It’s sadly the case that one of the most common times when you need access to your handgun will be during the night when you are woken up from your sleep by an intruder. It’s at these times that you will be glad that you have chosen to store your handgun inside your bedroom or within reach of your bed.
In these circumstances a Bedside Gun Safe or Locking Gun Case is just what you need so that you can access your handgun in an emergency but at the same time keep it safely out of reach of your kids.
Where to Put Your Bedside Gun Safe or Lock Box
It’s a good idea if you don’t yet have any secure place that you can store your hand gun in your bedroom that you start to look at the options.
The first thing to investigate is where you can actually put a small gun safe or lockable gun case or cabinet. From our own experience we have found that the following locations are good choices:
Inside your nightstand drawer
Having a small top-opening gun safe mounted inside your nightstand drawer is a good solution for several reasons, not least because it is not visible inside your bedroom to a casual intruder. You will also be able to reach it without leaving your bed.
On top of your nightstand
Having a small gun safe mounted securely on top of your nightstand is also a reasonable solution, but unfortunately the safe is the visible to everyone who comes into your room. You might want to keep the fact that you keep a firearm at your bedside concealed.
Inside your closet
Another good solution for having a small gun safe installed is to put it inside your closet. This offers an ideal solution of keeping the safe concealed from an intruder but also allows you to mount the safe securely by anchoring it to the wall studs where it cannot easily be removed from by the thief.
Under Your Bed
You can always fit a safe under your bed. One of the benefits of putting it here is that you can secure the safe to the floor so it can’t be easily stolen by an intruder. It’s also not easily visible to someone walking into your bedroom.
It’s important to realize that most of these solutions are not designed to stop a determined thief from stealing your firearm. Instead, the purpose of the safe or lock box is to keep your handgun from being accessed by your kids or the thief.
This is why the gauge of steel used in the manufacture of these types of safe and gun cases is thinner than you would find in a normal full-sized gun safe or gun vault.
Mounting the Gun Safe
it’s essential that you take steps to prevent the small safe that contains your handgun being stolen by the thief. Most thieves would not attempt to open a small safe or gun case if it can be simply picked up and carried away complete with the contents.
Don’t forget that what they are trying to do is get into your property, take your belongings, and get away as quickly and quietly as possible. To prevent a thief carrying your safe away you should make sure that it is mounted securely to either a heavy object or to your wall or floor. This can be accomplished by using Lag Bolts or heavy duty wood screws or bolts.
What Model of Gun Safe Should You Buy?
There are many different reputable manufacturers that offer small gun safes and locking gun cases that are suitable for keeping your gun inside.
The first stage in making a selection is to decide how much space the safe has to fit into to.
You then need to decide whether you want the safe to open at the top or the front because this will also narrow down your selection.
The Type of Lock?
You then need to select the type of lock that you want. You have several different choices:
Biometric Fingerprint Lock
Opens by scanning your fingerprint in the reader. Its easy to open in the dark.
Electronic Keypad Lock
That opens when you enter your set code. Can be quite difficult to open when the light’s not good.
Simplex Lock
A mechanical lock where you enter a short sequence of numbers to open the safe. This lock is very simple so there’s less that can go wrong with it, and it doesn’t require batteries. Unfortunately, once again it can be quite challenging to open if youre fumbling around in
We have looked at many of these small gun safes inside the review section of this site. I suggest that you have a good read around these reviews to find a recommended safe that suits your requirements.