Getting a gun safe is a great way to protect your firearms and other valuables, but did you know that where you put it can actually get more protection out of it? While you might have a few options on where to plant your new safe, here are some insights to help you consider what's going to work best for you.
The Right Room
What is the best room to put a gun safe in? Short answer, the one least visited by strangers. The less you advertise that you have a safe, the less likely you'll attract unwanted attention to it. While that beautiful color might look fantastic in the living room, that's the room that almost everyone entering your house will see. Appliance repair guy, plumber, your kid's friends, even people just standing at the front door when you open it. The best rooms are the ones that don't get a lot of outside traffic.
The least visited room by anyone outside the family is the master bedroom, and that means the least amount of people will see it. If you want to go even further, the master bedroom closet keeps the safe from prying eyes looking in from the window. Rooms like the den or the living room are much more likely to show off your safe to the wrong people. Of course, these aren't hard rules, but just keep visibility in mind when you pick a spot.
So, what about the garage? The garage is one of the three most popular places to put a gun safe. Some people want it in the garage because they don't have the space for it in the house. Some people like the accessability of their sporting firearms and other goods there. When choosing a spot in the garage, keep these two questions in mind:
• Can someone see it easily? Can they see it from the driveway? Is the safe covered (safe cover, false cabinet, etc.) so they can't guess what it is?
• Can someone get to it easily? Are there power tools in the open and accessible to anyone? Will the car block the way to it from the outside? Is it bolted down so they can't easily wheel it off?
Concealed (And Secret)
The best safe you'll ever have is the one no one knows about. If you can find a way to keep it out of sight from windows, great. If you can find a spot that not even the cable guy, house keeper or plumber can find it, even better.
This even includes family and friends, if possible. You might trust someone with your life, but what if they mention your safe in earshot of someone you can't trust? The smaller the circle of people that know about your safe, the better.
Blocked In
The placement of the safe in the room also goes a long way. For example, placing the safe with the left side against a wall not only keeps people from trying to cut the left side, but it denies them the torque they need to use a pry bar on the door. Any wall or heavy structure on the sides prevents access with power tools, but even if they try and get through the obstacles, if you make it a time-stealing pain, they'll be more inclined to give up and move on.
Hopefully this guide helps you know what to look for when deciding the spot for your gun safe. Wherever you put it, the safe will protect the things you value most, but if you set it in places that make it hard for thieves to access, you can beef up the security the safe gives even more.