Biggest Gun Safe Buying Mistakes

Gun Safe Broken Into

Gun Safes Not As Secure As Advertised

Most gun safes are pretty easy to break into! Due to clever marketing and design tricks many gun owners have been misled into believing their safes are more secure than they really are. Having been in the safe industry for over 40 years, “A” Locksmith has seen it all when it comes to devastating safe-buying regrets. Learn from the mistakes of the past by finding a gun safe that will provide the security you really need.  Here are the top four causes of gun safe owner’s remorse, for safes that won’t cause heartache down the line, stop by our Naples, Florida safe showroom across from Mercato.

Not Bolting Down

Just think, your safe got into your home somehow.  As professional safe movers, we can painlessly move safes that are hundreds or even thousands of pounds. Burglars these days come prepared. They can go buy the very same equipment we use to move safes out of their victim’s homes. They can then trailer your safe to their hideout where they can spend hours or days breaking into it. Big-box stores won’t install your safe (you are lucky if they’ll deliver it!) and some safes don’t even have pre-drilled anchor holes.

What to Look For – When you buy a gun safe, even a very good quality heavy gun safe, you absolutely need to bolt it down! Your safe should come with anchor bolts and be pre-drilled for proper installation. When you bolt it down, you will force a burglar to attack an upright safe from a fixed position. This decreases the amount of physical leverage the burglar has for prying and dramatically increases the amount of time the burglar will need to spend on your safe, upping the chances that they will get caught or will give up as they race the clock. For more info about where to install your safe, click here!

 

Naples Gun Safe Crossection

Construction of a Quality Safe (Top) vs. a Cheap Big Box Store Safe (Bottom)

Safes Made of… Drywall?

If you’ve ever punched a hole through drywall, you know why you shouldn’t trust it to protect your most valued possessions. Today most gun safe doors are made of nothing more than a very thin sheet of metal glued to weak drywall with gaps between the steel and drywall, some low-end safes are lined with plastic.

What to Look For – Now if you’ve ever tried to punch a hole through solid poured concrete, you’d know the difference! Quality safes that offer a high level of security aren’t filled with drywall, they are filled with an advanced poured concrete amalgamate mixture that offers protection from brute force and torch attacks as well as intense fires. There should be no gaps between the steel and the concrete mix to ensure maximum protection. Gun safes with concrete walls, however, can be very expensive and prohibitively heavy for some homes and condos (over 4,000 lbs), so If a concrete-filled safe won’t work for you, at least get a safe that has an inner layer of steel, has no gaps between the composite material and the walls, as well as a unibody steel exterior.

The Thick Door Trick

So you shopped around a big-box or sporting goods store and picked a safe with a really thick door, thinking it was made of solid steel. Twenty years ago, this might have been okay, but with cheap imported safes and savvy marketers flooding the market, most of today’s safes are more inferior and less secure than ever before. By designing safes to be lighter and reducing the amount of expensive steel, importers can save on shipping costs. The savings are passed to you with unbelievably low prices, but even the largest gun safes offer just pint-size protection.

What to Look For – Thick doors have no bearing on the security of a safe, what matters is the thickness of the steel and what’s inside of that door. Solid steel is what really protects your valuables from a burglary attack. (Note: the lower the steel gauge number the thicker it is, so 7 gauge steel is better than 14 gauge) Look for a safe with a heavy door and a nice thick layer of solid steel. What’s behind the door matters too, so make sure your lock has a relocker feature and a ball-bearing hardplate to protect the lock from drilling attacks.

Spending Way Too Much on Way Too Little

Cheap imported safe manufacturers are looking for any way to up the perceived value of their safes. Their strategy is to distract buyers with bright, shiny objects instead of putting money into the expensive steel and materials to make your safe as secure as possible. Cool-looking artwork, glossy paint finishes, LED lights, and safe organizers are fun features, but don’t provide any additional security to your valuables.

What to Look For – If you are on a budget, don’t sacrifice your safe’s security for fancy features. Just go with a simple, reliable safe with the thickest steel you can afford. We carry and recommend both Liberty Safes and American Security Safes based on their high quality, reliability, and independent fire and burglary ratings. Both brands manufacture gun safes in a wide range of prices so we can find something that works for your budget.

For more information about how to buy a gun safe, click here.

Naples Gun Safe Showroom

“A” Locksmith Gun Safe Showroom

Why Buy a Safe from “A” Locksmith

  • We deliver and install safes so burglars can’t wheel them out
  • We sell quality safes made of thick steel and some reinforced with advanced concrete
  • We have safe experts that can answer any questions you have
  • We are authorized dealers for top-quality brands
  • We have gun safes in our showroom in all price ranges, from $500 to $7,000 and everywhere in between