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Gun Storage in an Apartment

sigfanboy13

sigfanboy13

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Hello NES braintrust.

I'm currently in the process of moving into my first apartment. Due to the nature of my apartment I cannot bring in a full size gun safe. So I'm looking for any advise to secure a gun cabinet without being able to bolt it to the floor. And preferably keep the cabinet as discreet as possible.

How do you keep you rifles safe and out of the way in an apartment? My idea is to bolt a steel cabinet to the inside of a wardrobe.
 
Depending on your collection, a small Stack-On cabinet its the best choice. The less obtrusive the better. If you have roommates, the less they know the better. Can't steal what you can't find, or don't know exists.
 
I have been very pleased with this Homak. It is light enough (empty) so you can move it around. And there are holes in the back 16” OC so you can lag bolt it to the studs in your wall. I would think this would be ideal for an apartment dweller.

upload_2019-9-16_14-44-55.jpeg

Only down side is that it won’t hold nearly the number of guns they claim, but none of them do.
 
sigfanboy13 said:
Hello NES braintrust.

I'm currently in the process of moving into my first apartment. Due to the nature of my apartment I cannot bring in a full size gun safe. So I'm looking for any advise to secure a gun cabinet without being able to bolt it to the floor. And preferably keep the cabinet as discreet as possible.

How do you keep you rifles safe and out of the way in an apartment? My idea is to bolt a steel cabinet to the inside of a wardrobe.
Click to expand...
Gun case with a lock. Throw it in a closet or under the bed.

That's how I kept my rifles when renting in Brighton.

I had a separate guitar case (that I could also lock) to bring my rifles to my car without anyone noticing I had rifles. A bunch of Fender, Peavey, Gibson ... stickers on a gun case will also work.

MA law says the gun needs to be in a locked container. A locked gun case is a locked container.

If you have a bunch of safe queens, only take the ones you use every weekend and leave the rest in a safe at a family members house. It is legal as long as they cant access it (assuming they dont have a gun license).

You might also be able to take all the bolts out, lock them in a small safe and then put a trigger lock on the guns, throw them in your closet and call it a day.

I'm not sure if a gun without a bolt still needs a trigger lock.
 
I have a similar situation. Can't bolt to floor and can't bring in a large/heavy safe. Here's what I did:

I was lucky enough to have a built-out storage closet where my safe was just about the exact width of one section of the closet. I cut a 1-1/4" piece of plywood for the exact size of the base of the closet. Drilled a hole in the center and placed a steel bolt through it--the thickest that would fit through the safe's floor bolt hole. Secured the plywood into the sides of the closet with 2 L-brackets on each of the three sides, left, right and rear. Placed the safe onto the plywood with the bolt coming through the base of the safe. Used a couple heavy washers and a nut to secure it. Dremeled off the extra thread length of the bolt to clean up.

While not ideal, I think one could do something similar with just L-bracketing 2 sides of the plywood to the closet/baseboard if you can't get all three sides. Still better than just free standing.

With the safe in place, the L-brackets are fairly unreachable. It is secure enough from a quick snack of the entire safe now. Sure, one could still pry it out with a pry bar and a decent amount of effort, but it would probably be easier to just pry the door at that point. Either way, I have a cloud cam pointed at it so I can yell at any intruders and tell them the cops are on the way if the motion alarm goes off.
 
Broccoli Iglesias said:
Gun case with a lock. Throw it in a closet or under the bed.

That's how I kept my rifles when renting in Brighton.

I had a separate guitar case (that I could also lock) to bring my rifles to my car without anyone noticing I had rifles. A bunch of Fender, Peavey, Gibson ... stickers on a gun case will also work.

MA law says the gun needs to be in a locked container. A locked gun case is a locked container.

If you have a bunch of safe queens, only take the ones you use every weekend and leave the rest in a safe at a family members house. It is legal as long as they cant access it (assuming they dont have a gun license).

You might also be able to take all the bolts out, lock them in a small safe and then put a trigger lock on the guns, throw them in your closet and call it a day.

I'm not sure if a gun without a bolt still needs a trigger lock.
Click to expand...

No. Storage law from goal website:

All guns, when not in use, with the exception of primitive firearms, must be kept “secured in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety device,” to prevent unauthorized use.

The key word is OR in bold. A trigger lock or cable through the action is fine for storage in your home.
It's saying that in a locked container or with a tamper resistant mechanical lock.

OP.....you can put them in cases and lock the case and put them in a closet under your bed or wherever you want....or.....put a cable lock or trigger lock on them and put them in a closet under your bed or wherever you want just as they are. You don't NEED a cabinet or safe. However........a good safe or cabinet is the easiest way.

Before I bought a safe many moons ago I put my long guns in hard cases.....padlocked the cases and stored them in the closet. Pistols I had a small bedside safe.
 
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whacko said:
No. Storage law from goal website:

All guns, when not in use, with the exception of primitive firearms, must be kept “secured in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety device,” to prevent unauthorized use.

The key word is OR in bold. A trigger lock or cable through the action is fine for storage in your home.
It's saying that in a locked container or with a tamper resistant mechanical lock.

OP.....you can put them in cases and lock the case and put them in a closet under your bed or wherever you want....or.....put a cable lock or trigger lock on them and put them on a closet under your bed or wherever you want just as they are. You don't NEED a cabinet or safe.
Click to expand...
You are right and after re-reading my post I expressed myself incorrectly.
 
Pelican case and be done. Can be used for many years after you move out. A smallish lightweight steel box is a waste of money IMO.

Many ways to secure it too a wall making it a PITA to deal with. If you are really nervous you could attach a Liberty Elert to it. If it's touched you get a message & email to your phone in seconds.
 
sigfanboy13 said:
Hello NES braintrust.

I'm currently in the process of moving into my first apartment. Due to the nature of my apartment I cannot bring in a full size gun safe. So I'm looking for any advise to secure a gun cabinet without being able to bolt it to the floor. And preferably keep the cabinet as discreet as possible.

How do you keep you rifles safe and out of the way in an apartment? My idea is to bolt a steel cabinet to the inside of a wardrobe.
Click to expand...
Get a 10 gun Redhead safe from BassPro. It will comfortably hold three shotguns, three or four scoped rifles plus ammo. Fits completely into even a small to medium-sized closet.
 
I just threw the long gun in an SKB case and used a small Stack On for the pistols, as a rule I didn't leave any paraphernalia lying around. My apartment lease had something about "gunz" that I didn't give a rats a' about to read and to prevent theft, Property Manager may be honest but you never know.
 
Snap safe modular gun safe, it gets assembled after you bring it up the stairs in pieces, Can be taken back apart after to bring to the next place, and they are way better than any cheap gun cabinet.
 
sigfanboy13 said:
So I'm looking for any advise to secure a gun cabinet without being able to bolt it to the floor. And preferably keep the cabinet as discreet as possible.
Click to expand...
71Sj1o-ubGL._SL1500_.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/7501-Paragon-Lock-Safe-Rifle/dp/B009KMI01U

This was my first rifle safe and it served me VERY well. Lightweight to only need 2 people to carry. Holds 5 rifles and an internal safe cabinet for handguns and ammo. The keypad lock was a huge plus for me. It's not going to withstand a nuclear bomb, but for basic apartment needs I think this one is perfect.
 
Lowbird said:
Stack on cabinets from your preferred vendor will be fine. Put in a lockable closet if you have space.
Click to expand...

This would be my advice too. Stack-On cabinet in a lockable closet would be ideal. You could probably screw it into the wall and fill the holes when you move out. Harbor Freight also has some tool cabinet end lockers for about $200 that might work better. It has adjustable / removable shelves, a drawer at the bottom and a reverse-able swing door. It weighs over 100 pounds so it's not super flimsy. Probably holds it's value better and you could re-sell it to a gun guy or a tool guy down the road.

16 in. Black End Locker
 
Just my 2 cents as someone who lived in an apartment for a few years. Get a Golden Rod dehumidifying rod for whatever safe you get. You probably won’t have much control over the air quality unless you go out and buy your own stuff. A cheap $30 rod really helps keep rust and mold off your guns.
 
20190917_023151.jpg
Apartment. 2nd floor no less. Bolted down to 3 inches of panels sitting atop the floor...

The sheer weight makes the object immovable but also the panels are cut such that they won't fit out the door frame. These small fire safes are < $400, weigh about 180 lbs (2 wheeler and 2 guys can get them up stairs no problem) and can hold 8 ARs with optics plus pistols and whatever on the shelves above. Not the best safes in the world but good enough, way better than a cabinet.
 
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And sure its good to dehumidify, my ACs turn on in June and I just recently dialed them back to fan, thermostats set of course but even if Im gone for a week my place stays less than 75 and is dry.
 
I'm seeing a tone of great idea. I really like bolting it to oversized panels. Anyone have experience with secure it cabinets? The gun store near me is offering them for about 400.
 
sigfanboy13 said:
How do you make the paneling and what safes? I love that set up
Click to expand...

I used 2 layers of 3/4 hardboard and 2 layers of 3/4 plywood. The closet is a touch over 4 feet wide inside so I just had to cut 4x8 sheets in half - had them do it at home depot.

I screwed the 1st layer of hardboard into the plywood, screws slightly sunk so they wouldn't hurt the floor. I set it down hardboard side down. Then I screwed the 2nd layer of plywood down and finally the last layer of hardboard on top..

I set the safes on there, pushed them against the wall to take up the little bit of space left (so the whole thing is a tight fit) and carefully drilled pilot holes for the 1/2 inch lags such that the lags fully pass through the 1.5 inch of plywood without making it through the bottom hardboard pad and harming the floor.
 

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