Chris
09-15-2008, 04:19 PM
Choosing A Gun Safe
By Todd Spotti
It’s an unfortunate fact of modern life that gun owners are at significant risk of having their guns stolen. Something like 4,000,000 homes are burglarized every year in the United States. It’s also been my personal observation that gun owners seem to be particularly targeted by burglars because guns, particularly handguns, can be quickly sold on the street or they can be used by the thief to commit armed robbery or worse. I doubt if a year goes by when I hear of someone I know directly has had their home broken into and their guns stolen. So what can you do? How can you protect your guns and other valuables? Well, a quality gun safe is a good first step.
There’s a large number of manufacturers out there that make gun safes, and all of them without exception say that their product is the very best you can buy. Consequently, shopping for a safe isn’t easy with all the claims and counter claims that are thrown around. So what I’m going to attempt to do in this article is discuss the features and standards you should consider when shopping for a safe.
First a couple of general comments. TIME. TOOLS. KNOWLEDGE. These three simple words are the keys to how resistant to entry your new safe will be. Never forget them when shopping for a safe.
Time
Given unlimited time, there isn’t a safe in the world that can’t be broken into. Consequently, many thieves prefer to steal the safe itself, and then work on breaking it open at their leisure in some hidden location. That’s why it’s absolutely critical that gun safes should be bolted to the floor (ideally a concrete floor) from the inside. Many safes come equipped with the necessary hardware and the holes pre-drilled in the bottoms. Make sure any safe you’re considering does. If it doesn’t, don’t buy it.
The lamentable fact is that an unbolted safe, even those weighing a 1,000 pounds or even more, can be easily and quickly rolled out of your house by using materials found within the home itself. For instance, tilt a safe over on a half a dozen or so golf balls and you can push it out the door like it was on a bed of ball bearings. Broken off broom sticks and mop handles have also been used as rollers to move a safe. When thieves have the time, they can be very inventive. If they know ahead of time that you have a safe, they’ll probably even bring a mover’s dolly along to make the job easier. Always bolt down your safe!
You should also seriously consider adding a home alarm system to go with the safe to protect your property. When an alarm is ringing at over a hundred decibels, the element of time has been effectively removed from the equation and the thief will be under intense pressure to leave the area as soon as possible.
Tools
If you live in an isolated area, or if the safe is located in an isolated area, thieves now have the opportunity to use heavy tools on the safe at their leisure.
Heavy sledge hammers or power hammers can crack and break welds. In fact, because some manufacturers want to make their safes as esthetically pleasing as possible, welds are often ground down and polished to the point that they’ve lost a significant portion of their strength. Any welded joint is a possible entry point to a thief with the tools to exploit it.
Additionally, power chisels can often easily cut through the thinner side walls and backs of many safes. Multi horse power carbide saws, drills, and grinders will also do the job. However, the big disadvantage to the burglar using all these tools in a home is that this is a very noisy process. Ripping into a safe with a carbide grinder or saw would create so much noise that neighbors, several houses away, would be instantly alerted that something unusual was happening in your home. But, if there are no neighbors around, the thieves have it made. Consequently, don’t isolate your safe. Cutting torches can also be used to burn into the sides and back of a safe. However, if it’s a fire resistant type, the job will be a slow one.
For inexpensive gun cabinets, a pry bar will easily do the job of popping the door open. So while these products are useful from keeping guns away from young children, their ability to keep out a determined teenager or adult is nil.
Bottom line on tools - thieves aren't going to haul heavy equipment to your home to crack your safe unless it’s located in an isolated area. They’ll more likely remove the safe (if they can) and work on it at their leisure. Once they have it, the right tools will get them in eventually.
Knowledge
If your property should be targeted by a experienced, professional safe cracker. Forget it. It’s gone. However, the chances of that happening is just about zero. Most break-ins are done by teenagers and other low level amateurs looking for property that they can quickly grab. A quality safe which is bolted to the floor will probably be bypassed by the casual thief who will go after TV's, stereos, and other easy loot. It’s the mid level thief that we have to worry about.
What To Look For - Design
Construction design is by far the most important element. And what is the best construction design? It’s one with no welds what so ever. In other words, a safe that is one solid seamless unit. Such a safe would be strongest you could buy with no weak points in the body to exploit. However such a design doesn’t currently exist.
Many modern gun safes will feature a seamless molded body, however the tops and bottoms will be welded on. In other words, they’re three piece assemblies - resulting in a total of 8 welded seams (4 top & 4 bottom). The only company that I know of that comes close to the ideal is Liberty Safes, which has a new model for 2002 with only two welded seams i.e. a single seam at the top and one at the bottom.
When checking a safe’s welds, ask the salesman if they were done by machine or by a person. Robotic welders do a much more uniform job over the long run.
Secondly, you have to look at metal thickness in the body, and on the door. Most safe doors will feature much thicker metal than the bodies. Consequently thieves with the time and tools will often attack the body of the safe rather than the door. Thicker is always better. 10 gauge steel is about as thin as you ever want to go, and 3/16th inch steel is usually as thick as it gets for a home safe. Not surprisingly, the price of the safe will be directly related to the thickness of the steel.
Be aware however, that when judging a safe, don’t forget what we said previously about the importance of safe design. For instance, a near seamless safe made with 10 gauge steel is probably going to provide more security than another made by simply welding five metal plates together and hanging a door on it. The first is a very strong unitized module and the second is a kluge even though it may be made of thicker steel. Ideally, we want both seamless construction AND thick steel.
What To Look For - Doors
Now let’s look at doors. As mentioned before, most safe doors use steel that’s sufficiently thick and hard enough to resist most types of direct attack for a reasonable period of time. First, you want to see whether the door hinges are located inside or outside of the safe. If they’re outside, obviously they’re available to attack. Also obviously, if they’re inside the safe, they’re not. Now many manufacturers of safes with outside hinges will tell you how strong they are, how thick, how hard, etc. etc. But the plain and simple truth is that inside is better.
By Todd Spotti
It’s an unfortunate fact of modern life that gun owners are at significant risk of having their guns stolen. Something like 4,000,000 homes are burglarized every year in the United States. It’s also been my personal observation that gun owners seem to be particularly targeted by burglars because guns, particularly handguns, can be quickly sold on the street or they can be used by the thief to commit armed robbery or worse. I doubt if a year goes by when I hear of someone I know directly has had their home broken into and their guns stolen. So what can you do? How can you protect your guns and other valuables? Well, a quality gun safe is a good first step.
There’s a large number of manufacturers out there that make gun safes, and all of them without exception say that their product is the very best you can buy. Consequently, shopping for a safe isn’t easy with all the claims and counter claims that are thrown around. So what I’m going to attempt to do in this article is discuss the features and standards you should consider when shopping for a safe.
First a couple of general comments. TIME. TOOLS. KNOWLEDGE. These three simple words are the keys to how resistant to entry your new safe will be. Never forget them when shopping for a safe.
Time
Given unlimited time, there isn’t a safe in the world that can’t be broken into. Consequently, many thieves prefer to steal the safe itself, and then work on breaking it open at their leisure in some hidden location. That’s why it’s absolutely critical that gun safes should be bolted to the floor (ideally a concrete floor) from the inside. Many safes come equipped with the necessary hardware and the holes pre-drilled in the bottoms. Make sure any safe you’re considering does. If it doesn’t, don’t buy it.
The lamentable fact is that an unbolted safe, even those weighing a 1,000 pounds or even more, can be easily and quickly rolled out of your house by using materials found within the home itself. For instance, tilt a safe over on a half a dozen or so golf balls and you can push it out the door like it was on a bed of ball bearings. Broken off broom sticks and mop handles have also been used as rollers to move a safe. When thieves have the time, they can be very inventive. If they know ahead of time that you have a safe, they’ll probably even bring a mover’s dolly along to make the job easier. Always bolt down your safe!
You should also seriously consider adding a home alarm system to go with the safe to protect your property. When an alarm is ringing at over a hundred decibels, the element of time has been effectively removed from the equation and the thief will be under intense pressure to leave the area as soon as possible.
Tools
If you live in an isolated area, or if the safe is located in an isolated area, thieves now have the opportunity to use heavy tools on the safe at their leisure.
Heavy sledge hammers or power hammers can crack and break welds. In fact, because some manufacturers want to make their safes as esthetically pleasing as possible, welds are often ground down and polished to the point that they’ve lost a significant portion of their strength. Any welded joint is a possible entry point to a thief with the tools to exploit it.
Additionally, power chisels can often easily cut through the thinner side walls and backs of many safes. Multi horse power carbide saws, drills, and grinders will also do the job. However, the big disadvantage to the burglar using all these tools in a home is that this is a very noisy process. Ripping into a safe with a carbide grinder or saw would create so much noise that neighbors, several houses away, would be instantly alerted that something unusual was happening in your home. But, if there are no neighbors around, the thieves have it made. Consequently, don’t isolate your safe. Cutting torches can also be used to burn into the sides and back of a safe. However, if it’s a fire resistant type, the job will be a slow one.
For inexpensive gun cabinets, a pry bar will easily do the job of popping the door open. So while these products are useful from keeping guns away from young children, their ability to keep out a determined teenager or adult is nil.
Bottom line on tools - thieves aren't going to haul heavy equipment to your home to crack your safe unless it’s located in an isolated area. They’ll more likely remove the safe (if they can) and work on it at their leisure. Once they have it, the right tools will get them in eventually.
Knowledge
If your property should be targeted by a experienced, professional safe cracker. Forget it. It’s gone. However, the chances of that happening is just about zero. Most break-ins are done by teenagers and other low level amateurs looking for property that they can quickly grab. A quality safe which is bolted to the floor will probably be bypassed by the casual thief who will go after TV's, stereos, and other easy loot. It’s the mid level thief that we have to worry about.
What To Look For - Design
Construction design is by far the most important element. And what is the best construction design? It’s one with no welds what so ever. In other words, a safe that is one solid seamless unit. Such a safe would be strongest you could buy with no weak points in the body to exploit. However such a design doesn’t currently exist.
Many modern gun safes will feature a seamless molded body, however the tops and bottoms will be welded on. In other words, they’re three piece assemblies - resulting in a total of 8 welded seams (4 top & 4 bottom). The only company that I know of that comes close to the ideal is Liberty Safes, which has a new model for 2002 with only two welded seams i.e. a single seam at the top and one at the bottom.
When checking a safe’s welds, ask the salesman if they were done by machine or by a person. Robotic welders do a much more uniform job over the long run.
Secondly, you have to look at metal thickness in the body, and on the door. Most safe doors will feature much thicker metal than the bodies. Consequently thieves with the time and tools will often attack the body of the safe rather than the door. Thicker is always better. 10 gauge steel is about as thin as you ever want to go, and 3/16th inch steel is usually as thick as it gets for a home safe. Not surprisingly, the price of the safe will be directly related to the thickness of the steel.
Be aware however, that when judging a safe, don’t forget what we said previously about the importance of safe design. For instance, a near seamless safe made with 10 gauge steel is probably going to provide more security than another made by simply welding five metal plates together and hanging a door on it. The first is a very strong unitized module and the second is a kluge even though it may be made of thicker steel. Ideally, we want both seamless construction AND thick steel.
What To Look For - Doors
Now let’s look at doors. As mentioned before, most safe doors use steel that’s sufficiently thick and hard enough to resist most types of direct attack for a reasonable period of time. First, you want to see whether the door hinges are located inside or outside of the safe. If they’re outside, obviously they’re available to attack. Also obviously, if they’re inside the safe, they’re not. Now many manufacturers of safes with outside hinges will tell you how strong they are, how thick, how hard, etc. etc. But the plain and simple truth is that inside is better.