JimR wrote:Ok, so we're in an apartment for the time being. Probably at least a year or more. I've just started to acquire enough firearms that I'm wanting a safe for all but our carry pieces. Maybe I'm wrong but I can't see having one of those monster heavy safes in an apartment. Additionally, one of the cheaper light safes that would need to be mounted to the wall won't work for obvious reasons.
Anyone have any ideas for gun safes in an apartment? Are there safes that aren't super heavy but too heavy for the average punk criminal to haul off?
Thanks in advance.
If your in a first floor apartment a heavy safe would be no problem. Of coarse you can't bolt it to the floor, but there are other things you can do to make hauling it off a chore. Load a few hundred pounds of ammo in the bottom of it. Ammo is heavy and adds up real quick. Buying a light weight safe is better than nothing, but realize that it is pretty easy to pry the door open on most of those. it will slow them down but not for very long.
If your on a second story or higher unit...you may be limited on what you can do. I am not sure how much weight the floor in an apartment can support. My safe weighs in excess of 1200 lbs empty. Loaded with guns and other goodies, it may weigh 2000 lbs. I can't imagine the average floor handling that kind of weight concentrated on a 36 inch x 36 inch area, not even in a house.
If I were in a second story or higher apartment, I would probably concentrate on hardening the entry. Typically, there is only one point of entrance in a second story unit. They aren't going to come in with a ladder to access the windows. They make door alarms that can be quite the noise makers...heck...rig it to a speaker and point the speaker toward a spot that will get attention if it goes off. Maybe get one of the high decibel sirens that actually make it hard to function while it is going off. Burglars don't like noise and light...either one can get them noticed.