Apartment dwellers: pistol (and/or long arm) security

[Sprocket]

In order to comply with MA regs I need to secure my guns - I'm using trigger locks but need to get a few more.

Recently I picked up a pistol and would like to keep it handy but secured - I'm thinking on one of these:

I would like to fasten it to something so it won't "walk away" but don't want to ruin the floor/wall - no matter what make/model of pistol safe I use, I'd like to fastened down.

What are you using to secure your HD pistol?

 

[doobie]

What are you using to secure your HD pistol?

My belt or hand.

 

[News Shooter]

How about a pipe under the sink?

 

[Pilgrim]

bolt it to your bed frame.

 

[Another_David]

Cast iron radiator, although not so close it'll heat up.

Or bolted to bed frame with double nuts on the inside.

 

[Rockrivr1]

I have one of those and I mounted it to my bed frame with the wire that comes with it. The wire is sufficient to keep the box attached to it if someones just doing some light pulling on it. (Like a child) If someone really yanks, that wire is not going to hold the box for long.

 

[Raoul Duke]

A holster...

Ok, enough with the obtuse answers.

Specifically, I'd bolt that to a stud and call it done. If someone knows it's there and really wants it, they'll get it. If they can't be deterred by the effort necessary to free it from a joist or stud, they probably won't care what pipe it's attached to. They will simply smash it. or destroy the lock with a drill.


You're question, essentially, is what do people who don't own a home yet and don't want to invest in a huge safe which they will eventually have to move do for security?

I'm in that position. I currently rent a house so I have lots of space but no desire to haul a safe across the town, state, or country.

Long Guns: All but one of my long guns live in secured rifle cases (storm cases) with twin padlocks on the outside. The cases are then locked using a cable lock through an anchor I set in the wall stud. The door to the closet in also locked and all three sides of the closet are external facing, second floor walls. The odd bird is a Mosin which probably wouldn't even fit in a safe. That gets a trigger lock and it's still looking for a new permanent home.

Pistols: All but one get a trigger lock and then a hard case with an external lock before being locked in the closet described above. The remaining is whatever I am using for a carry piece at the time. Generally it's a Sig 229(40) which starts out the day secured at my bedside making the transition to my holster/person before leaving the house. At the end of the day it comes home and is secured in the same position it started the day before anything else happens. Occasionally, if I am going out again, I will leave it on my waist. While I do not share my space in a permanent manner with anyone except the dog, I am trying to teach myself to be flawless about securing unattended firearms now, so that it's really second nature when it counts.

One other thing. I won't disclose how I secure the pistol bedside except to say that it is in compliance with the relevant MA regulations concerning the proper storage of firearms etc etc....)

Ammo is stored in ammo boxes with hasp/lock combinations that I got from Cheaper than dirt. The locked boxes then go in the closet. I always keep three magazines in play. One in the pistol, and two in a holder.

A lot of people seem to like the stack on safes. That's what I will investigate next.

RD

 

[BOBKATT]

I'm curious as to what you are looking for as far as security is concerned. Are you looking to comply with MA laws or looking to prevent theft. That box(I have one but only for transportation in a vehicle) will not be the best theft deterrent. Simple tools can cut the cable or chain that you use to secure it. It does however keep you on the obiding side of the law, be it in your home or vehicle if used properly. If you are looking to prevent theft, get a heavy duty safe and bolt it to something that isn't going to move. Otherwise, I believe carrying openly in the home and you can do so legally as long as you are in direct control of the firearm.

 

[Sprocket]

Bobkatt - My goal is to:
A - comply with MA laws
2 - keep the pistol handy
Third - prevent theft in my absence

I often travel for a couple weeks at a time and don't want the worry of loosing my firearms due to break in. If I use that particular box, it will be hard fastened to something as the cable looks feeble at best.

Also - can you describe how you fastened it in your vehicle (if hard mounted, possible location, etc.)? I see this as a good use too.

I plan on getting a stack-on for the long arms and can store the pistol there when I travel. This will be mounted in the closet and I'll deal with repairs when the time comes. Perhaps if I am planning a repair, the second won't be that big of a deal...

Thanks All for the input so far.

 

[BOBKATT]

Also - can you describe how you fastened it in your vehicle (if hard mounted, possible location, etc.)? I see this as a good use too.

I use the cable to fasten it to a part of the vehicle that is not going anywhere. That's all I'll say here. I don't transport a firearm like this often and very rarely at all. It is there only incase of certain speciffic situations where I might need to transport a firearm legally and can not have it on my person or in another container.

The cable will not prefent theft and should only be considered a small deterrent, I use it mainly for complying with the law. And I can honestly say that I've only had to use it maybe once or twice. And it did it's intended job. I'm not using it as long term storage or storage in a vehicle that is being unattended for any period of time when I am not close by. Again, I want to stress the intended use and the use that I have for it: Obedience of the law.

I plan on getting a stack-on for the long arms and can store the pistol there when I travel. This will be mounted in the closet and I'll deal with repairs when the time comes. Perhaps if I am planning a repair, the second won't be that big of a deal...

The only acceptable long term storage device for me is a proper safe. You know, 1 inch bolts, fireproof, heavy, etc.. The method that I can suggest if you have multiple firearms, maybe you are a collector or a shooter on top of the pistol that you keep for self defense, is buy a good safe for all of that and keep a pistol box safe handy for your HD gun. A lot of folks around here like the ones with the code that you can press for quick access. Then let's say you go away or something, you just put that gun in the safe with the others. The pistol box doesn't have to be really secured to anything in that case, as it is just to comply with the law and grant quick access.

 

[vellnueve]

I lived in an apartment for a while. I had a safe hidden in my closet. No one ever noticed.