| Weapon safes are one of the most important | | | | locks or electronic keypad locks. Key locks are the |
| investments you can make. Be it your home or a | | | | cheapest available, but they are difficult to use in an |
| high-stress environment like Iraq or Afghanistan you | | | | emergency and can be picked easily. Combination |
| MUST have a secure safe that you can count on at | | | | locks don't make for quick opening, but they are less |
| all times. There are many types of gun safes to | | | | likely to be broken into. For the best marriage of |
| choose from and before you go shopping there are a | | | | security and quick access, an electronic keypad is the |
| few considerations you need to make. | | | | best bet. |
| To that end, here are the Top 5 things you should | | | | 4. Fire protection - Many people use their gun safes |
| know before buying a gun or weapons safe for your | | | | as a secure place to store valuables as well. Jewelry, |
| home or office: | | | | heirlooms and important paper work can be held |
| 1. Storage capacity - Storage capacity is one of the | | | | along with guns. Most safes are fireproof because |
| biggest factors in deciding what model of gun safe is | | | | they are made of metal but there are different levels |
| right for you. You'll need to think about how many | | | | of fire protection. Fire protection is based on the |
| guns you have now, whether you'll want to store | | | | levels of heat that the safe will tolerate. The typical |
| additional items in your safe and how many guns | | | | levels of protection are 30 minutes under high heat, |
| you'll have in the future. Measure your guns from the | | | | 60 minutes or 90 minutes. You should make your |
| base to the tip of the barrel so you know exactly | | | | decision based on how close you live to a fire |
| how tall your safe needs to be. Make sure to get a | | | | department. |
| gun safe that can contain all you need to store with | | | | 5. UL certification - Look for a gun safe that has |
| room to expand later on. | | | | certification from Underwriter Laboratory (UL). UL has |
| 2. Top material construction - Gun safes keep guns | | | | standards for residential security containers that will |
| out of the hands of children and burglars as well. | | | | ensure that you're buying a quality safe. The higher |
| While burglars can break into a gun storage case, a | | | | the UL rating, the harder it is to break into the safe. |
| gun safe is a different matter entirely. The heavy | | | | These considerations are all that you need to make |
| duty material of a safe will help protect the guns | | | | an informed decision when buying a gun safe. By |
| from fire and break in. You can easily check the | | | | purchasing your next gun or weapons safe using |
| strength of a safe by its weight. Steel is heavy and a | | | | these guidelines you can be sure that you are buying |
| quality safe should have a solid steel door and walls. | | | | a quality safe that will stand up to your everyday |
| 3. Safe locks - Gun safe locks come in three different | | | | requirements. |
| varieties. They are either key locks, combination | | | | |