Wednesday, October 19, 2011

GunVault Handgun Safes

I grew up around farms and rural areas with mostly small town folks where you could expect a gun to be found at just about any house or barn around.  Gun control on the farm meant red marks on your backside from a switch for touching the loaded shotgun kept ready-at-hand by the door.  I'm not too sure that gun control of that nature isn't still the best kind considering the failure of most other gun control measures put in place by the gubermint.


There are many considerations when deciding to keep a handgun, or any gun for that matter, ready for use in a defensive situation or keeping that same gun away from those who have no business touching it.  If you live alone or in a situation where responsible adults are the only folks around, you may choose to keep a loaded handgun ready for use without locking it up, possibly even in a holster on you.

On the other hand, if you have children or grandchildren who frequent your home or other idiots around, you now have to decide how to secure your firearms and what compromises you are willing to make in accessibility to your guns to keep those "unauthorized" folks or little ones away from your guns, especially your loaded guns.


Back when my little gal was just a toddler, we purchased a GunVault Handgun Safe.  Aside from a gun holstered on us, we felt it was a good compromise to keep a loaded gun ready for use while keeping it secure from a child.  The No-Eyes keypad is easy to operate in the dark or without looking and the brief delay to get the firearm in hand is worth the security of keeping it out of hands it shouldn't be in.  Our little gal is now sixteen and has access to firearms for self-protection in our home, a point which will probably be discussed in further depth as part of a future post.

The GunVault Multi-Deluxe is a sturdily built, steel handgun safe with a spring-loaded front door and battery operated locking mechanism that can be opened with the keypad or a barrel-type back-up key provided with the safe.  We have had ours for over ten years and it operates without fail, although we do change the AA batteries every six months when we change the batteries in the smoke alarms.

The Deluxe model also features an interior light, a motion alarm in case someone tries to move it, and low battery indicator.  Ours is also bolted in place.  If someone tries to randomly enter access codes, it automatically deactivates the keypad-operated lock for a specified amount of time.


A couple of years ago, we bought a GunVault MicroVault.  This is a portable little handgun vault that operates the same way as our other one, but is much more portable.  It comes with a cable to secure it to a piece of furniture or in your vehicle... just don't pull a Barney Fife and secure it around a table leg that can be easily lifted up and off... now which pocket did I put my bullet in?


It uses the same No-Eyes keypad as the other GunVaults, yet it is sized to easily fit in a brief case, under the bed, under the car seat, or even in a drawer.  When you enter the code, the lid doesn't "spring" open like the other GunVaults, but there are two spring-loaded prongs that push the lid up a bit to make opening it easier.


The MicroVault has no problem holding a full-size handgun and extra magazines or some cash.  The foam-lined interior protects your guns and keeps things from rattling around.  We've taken ours on vacation and while visiting friends and family.  It operates on AA batteries too.

Now let's be honest and provide some perspective here.  These GunVault handgun safes will keep a child, and most adults, from quickly getting access to your gun and while they are steel, they could still be broken into.  I haven't tried it, but I'm sure if I took one of these little safes out to the barn and went after it with a sledge-hammer, chisel, and a pry-bar... I could have it busted open in a few minutes.  Your three-year-old won't.  Your teenage grandson won't... unless given unlimited access to it and by the way... don't think kids don't know where the guns are kept and likely where the key is or what the combinations are... OPSEC folks!

GunVault has several models available, including some with biometric access.  If you want a good product that provides the level of security it was intended to provide and if it fits within your needs or compliments your larger, slower access gun safe...

We've had a lot of years of experience with this company's products and for us and our needs... you can't go wrong with GunVault Handgun Vaults.

4 comments:

  1. Great review! Good advice too.

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  2. These are interesting. We don't have this variety, just the large safes here.

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  3. Great review and info Dann. Thanks.

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  4. @Farmchick: We have the "larger than the fridge" safes too, but these were especially useful when the little gal was still little... and when she had friends over, or the nephews stopped by...

    I have a friend whose son went to college this year and he bought the young man a MicroVault to use in his dorm room - not for guns - for cash, wallet, personal items - for security...

    Dann in Ohio

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