Disclaimer: There is no safer way to store a firearm in your home than in a secured gun safe. As a gun owner, it is your responsibility to keep your guns away from unauthorized users—children, felons, inebriated people, etc. Further, in some states, it is a law to keep your firearm locked up. Some states even require you to keep your ammunition separate from your firearm. This article by no means is intended to substitute for legal advice. Always refer to your local law enforcement for your state’s firearm laws—including storing it.

The point of having a firearm in the home is to be able to access it when needed. When something goes bump in the night, the last thing you need is complicated locks to open—especially when it is dark, time isn’t on your side and your nervous as hell. Biometric safes, or fingerprint safes, have solved the problem of having to remember a combination lock, as well as guarantee access only to those who have permission via handprint. However, these types of electronic safes are pretty pricey. Not only that, but many gun owners choose to keep their firearm as quickly accessible as possible—on their body, in or on the nightstand, standing up next to the bed, on the coffee table…or all these places. Yet, even if you don’t have children, you don’t ever want your gun to get into the wrong hands. So, many ask ‘how do I keep a gun safe but accessible?’ Storing it away from spying eyes is the safest way to store a gun. But what if you don’t have a safe? What is the best way to store your gun? 

Repurposing a Piece of Furniture

Hiding a firearm in plain sight is a clever way to store a firearm where the curious are none the wiser while remaining quickly accessible. Many people repurpose a piece of furniture to store a gun, like building a hidden compartment in a coffee table or bookcase. There are pre-made hide-a-gun furniture manufacturers out there that make great looking pieces with hidden compartments for handguns, rifles or shotguns. But if you have that kind of dough, you can just get a safe. If you are the handy type, you can make your own.

Gun Locks

Gun locks are keyed or combo locks much like padlocks, that when attached, make a firearm unable to fire. There are two types—trigger locks and cable locks. Trigger locks prevent the trigger from being pulled. Cable locks re pulled through the firearm’s chamber and through the magwell, making it impossible to load ammo properly and blocking the gun from being able to complete a firing cycle if the trigger were pulled.

Gun locks that require a key, but you can keep the key on your person or on the nightstand for quick access. Gun locks are free through the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Project ChildSafe program.

Gun Case

If you feel uncomfortable leaving your firearms in a drawer, closet or in the nightstand, you can always lock them up and hidden until you need them. Change a closet doorknob for one with a key. Keep your firearms in a gun case—one that is lockable—and keep the keys with you. This won’t prevent them from getting stolen or fall into the wrong hands but certainly makes them not as easily accessible. When you go to bed, you can take your home protection gun out of its case for the night and keep it close to you while you sleep.

Unconventional Storage

You could go old-school and hollow out an old hardcover book to hide a pistol or revolver. There are companies that make gun storage like this in the form of globes, books and clocks.

Safe Gun Storage at Home

One very important factor when considering where to keep your firearm is the possibility of a break in. Thieves know where to look for stashed money, guns and anything worth pawning like jewelry and electronics. They will go through your drawers and closets. Never store your firearm or the keys to a gun case or safe in the places they search first—under the mattress, along the inside rim of your closet doorframe or in the drawer of a nightstand.

If you chose to have a safe—still the securest way to store a firearm—reinforce it by tethering it to the wall or bolting it to the floor.

If you don’t have a safe, where do you keep your guns? Tell us in the comment section.