write this article to give us all an overview of the different
options that are available for firearms storage, and am grateful he took
the time to do it.
~ Kathy
Not all firearms security in the home is provided by hard goods, or ‘things.’
Generally speaking, things cost money, and money is not always available
to meet needs in a conventional way. The conventional way to secure a
firearm in the home is to lock it up. However, lockable, secure, storage
containers cost money. We’ll get into how much money for how much protection
later on. But now, we’re going to look at alternative methods to buying
hard goods storage containers.
Alternative Storage Methods: Stealth
The success of stealth heavily depends upon the preparedness, attitude,
and thought process of the person relying on it. The idea here is not
to deeply dwell on training, whether personal or situational, it’s how
to effectively secure the firearm in the home without relying on hard
goods. However, given the previous statement, it’s impossible to adequately
pose stealth parameters without at least touching upon the personal preparedness
aspect.
What I’m not going to do here is list a number of good places to hide
a gun. All that does is give anybody who reads this article an edge in
where to search. I hope to give you rather, a mindset that allows you
to secure the gun in a place that’s within reason of your personal situation.
Obviously a single female in a controlled-access condo can have substantially
different parameters than a single parent with two young children who
resides in a one bedroom frame in a bad neighborhood. The first might
keep a Kel-Tec in an oven mitt; the second should regard that as a bad
idea.
If a person does not hold a carry permit, then usually the firearm is
left behind when the owner leaves the home. This also holds true when
a person holding a carry permit goes to a place where carry is not allowed,
perhaps the courthouse, bank, or a dining establishment where alcohol
is served. Maybe the top won’t go up on the Bimmer convertible, or all
the windows aren’t in the old Camry, but in either case storage in the
car isn’t an option. In any event, the gun gets left at home, and there’s
no safe in the residence.
If at all possible, don’t limit yourself in either imagination as to where
to hide, or the number of places in which to hide a firearm. Selecting
several places in which to hide your gun is frequently advisable as situations
constantly change within the home. As an example, if you’re returning
to home and are concerned about a follow-in assault, a gun by the bed
isn’t much help. On the other hand, having the gun near the front door
doesn’t make much sense for your overnight protection. Presuming you don’t
sleep across the door. Fido should do that, you should enjoy a good night’s
sleep in bed.
One of the first places you should consider concealing the gun in the
home is on your person. It remains at
hand and concealed as you move through your home and do normal things,
such as answering the door. Simply because you may not be allowed to exit
your home legally carrying the gun is no reason not to avail yourself
of the advantages of doing so in the home. It’s hard to lose and immediately
available. In-home carry also prepares you for obtaining a carry permit.
You get to work up your wardrobe to carry properly in the privacy of your
home. You gain the very valuable experience of having the gun on your
person and doing everyday things in a normal environment. Then, if and
when you do carry in public, you’re used to having the gun on your body
and won’t be nearly as prone to making public mistakes.
On the other hand, where would you not normally be found carrying in the
home? The two obvious places are, of course, the bath and your bedroom.
They are most likely the first sites that you should turn your attention
to when using stealth to secure your gun.
Security by stealth presents conflicting parameters. Ease of access vies
against the possibility of being found by the casual break-in thief. Another
very real danger is the ability to out-clever yourself in hiding the gun.
By that, I mean if you have to twist this, to open that, and move the
other thing to get at your gun in an emergency situation, you may not
have the time, or the ability to do so. The adrenaline rush of an emergency
can degrade the fine motor skills and short-circuit thought processes.
Athletes train to be able to use their natural adrenaline to enhance their
performance. Unless you are also skilled in doing so, don’t make things
tougher on yourself when you really need to have things simplified. The
twist this, to open that, and move the other thing, method of security
has its place for longer-term storage, not for an immediate access situation.
You may fantasize that you truly can get to the gun quickly, but reality
can do extremely harsh things to a fantasy. Practice obtaining the gun
immediately using a random trigger, such as the next time the phone rings.
Get the gun; then answer the call. Probably not a good idea to do this
with guests in the home though.
I’d suggest obtaining a relatively low-cost stiff nylon holster that properly
fits your exact gun. Then, the creative use of Velcro and imagination
should allow you to position the rig in several different areas of the
home while it remains out of sight, yet is immediately available. Depending
on the placement of the Velcro and your wardrobe, the same holster may
even double as your in-home-on-your-person carry holster.
Lock Boxes
The first cousin to stealth is the low-cost lock-box, of which many examples
are available for under $40.00. The reason these two are related is this:
The box itself must be hidden. An inexpensive lockbox has virtually no
security in and of itself. Unless it’s screwed down to something, a thief
can merely pick it up and walk off with it. If it is attached to something,
usually a large screwdriver or a small pry bar can open one in just seconds.
They are almost universally made of thin sheet metal or a heavy plastic
and all of them have cheap, easily compromised locks. I’ve personally
purchased an example of the heavy plastic briefcase style at Wal-Mart
for under $20.00. The heavy plastic style is usually less expensive than
the metal boxes, but is larger and therefore harder to conceal. Some of
the plastic boxes tout themselves as fire-resistant or some such language.
Don’t believe it. The thermal protection is absolutely minimal; don’t
rely on it for any protection above that of a bad sunburn. Tissue paper
could also be said to be “Fire Resistant” it just doesn’t resist very
well. It does take some effort to get tissue aflame, just not much of
an effort. That may be an extreme analogy, but I hope it gets the point
across.
Discount "Safes"
The next level of in-home storage usually thought of is the under-a-hundred-dollar
“safe” found in many discount stores. These are usually a very bad idea
for storing a firearm in the home. Most of them use a moisture-bearing
insulator to provide thermal protection from a home fire. While many of
them will indeed keep the interior temperature below 350 f over a stated
period of time, it’s the water that’s doing the work of keeping the interior
temperature down. That water will also do an excellent job of humidifying
the interior even though there’s not an active fire. Guns + humidity =
rust. And the moisture isn’t too good for documents over any length of
time either. A solution is to use resealable plastic bags for the contents,
and then double bag them at that. But, there goes any thoughts of immediate
access to anything in the container.
Another downfall of this type of supposed security is the portability
of the unit. Generally, they are light enough for one person to carry
off. Frequently, they are equipped with wheels. Now, screwing them into
your structure also compromises whatever fire insulating ability they
might have. In my opinion, they simply aren’t worth the money.
Small Fire Safes
Above the discount-store fire ‘safe’, is the true, small, home, fire safe.
These can be had for about $300.00 and up. Up usually tops out at around
$750.00. I sell the USCAN and AMSEC brands of these. I tend to prefer
the USCAN units for this type of situation because they can be had with
a burglary base. The base screws into your structure, and the safe clips
into the base. Once clipped in, there it is, it’s not easily reversible.
These, however, are fire safes first, and don’t offer high-strength burglary
protection. I don’t suggest storing valuables in these where the amount
of value exceeds the amount you paid for the safe. What they do quite
well, however, is provide excellent fire protection. The better ones in
this category will withstand an exterior temperature of 1750 f for an
hour without allowing the interior temperature to rise above 350f. Most
of these units are also less than 200 lbs., and need to be either secured
to the structure in some way, or hidden.
With the true fire safe, we are talking about hiding a container that’s
usually one to two cubic feet of volume in size. This is a different proposition
than merely hiding a handgun. Securing one to the structure usually is
done with lag screws into wood, given a burglary base. Units without a
specific burglary base may have a single hole in the bottom that can be
either plugged, or allow a lag bolt to be used to secure the container.
One or the other must be done, or there’s no fire protection. However,
securing to the structure can be done without forfeiting damage deposits
and such with careful preparation.
Locate the unit in an out of the way place. The back corner of a closet
is good, but is a known placement site for a small in-home safe. How about
sacrificing some storage capacity instead and locating it in the back
corner of a kitchen cabinet? Think about alternative sites such as the
one I’ve just mentioned. Out-think the thief; just don’t brag about it
to anybody. ANYBODY!! An old security saying was: “Loose lips sink ships”.
Talk about how clever you’ve been and today’s version might be: “First
I got smart, then I got stupid, and then I got robbed”. Explaining to
the cops that there was a gun in the safe isn’t going to be fun either.
Regardless if having the firearm in there was legal, they still aren’t
going to be happy knowing that another criminal laid hands upon one. It
tends to color the tone of their relationship with you as a victim. Particularly
if it becomes known, and it will, that your own mouth was the cause of
the thief knowing just where to find the safe.
Gun Cabinets
A fire safe will not usually be of a size to readily accommodate long
guns. Therefore, those on a limited budget frequently opt for a gun cabinet.
These are of sheet metal construction and have one, or sometimes two,
basic keyed locks. It’s best to seriously consider attaching one of these
to the structure you live in. They do not weigh much in and of themselves
and are therefore easily portable. Even full of guns and ammo, a two-wheeled
dolly is all that’s necessary to move the container. As for security,
conceal it if at all possible. If somebody finds it, it’s a matter of
minutes to compromise it. I’m talking a 12 year old with no knowledge
of forcing an entry, but the attitude to do so and minimal access to household
tools. Cabinets usually run from around $100.00 up to $300.00. Better
yet, find a double door steel locker, that’s being sold by the school
system or military facility near you and pay a fraction of the new cost.
Most come with a locking L-handle, or have a padlock hasp attached.
Import "Safes"
A first cousin to the gun cabinet is the import ‘safe’. These use the
thinnest gauge sheet metal for the body, back it with gypsum board, and
put a massive door on. The door will have a good-looking but very cheap
mechanical dial lock. The door may very well out-weigh the rest of the
container. I have seen this with my own Mark 1 eyeball, and had the thing
try to fall over on me too! These will cost between about $250.00 and
$500.00, and are most certainly not worth the money.
Residential Security Containers
Usually, the next step in home firearms storage that’s commonly thought
of, is the classic Liberty, Browning, Cannon, etc. ‘safe’. Actually, Underwriter’s
Laboratories will not rate these units as a safe. If you care to, look
on the edge of the door for the U.L. label commonly found there; it will
call the unit a Residential Security Container, or RSC. So, what is an
RSC? Truth be told, not much. Should you wish to get the full copy, by
all means go to the Underwriter’s web site and wade through the data.
But here’s a synopsis.
Residential Security Container
Appendices A and B
A:
Burglary Classification RSC signifies a combination or keylocked unit
designed to offer protection against entry by common mechanical tools.
Performance tests are conducted against the entire unit. The basic standard
used to investigate products in this category is UL 1037, “Antitheft Alarms
and Devices.”
B:
52.1. An anti-theft device, as defined by Paragraph 1.3, shall
resist at least 5 minutes of attack that would defeat its purpose.
52.2. Any disassembly of the protected property required to make
it removable, is to be included in the 5 minutes of attack test.
52.3. The tools used in the test are to include hammers, chisels,
adjustable wrenches, pry bars, punches, and screwdrivers. The hammers
are not to exceed 3 lbs, in head weight, and no tool is to exceed 18 inches
in length.
52.4. The product under test is to be mounted securely in its intended
position, and the attack is to be carried out by one operator.
|
Let’s take a moment and think about the actual protection provided by
a container that can be defeated in five minutes and one second by one
person wielding a hammer and a screwdriver. No power tools listed, and
no mention of the time it takes if there’s two bad guys. Most RSC’s use
gauge sheet metal as the exterior wall, ten to sixteen gauge. The better
ones use 3/16” steel walls, but that’s still 25% thinner than the U.L.
minimum to meet a B safe classification.
In my opinion, if you are considering buying one of these things commonly
marketed as a ‘safe,’ you’d be better off making a serious evaluation
of your needs/available funds ratio and opt for a real safe. Anything
is better than nothing when it comes to protection, but carefully examine
all the options before spending big bucks for minimal security. Also my
opinion, and that’s all it is, is that the best of these currently on
the market is the Winchester brand, made by Granite in Texas, and usually
sold at Sam’s for something in the mid-hundreds range. With an RSC, buy
what provides what you actually need for the least amount of money possible.
The real world protective differences among them are minimal. The fancy
options are insanely expensive when balanced against the protection provided.
Recently I had a person ask the Liberty dealer, who was at the same gun
show I was attending, what his “Presidential” unit would cost to get in,
equipped exactly as the brochure showed it. The answer was $4,400.00 in
real October of 2006 money. My comparably sized true safe is slightly
larger, and at 1850 lbs, weighs about 750 lbs. more. However, the product
I’m selling did not have the gloss enamel exterior, interior lights, or
artwork decals.
True Safes
What a true safe, that does meet the U.L. classification, will offer is
this: As a minimum, ¼” plate steel construction on all six sides of the
container. In the particular comparison of the Liberty against a B17 safe,
the B17 has a one-half inch solid plate steel door, and ¼” plate steel
on the other 5 sides. But it doesn’t end there. The B17’s ¼” plate is
backed by 2” of a proprietary concrete and vermiculite mix, which is backed
by a 16 gauge continuous sheet steel liner that seals the insulator, containing
the vermiculite, from the interior of the safe. The insulator contains
the vermiculite to provide the ability to rapidly wick heat away from
somebody applying a torch to the exterior in an attempt to burn through
the wall. And that ain’t all folks, there’s more to a true safe than most
people imagine. My point is though, that you can certainly pay a substantial
amount of money for an RSC, but get around 20% of the burglary protection
provided by a U.L. rated true safe. It’s that five minutes of RSC sheet
metal protection vs plate steel thing.
The rule of 80/20 most certainly holds true when the subject of relative
fire protection is raised. Good true safes meant for home use should include
thermal insulation as part of the package. Any of them worth considering
should meet or exceed the U.L. one hour fire protection standard. Not
the ‘Omega Test’, or the ‘3000 degree pyro-plastic ultimate test’, or
even the salesman’s smarmy personal guarantee of protection. U.L. one-hour,
as a minimum.
The U.L. one hour minimum test is essentially this: Safe goes into the
furnace and the gas is lit. The furnace interior temperature is brought
up to 1750 f, before the 1 hour timer starts. Therefore, for one full
hour, the safe is subjected to 1750 f. At the end of the hour, the internal
transponder is read. In order to pass this test, the internal temperature
cannot exceed 350f at any time. But, the end of the timed hour is not,
repeat not, the end of the test. The gas is turned off, but the safe remains
in the sealed furnace. The safe must then cool down to laboratory ambient,
68 f, without the interior of the test safe exceeding 350 f, at any time,
during the entire test period, meaning ramp-up, timed hour, or cool down.
Most RSC’s will be rated at 1200 f for 30 minutes. And there’s no legal
mandate as to how the 1200/30, Omega, Pyro 3000, or any other thermal
protection test that I know of, is conducted.
True safes are not cheap. The B17 I spoke of above recently sold at $4,250.00.
But it’s a large unit at 1850 lbs, 72” tall, 40” wide, and 27” deep. Still,
it was $150.00 less expensive than the Liberty quoted at the gun show.
Didn’t have glossy enamel paint though. The smallest home true safe I
have in my showroom costs slightly less than $3,000.00. Larger safes cost
more money, but it isn’t a 1:1 ratio. Actually, interior space is the
cheapest part of a safe. If at all possible, buy a little larger than
you think you need. It’s much better economy to buy once, than to trade
in or buy a second unit.
There are home safes available for any purpose that offer more protection
than a B rated unit. However, in the vast majority of cases, they aren’t
necessary, and to provide information on them in this article would be
just be gilding the lily.
Conclusion
To sum up, think sneaky, keep your thoughts to yourself, and examine all
the options before paying good money for protection.
The author of this article, Jim Wurster, can be reached at Central Lock
& Key, 300 Central Avenue West, Great Falls, Montana 59404
Phone: (406) 452-4451