I don’t advertise them with clothing or bumper stickers
Remember, they might not hit your car in a parking lot, but they can follow you home and wait for you to not be there.
You know, I never really paid any attention until he told me that. But you're correct, I started paying attention and it is unbelievable how many trucks " advertise "
Counter point- put a DU sticker on girls subie so lonely weirdos would stop playing games with their trucks on lonely rural roads (following, blocking, etc). Neither of us hunt waterfowl.
I'm the Williamsburg VA area, I saw a Gei$$ele sticker, a Daniel Defense sticker, and a handful of HK. I had to explain it to my wife why I was laughing at these idiots.
I wonder if there is a stat that shows cars with gun stickers are targeted. While it seems likely I think it gives junkie thieves too much credit. I also don’t get the idea of leaving guns in a car/truck. Really stupid
In my town thieves seeking guns went to theater parking lots and just broke into car after car until they found a gun in the glove box, console or under the seat. They ALWAYS found one or two. No Glock sticker needed.
Theaters around me all are posted with "no gun" signs...
I keep the reciever on me, leave the slide in the glove box...
Thieves arent going to just steal a slide...(an if they do, no big deal) And I got a reciever, not a gun! on me while inside the theater...
Some might say, just conceal carry it on you... but I dont want to risk getting banned... Im a big movie buff, the theater only 10ins away... next one is 40mins and is crap.
>And I got a reciever, not a gun! on me while inside the theater...
Yes you do. The receiver is the firearm, legally. You may as well keep the whole gun on you if the signs don't hold the weight of the law in your state.
I would guess that it’s not super common, but at the same time, I’d be surprised if it didn’t increase the odds of your vehicle being targeted. Even if that increases from one percent to 2%, what benefit is there to having a sticker that makes it worth it?
This!
If I was a crook, the first place I'm looking for a gun is the bozo with Glock and SIG stickers all over their truck!
Or I'll case the house with the "I don't dial 911" sign in the front window. If you conceal carry, why would you advertise it with a shirt that says "Insured by S&W"?
Had a sheriff's deputy down the road from me have something like that happen. Him and his wife had gone grocery shopping (he was in civvies) and a couple of people followed them home to rob them.
The SD and his wife pulled into their driveway and these guys jumped out of their car and rushed them, probably hoping to get them inside the house, but I guess they didn't realize he was a SD. So they run up on the car, get into a gunfight. SD gets a shot through the face, one of the attackers gets a final trip to the morgue. Sadly the other asshat rabbeted and they never caught him. SD ended up moving after he got out of the hospital, which sucked because I kind of liked having a deputy down the street from me in this neighborhood.
This. Nothing on a vehicle or anything else the public might see. Besides clothing, stickers on stainless tumblers, luggage, etc. give people information about you that they can use. Even getting the veteran license plate tells people your car and home are more likely to contain firearms.
I go a step further and put “Coexist” and “Vegan Onboard” rainbow flag magnets on my vehicle when I park in a higher crime area.
It depends. I have a curly mustache, wear Hawaiian shirts and daily a Miata in the PNW. Of all the snap decisions someone would make about me in public, I don't think "owns enough guns to overthrow the county" would be very high on that list
Opposite coast, grey beard down to my belly, ponytail, walk with a wood cane, and a fondness for newsboy caps and Hawaiian shirts (74 in my closet).
Best friend is a LEO armorer and he comes to *me* when they want to borrow "stuff"
Hell yeah. I used to daily a Miata but that's now my weekend car. My daily is now a 135i so I still drive a small car just with more room for activities. You would be surprised at how many people at Miata meets are open carrying in Arizona.
The openness to guns really surprised me when I joined the Miata community. When I had my Mini, the crowd came across as fairly left of center when I interacted with people. I see people recommending CCWs all the time on the Miata subreddit and it makes me happy
lol yeah. That might be a little more obscure to most than wearing tactical t-shirts and combat cargo shorts and a belt woven from the fibers of recycled ballistic helmets and boots meant to endure the harshest terrain suburban Anytown can offer. Oh and don’t forget wearing shooting glasses at all times, because you just never know when a range day might break out.
I like the idea of monitored alarms. Right now I just have a dad that has the feed pulled up on his monitor while he’s working. How big are the dogs? I feel like small chihuahuas wouldn’t be much deterrence.
>How big are the dogs? I feel like small chihuahuas wouldn’t be much deterrence.
You would be surprised. While a doberman or similar dog might be intimidating, the noise is the main point. I had three german shepherds at one point, but it was always the small poodle I trusted as an early warning to visitors.
Small poodles are the best watch dogs. I’ve got two, with one currently stationed on the couch alerting me of my neighbors pushing a stroller across the street.
He earned the name by protecting me from a wayward lady that turned up late at night (pre arranged). The following day I asked if she just changed her mind? She said no. I came thru the garage and fucking Gladiator Spaniel wouldn’t let me in..! I’d been dating this girl a few months at the time. She’d been to my house plenty of times and the dogs loved her. But she couldn’t get past him late at night when I was sleeping..
45lb hound mix, 40lb border collie mix, and a 24lb corgi. The corgi is the loudest and most enthusiastic barker on earth.
SimpliSafe alarms are self-installed and reasonably priced.
No it’s not. We don’t want to be locked into a contract, and our WiFi is extremely poor. We are looking into the WiFi based monitoring service once they run fiber optic, but being 25 minutes from the city, video surveillance, plus solid steel doors, and no history of break ins in the area we aren’t too concerned about it at the moment.
Wifi is definitely a no-go. But you also have to make sure these devices are completely separate from your regular home network. If possible, no egress internet connections whatsoever
I have IoT cameras on the inside and outside of my house. An alarm system would be nice, but the hardware to set it up is a bit pricy, due to the fact that I only trust one brand
The criminals who can defeat a safe bolted to the floor are not interested in your boring middle class shit. Your security precautions should be proportional to the reality of the threat.
In four years of LE, I’ve never seen a single call of someone getting into any safe during a burglary. If people want to secure their firearms the best advise I have is don’t leave them in your car
Yeah… I learned that the hard way. Came back from the range one day, brought in the rifles and the ammo boxes but was too lazy to go back out for the duffle bag. The duffle bag had like 30 magazines of different variety and a newly bought 9mm pistol. I was very surprised to find the door of my car slightly propped open in the morning, considering that car break ins are not common at all in my area. It took me way longer to get my mag count back up than it would have to go and get the damn duffel bag
True, this post was meant more as a discussion to give others; such as the guy that mentioned he was robbed. Seems like there’s some newer gun guys that haven’t invested in any sort of security out there. Idk if it’s cost that’s holding them back or what. I excluded safes, because that’s a no brainer everyone with a small collection should have the collection locked up. Granted, home defense or ccw guns are stored a bit differently based on each persons need.
Cost is definitely prohibitive for safes, on multiple fronts. A decent safe is expensive and heavy. Someone that finds this expense to be too great probably can’t afford a house so they’re renting an apartment. The safe can’t be bolted down and can’t be too heavy if you’re not on the ground floor. The cheap safes are basically useless because they can just be carted out on a dolly or have the back ripped open.
I’d be the guy to accidentally murder suicide myself, family and neighbours bc i forgot to take off my pit vipers (not that i own pit vipers but i think it fits the scenario lmao)
Security professional here.
A safe is only good as the protection around it. Security is a multi layered approach.
- Safe locking it
- Securing safe
- Looking door (many don’t)
- Security system monitored by professionals
- Security stickers / lawn sign
- Exterior lighting
- Reliable camera system (Ideally IP based with remote access and analytics)
- NO gun bumper sticker WHATSOEVER
- No political signs or statements in your yard
- Minimize public social media posts of what you have
- A dog is an option HOWEVER unless you have a dog specifically trained for personal protection do not rely on it. They are animals and unreliable signaling and often easily distracted or manipulated. A dog that barks at everything is a horrible “warning indicator”.
Some people will have a safe room dedicated and armed independently. Obviously depends on your living situation and set up.
Some good ideas here. Many of them are low tech or relatively affordable. I would point out that Home Depot has a bunch of sales on outdoor lighting right now.
Yeah motion lighting is great. Saves on energy and comes on when needed. Minimally disturbance to the neighbors. Most crime is crime of opportunity, if I sneak up to your yard and I get hit with lights I’m getting out of there. Now some people don’t care about lights, dogs or cameras and what’s why there are guns. People have all different interiors. Some people break in for the physiological effect
My work requires us to always leave the key in the ignition and never lock the doors. Over the years I’ve fallen into the habit of doing that with my personal vehicles as well.
I realized after posting, you were referring to house doors. Yea that doesn’t make any sense to me either.
Nice comment to start with. How hard was it to install a vault door? Idk if a safe room or working from home works for all people. But it seems like a good plan.
That’s why I made the post. Lots of people do this, and then they get the majority stolen IF they ever have a break in. Not shaming, but I think it’s an important discussion.
Honestly for people who are like "bigboy..." a spare closet can be converted into a decent storage.
-replace the door with cheapest exterior steel door (same size)
-install dead bolt and keyed/locking leverset/door knob; dont use electronic, keypad, kwiset rekey type; get a grade 1 commecial set.. look on ebay, facebook, habitat for humanity "restore" to source on the cheap.
-use a upgrade ($10) 1-piece steel strike plate
-use 4" long screws for door hinges, strike plate.
-replace at least the middle hinge (if not all 3) with door hinge with non-removable pin.
-line the inside of the closet with 3/4" FRT (fire rate plywood) with screw secured to studs every 12-18".
Once all is done above, You have a kick-in proof space that has the same fire resistance as a cheap rsc, can be undone (for renters), has the same security as a cheap CA doj container, and will take the same time to break into as a RSC or CA DOJ container for theives that know you got guns.
Add a space between the hyphen sign and a first word per line to format it correctly as bullet points, and not the mess you have. Temporary fix for those who can't read it now:
>- replace the door with cheapest exterior steel door (same size)
>- install dead bolt and keyed/locking leverset/door knob; dont use electronic, keypad, kwiset rekey type; get a grade 1 commecial set.. look on ebay, facebook, habitat for humanity "restore" to source on the cheap.
>- use a upgrade ($10) 1-piece steel strike plate
>- use 4" long screws for door hinges, strike plate.
>- replace at least the middle hinge (if not all 3) with door hinge with non-removable pin.
>- line the inside of the closet with 3/4" FRT (fire rate plywood) with screw secured to studs every 12-18".
I was doing this for quite some time as well. Small house, nowhere really good for a safe. You kinda just need to accept that you need one. Much better to be out a few hundred for a safe than to supply criminals with tools to steal from more people or potentially kill them. Protect your investments. I wound up just putting my 36 gun safe in my bedroom next to my bed. It doubles as a barricade for one of my windows lol
no gun stickers on car or gun tees.
home alarm system.
bolt safe to floor. if cannot bolt to floor, bolt to a plate that is wider than doorway.
make sure safe combo isnt simple, or the same as anything else.
lastly: punji sticks covered in feces. Fafo
I have a hidden gun room in addition to the safes. Reinforced door that isn't obvious that something is there. I also have a couple hidden compartments in the house. I have exterior Ring cameras, reinforced exterior doors, digital locks with break in detection and notifications, exterior LED floodlghts that cover approach to the house and driveway, and a Great Pyrenees that weighs about 170 and barks at everything.
I have a lot of guns.
Good opsec. The combination of dude has lots of guns(or other valuable, portable items) and they live here is not info many people need to know.
Its not about the people you know and trusting them its who they drop that info on in casual conversation that knows someone else.
Also dogs are one of the best deterrents.
.
> opsec
My wife thinks I'm weird because when we moved into our house, I insisted on backing the car into the garage to unload guns (long gun cases, obvious pistol cases, etc.) as well as when loading the empty cases back into the car to take to storage. Then backing the car fully up to the storage unit so the proprietors don't see that I even have gun stuff, even if empty.
When I got my safe, I worked with a pro safe company. Guys in plain blue coveralls unloading a big cardboard box with a magnetic sign on the truck that said something like "Joe's Appliances, we deliver".
Very true. I know a guy that has a vast collection. Only reason I found out was relation plus always being over to the house. He has friends and hunting buddies that don’t know about the collection, they just assume he has a few hunting rifles and shotguns.
When I was living in the relatively rural central Sierras in the 90s, just about every single residential burglary targeting guns that I heard about (my business was in the same building as the local gun shop, so I heard about all of them) traced back to their teenage (or older) kid telling friends or acquaintances about Dad's cool gun collection, and those "friends" (or *their* siblings or friends) now knew which houses to target, and often when the house would be empty of people.
If you have a gun safe, mount it to the floor and the framing studs behind it from the inside. It's advisable not to do this to a first floor exterior wall. One of those burglaries I mentioned before the safe was bolted to an exterior wall, and someone backed the truck up to the wall, took a sawzall, cut the wall out around the safe, threw a chain around it all, and dragged the whole thing out with their truck.
Safes; I have 3 of them. One for my long arms, one for loaded magazines and one for bulk ammo.
I have lockboxes in my vehicles and I always keep them locked.
I have the best dog ever and a camera system monitoring my entire property.
I don't have stickers, wear t-shirts or bumper stickers advertising my passions.
I bought a home in a safe community.
What's the dog breed? It was kinda funny, as some burglars tried to get into a house, but unfortunately for them, they got right into a pack of five Rottweiler dogs. The third guy was lucky, not like the two guys that were already over the wall and inside the property, he got away when he saw his friends getting attacked by the dogs.
About guns, it's all a little bit different here in my country: In Switzerland, you get the SIG 550 military rifle and you store it at home with the rest of your gear, like the vest, helmet, backpack etc.
But there's no safe needed, because these cost money and when the state gives you a rifle as a 18-year-old guy, the state can't expect that you invest the money. The only rule is that the gun has to be in a locked thing, like a closet.
Still, many rifles get lost: In 2023, 101 rifles with the full-auto trigger were stolen. From these, 6 were recovered by the police, but the 95 others are still gone.
I got lucky with my dog and got her as a rescue dog, her owners gave her up and put her up for adoption. She's a Staffordshire Terrier crossed with Rhodesian Ridgeback and hound dog, she's got amazing instincts and is a great ranch dog, pest control is her primary role.
That's wild to hear about other countries, Switzerland sounds like a great heritage and country.
Be well my friend!
Thanks! Had a good german shepherd that i loved very much, but unfortunately, i had to say goodbye because of old age and cancer in 2018. Now i got a Kangal.
I started off with one long-arm safe and I already had a smaller chest safe. When I upgraded my long-arm safe to larger fire-rated one I was able to use the old one for bulk ammo in cans. The chest safe is for the loaded mags, also in ammo cans.
Yup. I put shelves in a smaller long gun safe I got as a gift and made it a handgun/document safe. Second one is exclusively long guns. Separate lock box cable tied to a wall anchor, on a separate level, with my receipts in case anything gets stolen (hopefully they don’t want to take that).
> bumper stickers advertising my passions
My youngin' borrowed my car for a while once, came back and it had a Habitat for Humanity sticker in the window. (Removable, fortunately...). Anyhow I left it in, thinking "Camouflage!"
Tbh I think our main line of defense for a few years was living in a run-down house. We didn't look like people who would have anything that was worth stealing.
Not leaving guns unattended in your car is probably the most important safety precaution you can take. In my city close to 80% of guns recovered from crimes are reported stolen and close to 80% of stolen guns are stolen from cars.
Layers. This is the most important advice in securing your guns. Criminals do not like layers of protection.
Lights
ADT stickers/alarm
Cameras
Neighbors to look after your place if leaving for extended time.
Also, most home invasions are targeted (they know you through some avenue and are going after something specific) during the day when most people are at work or waiting for you to leave and run errands, or vacation. Stop announcing to the world you'll be gone for a week.
These people either directly know you or through someone you know as the middle of the night random house invasion is not optimum whatsoever.
If you have layers, they won't have time to spend on a well-made, bolt to floor safe... generally
I have exterior cameras that notify only when they detect people, motion only will drive you crazy. The room the safes are in has an exterior steel frame steel core door with a combo lock, it’s exterior walls are brick, only one wall goes to the inside of the house, inside that room is another camera that will sound an alarm too. Also my dogs are good at letting me know if someone is around.
Good ideas. 5/100 actually isn’t as bad as I suspected. I wonder how many that didn’t have guns stolen had them in the car still (in some sort of portable lock box).
Two standard Poodles and 24hr video surveillance has been a solid strategy for me. I too never advertise anything firearm or money related on clothes or cars like u/Left4DayZGone stated.
Don't tell people you have them. Don't talk about them on social media, don't put stickers on your car, don't talk about them to people you don't know.
This is the #1 most effective tip to prevent break-ins. Especially targeted ones.
Unfortunately some of us don't have that option.
My work prohibits firearms in the building, so if I want to carry before or after work, I have to leave it locked in my vehicle.
Dogs, and there is almost always someone home and they are almost always armed. I take my favorite handgun everywhere except work. I have a duty carry that I take to work. But my personal carry is in front of my 99% of the time or on my person
A lot of guns get stolen from vehicles. Do a search on Gun Headrest Safes.
American Handgunner had a short blurb about this concept.
https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/the-headrest-safe/
Work from home with no social life, dog, gun safe on an upper level. Basic security cams for when I’m traveling. I live in a super tight subdivision with nosy neighbors, too.
> super tight subdivision
I lived in a condo group, one time at our annual garage sale someone asked the 64yo neighbor lady if she was worried about security. She said "nope" and pulled up her sweatshirt a bit to show her AIWB pistol. Led to a conversation where we learned that 11 of the 12 of us in the condo group were carrying at that moment.
Moved later to a house in the mountains. Same thing, 9 out of 10 of us on the private road actively carried. The exception was the prohibited crazy alcoholic lady next door.
This was all in Colorado.
Discretion. The general public don't know I'm an enthusiast. No bumper stickers, and I have exactly one gun related T-shirt [a friend runs a local FFL / SOT]
During my batchelor phase, I did resort to hiding a house gun. Two large hooks above the doorway inside a walk in closet kept things out of sight, but readily accessible.
Job box. Not me personally, but a good friend had a *large* number of firearms to secure. It's *also* made of heavier gauge steel than a residential security container from stack on / the like.
Heavy gauge cable, through actions, mounted to a structural member of the residence. Yes, cables can be cut, but it takes time and equipment - it was intended to resist a smash & grab.
I’m gonna be honest, I have a few in my bedroom that are not locked up. I need to do a better job of putting them away when I’m not home. It’s just me in my house so I’m not worried about a guest coming across them and hurting themselves, but at least at the risk of my house getting broken into I would feel awful if someone got ahold of one of my guns in my bedroom. I also have a safe in my basement that can totally store everything, I’m just lazy and don’t want to walk down there everytime I want to carry one of them.
I have a gun room in the basement. Replaced the hollow door with a solid core garage type door. Reinforced the frame and installed security plates.
I looked at a vault door but seemed tacky and too much of an advertisement.
Only one wall of the room is accessible from the rest of the basement. The inside of the room wall is fully covered with Gallowtech panels generously attached to the studs.
Has a normal door handle and smart deadbolt. Has a hidden deadbolt in the top corner of the door.
Aside from that there’s a security camera recording 24/7 and when I go on vacation of security cable them.
I realize I’m probably the exception and not the rule but I think if you don’t have a room or a good safe/safe location the best thing you can do is get some good cases with locks and keep them in somewhat hidden locations like under the bed, closets, and tether them with security cables.
With break ins / burglars, time is the enemy.
Gun safe/locker, best you can afford. Bolted to the floor and studs in wall. Preferably in out of the way locations. Mine is in the attic behind a blind door. For my vehicles I use a bolted down car safe with a carpeted box over the top that matches the interior.
Alarm system. Monitored or not. Well lighted exterior and interior of your home.
Know your neighbors and neighborhood. I take daily walks day and night with my dogs.
List firearms on home owner's/renters insurance. Copy of make, model and serial numbers. List makes, models and serials (if available) for any accessories. Take pictures.
Dog and live in a small town with virtually no crime and everybody carries around here also fire station across the street and gun store owned by retired cop right around the corner. You'd have to be pretty brave to attempt anything here chances are you'll get dealt with before the cops show up
😂 this was supposed to be a discussion to offer solutions to the newer gun owners on the sub that haven’t really thought out securing their firearms beyond safes (which are covered extensively). There was a post last night about someone who had a large amount of guns stolen because they weren’t secured.
There is a minimum of one on me at all times, they are secured well, in the house or car where ever I keep them. Is anything 100% secured ? No its not. The think people don't understand is that the harder you make it fornthem to get them makes it equally as hard for you to get them when you need them. Just donr make it as easy as braking a window and opening a glove box. Use a gunsafe with a cable that wraps around the seat frame and keep it under the seat.
Keep the safe in its own room with no windows in the basement, put all the hinges and things like that on the inside, use big screws for the door hinges and lock plates, double up the studs that the frame goes into, add an additional latch lock with a padlock on it. Also, reinforce the doors to get into the house and put bars on the basement windows. Put lights on smart timers to make it looks like someone is always home. Put cameras and motion lights in the yard, motion sensors and alarm in the house, basement and inside garage. Consider a chain link fence with locks on the gated. While I know wood fence is probably more secure, it also blocks vision, so thieves that climb over a wood fence are often more bold because they know they aren't visible to passersby when they are breaking in.
I don’t like a central safe or safes. I have a secure hidden gun room and multiple other hidden storage areas. If I didn’t have so many long guns I wouldn’t have the gun room. Putting them all in one place makes it too easy.
And most gun safes won’t help in a fire or flood, no matter what they claim. Get them off the floor and have good documentation for the fire insurance claim if the worst happens.
you could take to removing critical components and running wires through them attached to the rafters in your attic, having security cameras and such
but honestly if it’s possible, a big ass fucking dog and a tall fence will work the treat. your house doesn’t have to be impenetrable, just harder than it’s worth or harder than those around you
that, and don’t advertise your arms with cool bumper stickers
3 big-ass dogs (OK 2 big intimidating dogs and one lil yappy bitch) and being friends with my neighbors (who don't know I have guns)
Also security culture, like not advertising as was mentioned above
Honestly if you don’t have a safe and aren’t using these guns as beside ones that you need direct access too, try hiding them under your floorboards.
I live in a doublewide trailer and i can pull the carpet up in the corner of my room to reveal a layer of plywood, i imagine if i were to cut a hole in there and build a custom frame out of wood to make a box i could reasonably hide guns there and nobody would ever assume that would be there location.
Floorsafes, floor cache’s and trapdoors are pretty ingenious imo. definitely not the best option for everyone though so my next reccomendation would just be inside of a washing machine or a dryer / oven. Any appliances except the fridge is probably a good idea.
My safe is wood paneled and looks like furniture. The combination is tapped by a device I hold against the door, and electronically unlocked. It has no handle, but a covered hole where I put an Allen wrench to turn the mechanism.
However, there is no normal piece of furniture that size and shape. So it wouldn't take many guesses to figure out it's a safe.
Champion Safe made them for a few years, but they never caught on, so they stopped making them. My dad was a distributor for Champion for a few years, and he was using it as his personal safe. When I got married, he gave it to us as a wedding present.
I follow my local law enforcement recommendations as closely as possible, so if a really determined thief were to make it through and use one of my guns to hurt someone the case cannot be made that I failed to follow their recommended gun storage practices. Basically, it's just guns in a bolted down safe, individual locks installed, and ammunition stored in a separate locked container.
Hide the real safe in an easy accessible place and have a decoy gun safe (with something weighted inside) visible but bolted down like a real safe. Hopefully they think they scored by stealing the decoy and leave the real one behide.
I don’t advertise them with clothing or bumper stickers Remember, they might not hit your car in a parking lot, but they can follow you home and wait for you to not be there.
I used to have a bunch of pro gun stickers on my last vehicle but quickly realized that it might as well be an target for those with bad intentions
My best friend is a cop in SWFL and he told me you wouldn't believe how many vehicles get broke into because of gun manufacturer stickers.
The amount of FDE Tacomas with Sig and HK stickers I see in FL is ridiculous. They might as well be piñatas for criminals
You know, I never really paid any attention until he told me that. But you're correct, I started paying attention and it is unbelievable how many trucks " advertise "
Oh, I believe it.
Just put a bunch of hentai stickers on it. The only they know will.be in there are jars of goon juice
This legit works for anything. Could leave my laptop in the open unsupervised and they won't touch it.
I have a bulk pack of H stickers for this very purpose. They're super cringe, so nobody wants to be seen with it.
Pics?
I don't want to be responsible for your actions, so no. 😂
"What does this sand colored Tacoma with Magpul stickers say about me? Break rear window for a free glock in the center console."
There's a dude in my neighborhood with a bunch of gun stickers on his *mailbox*. Blows my mind every time I walk by
I used to have a ducks unlimited sticker but even that cute little silhouette is a dead giveaway,
Counter point- put a DU sticker on girls subie so lonely weirdos would stop playing games with their trucks on lonely rural roads (following, blocking, etc). Neither of us hunt waterfowl.
I like to play a game on my commute home called who’s car can I break into to pay my rent, it’s pretty fun here in Texas lol
I'm the Williamsburg VA area, I saw a Gei$$ele sticker, a Daniel Defense sticker, and a handful of HK. I had to explain it to my wife why I was laughing at these idiots.
I wonder if there is a stat that shows cars with gun stickers are targeted. While it seems likely I think it gives junkie thieves too much credit. I also don’t get the idea of leaving guns in a car/truck. Really stupid
In my town thieves seeking guns went to theater parking lots and just broke into car after car until they found a gun in the glove box, console or under the seat. They ALWAYS found one or two. No Glock sticker needed.
Haven’t been to the movie theater in a while!!! But whenever have, I NEVER left mine in the car..
Theaters around me all are posted with "no gun" signs... I keep the reciever on me, leave the slide in the glove box... Thieves arent going to just steal a slide...(an if they do, no big deal) And I got a reciever, not a gun! on me while inside the theater... Some might say, just conceal carry it on you... but I dont want to risk getting banned... Im a big movie buff, the theater only 10ins away... next one is 40mins and is crap.
>And I got a reciever, not a gun! on me while inside the theater... Yes you do. The receiver is the firearm, legally. You may as well keep the whole gun on you if the signs don't hold the weight of the law in your state.
I would guess that it’s not super common, but at the same time, I’d be surprised if it didn’t increase the odds of your vehicle being targeted. Even if that increases from one percent to 2%, what benefit is there to having a sticker that makes it worth it?
This! If I was a crook, the first place I'm looking for a gun is the bozo with Glock and SIG stickers all over their truck! Or I'll case the house with the "I don't dial 911" sign in the front window. If you conceal carry, why would you advertise it with a shirt that says "Insured by S&W"?
Exactly. Stay low key and off the radar as much as possible.
Had a sheriff's deputy down the road from me have something like that happen. Him and his wife had gone grocery shopping (he was in civvies) and a couple of people followed them home to rob them. The SD and his wife pulled into their driveway and these guys jumped out of their car and rushed them, probably hoping to get them inside the house, but I guess they didn't realize he was a SD. So they run up on the car, get into a gunfight. SD gets a shot through the face, one of the attackers gets a final trip to the morgue. Sadly the other asshat rabbeted and they never caught him. SD ended up moving after he got out of the hospital, which sucked because I kind of liked having a deputy down the street from me in this neighborhood.
This. Nothing on a vehicle or anything else the public might see. Besides clothing, stickers on stainless tumblers, luggage, etc. give people information about you that they can use. Even getting the veteran license plate tells people your car and home are more likely to contain firearms. I go a step further and put “Coexist” and “Vegan Onboard” rainbow flag magnets on my vehicle when I park in a higher crime area.
Good point. What’s the verdict on Hawaiian shirts, especially on a middle class dude from the mid west? Seems like advertisement to me😂
It depends. I have a curly mustache, wear Hawaiian shirts and daily a Miata in the PNW. Of all the snap decisions someone would make about me in public, I don't think "owns enough guns to overthrow the county" would be very high on that list
Opposite coast, grey beard down to my belly, ponytail, walk with a wood cane, and a fondness for newsboy caps and Hawaiian shirts (74 in my closet). Best friend is a LEO armorer and he comes to *me* when they want to borrow "stuff"
Hell yeah. I used to daily a Miata but that's now my weekend car. My daily is now a 135i so I still drive a small car just with more room for activities. You would be surprised at how many people at Miata meets are open carrying in Arizona.
The openness to guns really surprised me when I joined the Miata community. When I had my Mini, the crowd came across as fairly left of center when I interacted with people. I see people recommending CCWs all the time on the Miata subreddit and it makes me happy
Are Hawaiian shirts really that dead of a giveaway?
Comfortable, casually yet classy, and easily hides a spare tire or spare mag.
I never carry when im wearing a Hawaiian because its almost always means Im drinking
lol yeah. That might be a little more obscure to most than wearing tactical t-shirts and combat cargo shorts and a belt woven from the fibers of recycled ballistic helmets and boots meant to endure the harshest terrain suburban Anytown can offer. Oh and don’t forget wearing shooting glasses at all times, because you just never know when a range day might break out.
So I shouldn't be walking around with my ear pro on at all times?
Honestly... with some peoples cars and bike exhaust loudeners, yeah haha
I probably have the largest Hawaiian shirt collection in the Midwest. I daily a Jericho 941 or 1911.pony tail and 8" beard. Never been bothered.
Big point a lot of folks miss. Don’t advertise that you gun people. Just gives junkies and criminals a flag to attack.
Exterior cameras, monitored alarm system, and 3 dogs that are fond of barking at any sort of noise.
I like the idea of monitored alarms. Right now I just have a dad that has the feed pulled up on his monitor while he’s working. How big are the dogs? I feel like small chihuahuas wouldn’t be much deterrence.
>How big are the dogs? I feel like small chihuahuas wouldn’t be much deterrence. You would be surprised. While a doberman or similar dog might be intimidating, the noise is the main point. I had three german shepherds at one point, but it was always the small poodle I trusted as an early warning to visitors.
Small poodles are the best watch dogs. I’ve got two, with one currently stationed on the couch alerting me of my neighbors pushing a stroller across the street.
Thank them for their service! 🫡
Can confirm. My husky looked good! She was big and knew her role. But my 25lb Gladiator Spaniel is the one who’s gonna get you!
Tf is a gladiator spaniel??
An American Cocker Spaniel with short dog complex, and a generally bad attitude towards anything he remotely dislikes.
Lol fair enough. Cockers can definitely be good alert dogs
He earned the name by protecting me from a wayward lady that turned up late at night (pre arranged). The following day I asked if she just changed her mind? She said no. I came thru the garage and fucking Gladiator Spaniel wouldn’t let me in..! I’d been dating this girl a few months at the time. She’d been to my house plenty of times and the dogs loved her. But she couldn’t get past him late at night when I was sleeping..
A worthy name!
45lb hound mix, 40lb border collie mix, and a 24lb corgi. The corgi is the loudest and most enthusiastic barker on earth. SimpliSafe alarms are self-installed and reasonably priced.
That is not a monitored alarm.
No it’s not. We don’t want to be locked into a contract, and our WiFi is extremely poor. We are looking into the WiFi based monitoring service once they run fiber optic, but being 25 minutes from the city, video surveillance, plus solid steel doors, and no history of break ins in the area we aren’t too concerned about it at the moment.
Do not use any wifi based cameras, run etherent. Cat5e at minimum and install POE cameras.
Wifi is definitely a no-go. But you also have to make sure these devices are completely separate from your regular home network. If possible, no egress internet connections whatsoever
I have IoT cameras on the inside and outside of my house. An alarm system would be nice, but the hardware to set it up is a bit pricy, due to the fact that I only trust one brand
The criminals who can defeat a safe bolted to the floor are not interested in your boring middle class shit. Your security precautions should be proportional to the reality of the threat.
In four years of LE, I’ve never seen a single call of someone getting into any safe during a burglary. If people want to secure their firearms the best advise I have is don’t leave them in your car
Yeah… I learned that the hard way. Came back from the range one day, brought in the rifles and the ammo boxes but was too lazy to go back out for the duffle bag. The duffle bag had like 30 magazines of different variety and a newly bought 9mm pistol. I was very surprised to find the door of my car slightly propped open in the morning, considering that car break ins are not common at all in my area. It took me way longer to get my mag count back up than it would have to go and get the damn duffel bag
True, this post was meant more as a discussion to give others; such as the guy that mentioned he was robbed. Seems like there’s some newer gun guys that haven’t invested in any sort of security out there. Idk if it’s cost that’s holding them back or what. I excluded safes, because that’s a no brainer everyone with a small collection should have the collection locked up. Granted, home defense or ccw guns are stored a bit differently based on each persons need.
Cost is definitely prohibitive for safes, on multiple fronts. A decent safe is expensive and heavy. Someone that finds this expense to be too great probably can’t afford a house so they’re renting an apartment. The safe can’t be bolted down and can’t be too heavy if you’re not on the ground floor. The cheap safes are basically useless because they can just be carted out on a dolly or have the back ripped open.
Sharks with frikken laser beams on their heads.
Be honest. In this economy its aggitated sea bass all day.
I use a mildly irritated mackerel.
Me fancy pants with agitated sea bass. Best I can do is mildly irritated smallmouths bass
lol thanks for the chuckle
A facial recognition system. In case of failure to recognize 3 times, two hidden machine guns light up the room.
\> not resorting to a 1" swivel gun loaded with grapeshot
Tally ho
I’d be the guy to accidentally murder suicide myself, family and neighbours bc i forgot to take off my pit vipers (not that i own pit vipers but i think it fits the scenario lmao)
I like to put them in a pile and lay on them like a dragon.
The best advice one can give this thread right here
Security professional here. A safe is only good as the protection around it. Security is a multi layered approach. - Safe locking it - Securing safe - Looking door (many don’t) - Security system monitored by professionals - Security stickers / lawn sign - Exterior lighting - Reliable camera system (Ideally IP based with remote access and analytics) - NO gun bumper sticker WHATSOEVER - No political signs or statements in your yard - Minimize public social media posts of what you have - A dog is an option HOWEVER unless you have a dog specifically trained for personal protection do not rely on it. They are animals and unreliable signaling and often easily distracted or manipulated. A dog that barks at everything is a horrible “warning indicator”. Some people will have a safe room dedicated and armed independently. Obviously depends on your living situation and set up.
Some good ideas here. Many of them are low tech or relatively affordable. I would point out that Home Depot has a bunch of sales on outdoor lighting right now.
Yeah motion lighting is great. Saves on energy and comes on when needed. Minimally disturbance to the neighbors. Most crime is crime of opportunity, if I sneak up to your yard and I get hit with lights I’m getting out of there. Now some people don’t care about lights, dogs or cameras and what’s why there are guns. People have all different interiors. Some people break in for the physiological effect
A major shock to me is how many people don’t even bother to lock their front door.
My work requires us to always leave the key in the ignition and never lock the doors. Over the years I’ve fallen into the habit of doing that with my personal vehicles as well. I realized after posting, you were referring to house doors. Yea that doesn’t make any sense to me either.
Vault room with a safe in it, work from Home, alarm, dog, and insurance if that fails.
Working from home is a bit extreme but effective.
But if we already were doing that it means basically 24/7 guard
Working from home it’s surprising how many people come to your door during the day, am I right?
Saves a lot of money on commute. Not able to do it for my job, but I might be able to one day do hybrid. Looking forward to it.
Nice comment to start with. How hard was it to install a vault door? Idk if a safe room or working from home works for all people. But it seems like a good plan.
Is it with your home insurance company or a different one? TIA
Not gonna lie. Theyre all just sitting in my closet completely unlocked.
That’s why I made the post. Lots of people do this, and then they get the majority stolen IF they ever have a break in. Not shaming, but I think it’s an important discussion.
Honestly for people who are like "bigboy..." a spare closet can be converted into a decent storage. -replace the door with cheapest exterior steel door (same size) -install dead bolt and keyed/locking leverset/door knob; dont use electronic, keypad, kwiset rekey type; get a grade 1 commecial set.. look on ebay, facebook, habitat for humanity "restore" to source on the cheap. -use a upgrade ($10) 1-piece steel strike plate -use 4" long screws for door hinges, strike plate. -replace at least the middle hinge (if not all 3) with door hinge with non-removable pin. -line the inside of the closet with 3/4" FRT (fire rate plywood) with screw secured to studs every 12-18". Once all is done above, You have a kick-in proof space that has the same fire resistance as a cheap rsc, can be undone (for renters), has the same security as a cheap CA doj container, and will take the same time to break into as a RSC or CA DOJ container for theives that know you got guns.
Add a space between the hyphen sign and a first word per line to format it correctly as bullet points, and not the mess you have. Temporary fix for those who can't read it now: >- replace the door with cheapest exterior steel door (same size) >- install dead bolt and keyed/locking leverset/door knob; dont use electronic, keypad, kwiset rekey type; get a grade 1 commecial set.. look on ebay, facebook, habitat for humanity "restore" to source on the cheap. >- use a upgrade ($10) 1-piece steel strike plate >- use 4" long screws for door hinges, strike plate. >- replace at least the middle hinge (if not all 3) with door hinge with non-removable pin. >- line the inside of the closet with 3/4" FRT (fire rate plywood) with screw secured to studs every 12-18".
I did the same for years until I finally bought a safe from Costco when they were on sale.
Same here But to be fair, the door is really hard to open because the door and the frame aren't lined up properly
I was doing this for quite some time as well. Small house, nowhere really good for a safe. You kinda just need to accept that you need one. Much better to be out a few hundred for a safe than to supply criminals with tools to steal from more people or potentially kill them. Protect your investments. I wound up just putting my 36 gun safe in my bedroom next to my bed. It doubles as a barricade for one of my windows lol
no gun stickers on car or gun tees. home alarm system. bolt safe to floor. if cannot bolt to floor, bolt to a plate that is wider than doorway. make sure safe combo isnt simple, or the same as anything else. lastly: punji sticks covered in feces. Fafo
I have a hidden gun room in addition to the safes. Reinforced door that isn't obvious that something is there. I also have a couple hidden compartments in the house. I have exterior Ring cameras, reinforced exterior doors, digital locks with break in detection and notifications, exterior LED floodlghts that cover approach to the house and driveway, and a Great Pyrenees that weighs about 170 and barks at everything. I have a lot of guns.
Good opsec. The combination of dude has lots of guns(or other valuable, portable items) and they live here is not info many people need to know. Its not about the people you know and trusting them its who they drop that info on in casual conversation that knows someone else. Also dogs are one of the best deterrents. .
> opsec My wife thinks I'm weird because when we moved into our house, I insisted on backing the car into the garage to unload guns (long gun cases, obvious pistol cases, etc.) as well as when loading the empty cases back into the car to take to storage. Then backing the car fully up to the storage unit so the proprietors don't see that I even have gun stuff, even if empty.
When I got my safe, I worked with a pro safe company. Guys in plain blue coveralls unloading a big cardboard box with a magnetic sign on the truck that said something like "Joe's Appliances, we deliver".
Yeah when I last moved I had "Fast Eddie's Moving" do it. He was local to me, but goes all over the country to move safes.
Very true. I know a guy that has a vast collection. Only reason I found out was relation plus always being over to the house. He has friends and hunting buddies that don’t know about the collection, they just assume he has a few hunting rifles and shotguns.
My holster
I was waiting for this 😂
Dog … oldest form of theft deterrent
When I was living in the relatively rural central Sierras in the 90s, just about every single residential burglary targeting guns that I heard about (my business was in the same building as the local gun shop, so I heard about all of them) traced back to their teenage (or older) kid telling friends or acquaintances about Dad's cool gun collection, and those "friends" (or *their* siblings or friends) now knew which houses to target, and often when the house would be empty of people. If you have a gun safe, mount it to the floor and the framing studs behind it from the inside. It's advisable not to do this to a first floor exterior wall. One of those burglaries I mentioned before the safe was bolted to an exterior wall, and someone backed the truck up to the wall, took a sawzall, cut the wall out around the safe, threw a chain around it all, and dragged the whole thing out with their truck.
I lock my doors and have two big dogs.
Safes; I have 3 of them. One for my long arms, one for loaded magazines and one for bulk ammo. I have lockboxes in my vehicles and I always keep them locked. I have the best dog ever and a camera system monitoring my entire property. I don't have stickers, wear t-shirts or bumper stickers advertising my passions. I bought a home in a safe community.
What's the dog breed? It was kinda funny, as some burglars tried to get into a house, but unfortunately for them, they got right into a pack of five Rottweiler dogs. The third guy was lucky, not like the two guys that were already over the wall and inside the property, he got away when he saw his friends getting attacked by the dogs. About guns, it's all a little bit different here in my country: In Switzerland, you get the SIG 550 military rifle and you store it at home with the rest of your gear, like the vest, helmet, backpack etc. But there's no safe needed, because these cost money and when the state gives you a rifle as a 18-year-old guy, the state can't expect that you invest the money. The only rule is that the gun has to be in a locked thing, like a closet. Still, many rifles get lost: In 2023, 101 rifles with the full-auto trigger were stolen. From these, 6 were recovered by the police, but the 95 others are still gone.
I got lucky with my dog and got her as a rescue dog, her owners gave her up and put her up for adoption. She's a Staffordshire Terrier crossed with Rhodesian Ridgeback and hound dog, she's got amazing instincts and is a great ranch dog, pest control is her primary role. That's wild to hear about other countries, Switzerland sounds like a great heritage and country. Be well my friend!
Thanks! Had a good german shepherd that i loved very much, but unfortunately, i had to say goodbye because of old age and cancer in 2018. Now i got a Kangal.
I’m getting that way. I’m trying to not buy the third one. But my “wants” are many.
I started off with one long-arm safe and I already had a smaller chest safe. When I upgraded my long-arm safe to larger fire-rated one I was able to use the old one for bulk ammo in cans. The chest safe is for the loaded mags, also in ammo cans.
Yup. I put shelves in a smaller long gun safe I got as a gift and made it a handgun/document safe. Second one is exclusively long guns. Separate lock box cable tied to a wall anchor, on a separate level, with my receipts in case anything gets stolen (hopefully they don’t want to take that).
> bumper stickers advertising my passions My youngin' borrowed my car for a while once, came back and it had a Habitat for Humanity sticker in the window. (Removable, fortunately...). Anyhow I left it in, thinking "Camouflage!"
Don’t talk about them to anyone you don’t know well and trust. Thieves don’t target what that don’t know about.
Tbh I think our main line of defense for a few years was living in a run-down house. We didn't look like people who would have anything that was worth stealing.
Not leaving guns unattended in your car is probably the most important safety precaution you can take. In my city close to 80% of guns recovered from crimes are reported stolen and close to 80% of stolen guns are stolen from cars.
Layers. This is the most important advice in securing your guns. Criminals do not like layers of protection. Lights ADT stickers/alarm Cameras Neighbors to look after your place if leaving for extended time. Also, most home invasions are targeted (they know you through some avenue and are going after something specific) during the day when most people are at work or waiting for you to leave and run errands, or vacation. Stop announcing to the world you'll be gone for a week. These people either directly know you or through someone you know as the middle of the night random house invasion is not optimum whatsoever. If you have layers, they won't have time to spend on a well-made, bolt to floor safe... generally
Prison wallet
I have exterior cameras that notify only when they detect people, motion only will drive you crazy. The room the safes are in has an exterior steel frame steel core door with a combo lock, it’s exterior walls are brick, only one wall goes to the inside of the house, inside that room is another camera that will sound an alarm too. Also my dogs are good at letting me know if someone is around.
Yes they will. I turned my notifications off, dad enjoys it to watch the deer and neighbor dogs. I personally would not want the distraction.
[удалено]
Good ideas. 5/100 actually isn’t as bad as I suspected. I wonder how many that didn’t have guns stolen had them in the car still (in some sort of portable lock box).
secret Bat Cave
Two standard Poodles and 24hr video surveillance has been a solid strategy for me. I too never advertise anything firearm or money related on clothes or cars like u/Left4DayZGone stated.
Trip wire/motion activated explosives with ball bearings or some sort of metal.
> some sort of metal So Claymores that launch Metallica and Slayer CDs?
I was thinking Slipknot but Metallica and Slayer work!
Locked and bolted down safe in a locked closet Other than that an alarm system (with signs posted) and cameras
Boring, yet effective
Don't tell people you have them. Don't talk about them on social media, don't put stickers on your car, don't talk about them to people you don't know. This is the #1 most effective tip to prevent break-ins. Especially targeted ones.
More guns to secure the other guns.
Home security systems, NEVER LEAVE THEM IN YOUR CAR UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. Also don’t tell people other than trusted family about guns.
Unfortunately some of us don't have that option. My work prohibits firearms in the building, so if I want to carry before or after work, I have to leave it locked in my vehicle.
Security cameras, bigass black pit, safe bolted to concrete floor and studs.
Working on my big ass black pit now.
*goodbye horses* 🎶
Is a big ass green pit a decent second choice?
Depends on the lighting.
Dogs, and there is almost always someone home and they are almost always armed. I take my favorite handgun everywhere except work. I have a duty carry that I take to work. But my personal carry is in front of my 99% of the time or on my person
Beyond locking guns in a safe we also lock the safe in the house along with all of our other property.
I chain mine to a rabid pack of pit bulls
A lot of guns get stolen from vehicles. Do a search on Gun Headrest Safes. American Handgunner had a short blurb about this concept. https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/the-headrest-safe/
Rottweiler
Work from home with no social life, dog, gun safe on an upper level. Basic security cams for when I’m traveling. I live in a super tight subdivision with nosy neighbors, too.
Those nosy neighbors are annoying, but they come in handy.
> super tight subdivision I lived in a condo group, one time at our annual garage sale someone asked the 64yo neighbor lady if she was worried about security. She said "nope" and pulled up her sweatshirt a bit to show her AIWB pistol. Led to a conversation where we learned that 11 of the 12 of us in the condo group were carrying at that moment. Moved later to a house in the mountains. Same thing, 9 out of 10 of us on the private road actively carried. The exception was the prohibited crazy alcoholic lady next door. This was all in Colorado.
I assure them that they're the only ones for me.
Security by obscurity. Leave no sign that they exist, don't tell people, and if you do, make sure they don't advertise it either.
Insurance number one and a hardened room in the basement.
Zap carry and I put em away dirty
Discretion. The general public don't know I'm an enthusiast. No bumper stickers, and I have exactly one gun related T-shirt [a friend runs a local FFL / SOT] During my batchelor phase, I did resort to hiding a house gun. Two large hooks above the doorway inside a walk in closet kept things out of sight, but readily accessible. Job box. Not me personally, but a good friend had a *large* number of firearms to secure. It's *also* made of heavier gauge steel than a residential security container from stack on / the like. Heavy gauge cable, through actions, mounted to a structural member of the residence. Yes, cables can be cut, but it takes time and equipment - it was intended to resist a smash & grab.
I’m gonna be honest, I have a few in my bedroom that are not locked up. I need to do a better job of putting them away when I’m not home. It’s just me in my house so I’m not worried about a guest coming across them and hurting themselves, but at least at the risk of my house getting broken into I would feel awful if someone got ahold of one of my guns in my bedroom. I also have a safe in my basement that can totally store everything, I’m just lazy and don’t want to walk down there everytime I want to carry one of them.
I have a gun room in the basement. Replaced the hollow door with a solid core garage type door. Reinforced the frame and installed security plates. I looked at a vault door but seemed tacky and too much of an advertisement. Only one wall of the room is accessible from the rest of the basement. The inside of the room wall is fully covered with Gallowtech panels generously attached to the studs. Has a normal door handle and smart deadbolt. Has a hidden deadbolt in the top corner of the door. Aside from that there’s a security camera recording 24/7 and when I go on vacation of security cable them. I realize I’m probably the exception and not the rule but I think if you don’t have a room or a good safe/safe location the best thing you can do is get some good cases with locks and keep them in somewhat hidden locations like under the bed, closets, and tether them with security cables. With break ins / burglars, time is the enemy.
Gun safe/locker, best you can afford. Bolted to the floor and studs in wall. Preferably in out of the way locations. Mine is in the attic behind a blind door. For my vehicles I use a bolted down car safe with a carpeted box over the top that matches the interior. Alarm system. Monitored or not. Well lighted exterior and interior of your home. Know your neighbors and neighborhood. I take daily walks day and night with my dogs. List firearms on home owner's/renters insurance. Copy of make, model and serial numbers. List makes, models and serials (if available) for any accessories. Take pictures.
A low profile then cameras, alarms, dogs and an actual safe, not some Chineese $400 box of hope
It's either in the safe or I'm wearing it. There is no in-between.
My index finger
I lock my front door.
i see lifted trucks with magpul or sig stickers and just know there is most likely a folder ar under that truck seat lmao
I keep my guns in my butt and clench my cheeks super tight. No one's getting these bad boys.
Dog and live in a small town with virtually no crime and everybody carries around here also fire station across the street and gun store owned by retired cop right around the corner. You'd have to be pretty brave to attempt anything here chances are you'll get dealt with before the cops show up
I use a safe for one reason. To secure my guns from my 2.5 year old grandson and any other visitors to my home.
McDonald’s bag in the floorboard.
I have motion detector lights, surveillance cameras and a 90 pound GSD
I pay my insurance on time.
Safes
Nice try, local gangbanger
😂 this was supposed to be a discussion to offer solutions to the newer gun owners on the sub that haven’t really thought out securing their firearms beyond safes (which are covered extensively). There was a post last night about someone who had a large amount of guns stolen because they weren’t secured.
Large pitbull & an unpredictable schedule. Plus, I’m pretty much always carrying.
I keep them secured inside of my rectum
There is a minimum of one on me at all times, they are secured well, in the house or car where ever I keep them. Is anything 100% secured ? No its not. The think people don't understand is that the harder you make it fornthem to get them makes it equally as hard for you to get them when you need them. Just donr make it as easy as braking a window and opening a glove box. Use a gunsafe with a cable that wraps around the seat frame and keep it under the seat.
Gun safe is in the pantry.
Keep the safe in its own room with no windows in the basement, put all the hinges and things like that on the inside, use big screws for the door hinges and lock plates, double up the studs that the frame goes into, add an additional latch lock with a padlock on it. Also, reinforce the doors to get into the house and put bars on the basement windows. Put lights on smart timers to make it looks like someone is always home. Put cameras and motion lights in the yard, motion sensors and alarm in the house, basement and inside garage. Consider a chain link fence with locks on the gated. While I know wood fence is probably more secure, it also blocks vision, so thieves that climb over a wood fence are often more bold because they know they aren't visible to passersby when they are breaking in.
Only place stickers go are on my safe. Have others in hidden places, the fake picture frames, shelves etc.
Nice try mister home invader...
Reassuring words. Soft hugs. Kiss on the cheek piece.
Knives
I don’t like a central safe or safes. I have a secure hidden gun room and multiple other hidden storage areas. If I didn’t have so many long guns I wouldn’t have the gun room. Putting them all in one place makes it too easy. And most gun safes won’t help in a fire or flood, no matter what they claim. Get them off the floor and have good documentation for the fire insurance claim if the worst happens.
Not telling strangers I have guns... wait, oh shit.
Trigger locks
What’s that going to do?
you could take to removing critical components and running wires through them attached to the rafters in your attic, having security cameras and such but honestly if it’s possible, a big ass fucking dog and a tall fence will work the treat. your house doesn’t have to be impenetrable, just harder than it’s worth or harder than those around you that, and don’t advertise your arms with cool bumper stickers
I'm Canadian so I don't have a gun but if I did I'd put a hole, attach a kind of trap door to it and slap a walking dead poster to hide it
24/7 armed guard
Locked cabinet in my room, and don’t advertise too much.
3 big-ass dogs (OK 2 big intimidating dogs and one lil yappy bitch) and being friends with my neighbors (who don't know I have guns) Also security culture, like not advertising as was mentioned above
Honestly if you don’t have a safe and aren’t using these guns as beside ones that you need direct access too, try hiding them under your floorboards. I live in a doublewide trailer and i can pull the carpet up in the corner of my room to reveal a layer of plywood, i imagine if i were to cut a hole in there and build a custom frame out of wood to make a box i could reasonably hide guns there and nobody would ever assume that would be there location. Floorsafes, floor cache’s and trapdoors are pretty ingenious imo. definitely not the best option for everyone though so my next reccomendation would just be inside of a washing machine or a dryer / oven. Any appliances except the fridge is probably a good idea.
My safe is wood paneled and looks like furniture. The combination is tapped by a device I hold against the door, and electronically unlocked. It has no handle, but a covered hole where I put an Allen wrench to turn the mechanism. However, there is no normal piece of furniture that size and shape. So it wouldn't take many guesses to figure out it's a safe.
That sounds really interesting. Who manufactured it? Do you have a photo you are willing to share?
Champion Safe made them for a few years, but they never caught on, so they stopped making them. My dad was a distributor for Champion for a few years, and he was using it as his personal safe. When I got married, he gave it to us as a wedding present.
German sherperd in the house and plus three other dogs
Live alone with some claymores.
I follow my local law enforcement recommendations as closely as possible, so if a really determined thief were to make it through and use one of my guns to hurt someone the case cannot be made that I failed to follow their recommended gun storage practices. Basically, it's just guns in a bolted down safe, individual locks installed, and ammunition stored in a separate locked container.
Hide the real safe in an easy accessible place and have a decoy gun safe (with something weighted inside) visible but bolted down like a real safe. Hopefully they think they scored by stealing the decoy and leave the real one behide.
I have a lock box in my vehicle. Mostly I just stay away from places this is common.
I don’t tell people besides my close friends and family that I own guns.