Safety First: How to Choose a Gun and Home Security Safe

July 1, 2019

Owning a gun comes with a great responsibility. You must find a safe way to store it and keep it out of the hands of minors and others that cannot be around weapons. The best kind of storage for your guns and other valuables is a quality safe. Are you stuck trying to find the right gun safe for your collection?

There are a lot of metal boxes that are called “safes”. Come in to Bill Jackson’s and have one of our safe experts explain the difference between a metal box and a quality safe (we have over 34 tons of quality safes in stock.)

Bill Jackson’s can arrange delivery into your house, installation, and set-up of any safe that we sell. There are a lot of factors that go into finding the right gun/home security safe for your collection. Since many Americans own on average eight guns, keeping them stored and safe is extremely important.

Mounting a Gun Safe

When choosing a safe, it’s important to make sure it can be mounted securely to your floor. If your safe is not securely mounted to your floor, it increases the chance of it being stolen and / or tipping over due to the heavy weight of the door.

Guns, cash, and jewelry are some of the most commonly stolen items in home burglaries. These stolen items can then be sold illegally for cash on the streets. Making sure your quality safe is locked and firmly attached to your home’s flooring will deter burglars and help keep your items secure. Bill Jackson’s can install your new safe or Doug can walk you through the bolting process if you want to you it yourself.

Items to Lock Up in Your Gun Safe

What do you want to protect in your safe? Guns, Ammo, Jewelry, Cash, Deeds, Insurance Papers, Birth Certificates, Marriage License, Immunization Info, Family Heirlooms, Wills and Estate Planning, Old Family Photos, Medications.

We have customers that have wanted to protect Guitars, Expensive Purses, Gold Bars, Knife Collections, Blown Glass and many other items not stated.

Choose the Right Locking Mechanism 

 

Combo Lock

There are a lot of different safe locks. Let’s start with the combo lock. These locks function much like the school locker lock you’re familiar with. There will be a three or four number combination you must remember. It’s an effective locking mechanism but can be time consuming and difficult to change the combination or service the lock.

 

Electronic Lock

Electronic locks are for us the most popular. Instead of having a dial, there is a keypad you punch a number combination into. Electronic locks are far less complicated due to their simple push button keypad and we will show you how to set your own personal 6 digit code. Since this isn’t as time-consuming as the traditional dial combination lock you can spend more time enjoying your coffee. Although the battery life expectancy should be about 2 years, it is recommended to change once a year and make sure you keep an extra battery on hand to replace it when needed.

 

Biometric Lock

Some modern safes also use biometrics. For example, a biometric lock is programmed with your unique fingerprint. Only the fingerprints which are added into the biometric program will be able to open the gun safe. Biometrics are in their infancy in the safe market.

Fire and Climate Safe

Housefires are the number one cause damaging gun/home security safes. When it comes to picking the right safe for your home, find one that has a minimum fire rating of 1 hour at 1350 degrees. You can choose a fire rating depending on the value of the items that you want to protect and your piece of mind.

Pick a safe with a fire rating that meets your needs. If you are a distance from a fire station, you need a higher fire rating… 90-120 minutes at 1600-1750 degrees. For instance, if you have expensive, collector, or family keepsake items in your safe, look for an 120 minutes at 1750 degree rating.

By speaking with a reputable and knowledgeable salesperson at Bill Jackson’s, you can find the right safe that will suite your needs.

Find the Right Safe for You 

There are a lot of factors that go into picking the right safe to protect your belongings.

Consider locking mechanisms, mounting possibilities and fire ratings before going out and buying a safe. Keeping your guns secure will ensure your and your family’s safety and peace of mind. Above all, if you’re stuck on what kind of safe might work best, stop by Bill Jackson’s Shop For Adventure.

We will walk you through some of our favorite safes. As well as explain why they are the best safes that we can find. And if you’re interested, our professional staff can also talk you through safety procedures for gun ownership.

Click here to check out our recent classes.