The gun safe is considered by many gun enthusiasts as one of the best products for firearm storage, as it can provide security for the guns, and it also has the perfect humidity to prolong the lifespan of the weapons. While gun safes are relatively secure on their own since they can only be opened by a key or a keypad combination, you will still need to make it as hidden as possible from strangers and even some of your family members. Here are some tips for hiding a gun safe.
Hide the Safe in the Bedroom Closet
One of the most private locations where you can hide a gun safe is in the bedroom closet, as you and your wife or husband are the only ones that have access to it. In addition to being private, hiding the gun safe in the bedroom closet is also effective if you want to quickly get your gun during emergency situations.
Most of the bedroom closets you can buy in furniture stores are large enough to accommodate small to medium-sized gun safes inside. In the closet, you can then hide the gun safe even more by adding clothes inside or placing a blanket in front of the safe.
Buy a Cabinet with a False Back
A great way to increase the concealment of a gun safe is to create a false back in the cabinet where it will be stored. A false back is a slab of wood or metal that serves as a fake back for the cabinet so that some of the back portion of the same cabinet can become a hidden compartment.
If you don’t know what a false back looks like, you can go to a furniture store and see a cabinet that is advertised to have a false back, and then you can ask to open the cabinet and see that the end of the cabinet’s interior is much shorter or narrower than the size of the cabinet’s exterior. You can take out the false back to reveal a hidden compartment, where you can store precious items like jewelry and gun safes. Once you purchase a cabinet with a false back, make sure that the secret compartment portion of the cabinet’s exterior is hidden to further create the illusion that the cabinet doesn’t have a false back.
Under the Staircase
If you are living in a house with two floors, you have the option to store your safe under the staircase, although you may need to create a room under the stairs to keep the gun safe hidden. The room under the staircase is commonly called the “spandrel,” and it would sometimes serve as a storage room for several unused or old items that have sentimental value. So, the spandrel is basically a smaller attic.
For hiding a gun safe inside the spandrel, you would need to make a false back for the room so that you can keep it hidden from strangers or people that are not familiar with the layout of your home. If you cannot make a false back, you can just hide the gun safe behind several items that you would normally store in the spandrel.
Hide It Behind Bookshelves
A classic method of hiding safes is to hide them behind bookshelves, particularly those that are already filled with many books so that the wall behind them wouldn’t be visible. Hiding the gun safe behind bookshelves adds extra security for the safe, as most burglars wouldn’t have enough time to sort through books, or they wouldn’t even bother to check the bookshelves.
While the bookshelves are very secure, the downside to hiding the gun safe behind them is that it would take time and effort to get a gun since you would have to move the bookshelves before you can reach the gun safe. But, this problem can be resolved if you can install secret hinges in a small section of the bookshelves that will allow you to swing that section to the left or to the right and get easy access to the safe.
Behind a Mirror
Another great area to hide a gun safe is behind a mirror, which usually doesn’t look suspicious, so it is a perfect place to hide secret compartments and precious items. The mirror should be larger than the gun safe you are buying to further conceal its placement.
However, the drawback to hiding the gun safe behind the mirror is that you will need to take out a portion of the wall in order to keep the safe more concealed. So, if you are going to follow this tip, make sure that you are ready to make changes to your bedroom or bathroom wall.
And, these are tips that you can follow if you want to hide a gun safe properly inside your home. Be sure to not let even some of your family members, especially kids, know about the location of the gun safe for the sake of their safety. Hide the gun safe in the most secure place you can think of to ensure that no one besides you and a few loved ones can get a hold of your firearms.