What's our best option for off-site gun storage?

May 28, 2019 8:30 AM

My boyfriend moved in with me. He owns a couple of guns. I don't want to have guns in my house, mostly on principle. Where can we store these?

There is a family-heirloom rifle that is somewhat valuable. There's also a shotgun his dad bought him for his 18th birthday. He never actually fires either of them and has no plans to. He cleans them both a couple times a year. Because of the sentimental value, he doesn't want to sell either of them.

Neither is loaded. There's some ammunition, and we're discussing how best to dispose of it. (He's cool with that.) We don't own a gun safe. We're in a detached home with no garage and minimal outside storage.

I know neither of these weapons poses any actual physical threat to us or our pets. I'd still be happier if they weren't under our roof.

I understand there are off-site storage options -- gun ranges, self-storage facilities that allow unloaded weapons, maybe a safe deposit box. If we're looking to store two guns (and nothing else) and have access to clean them a couple of times a year, what are our best options? Are there other factors we should consider?

(I suspect an ideal solution would be to find a friend with space in their gun safe and stash them there. I don't know whether any of our friends would be an option.)

posted by katieinshoes to Grab Bag (13 answers total)

If theyre sentimental only why not go to a gunsmith and have them block the barrel and remove the firing pin? Then they are strictly ornaments to be displayed somewhere you agree with (ie in "his space" or whatever) no different than some other tacky thing a partner likes and brings with them such as an old ugly chair or mounted fish or something
posted by chasles at 9:40 AM on May 28, 2019 [21 favorites]

You *understand* there are off-site storage options? As a lifelong gun owner I've never heard of that. You need climate controlled storage with low humidity to keep them in good condition. I hope I'm wrong, but I think you will struggle to find this at a reasonable price. If there is anythink like this you might find it by contacting the nearest shooting range. If anyone would know it would be them.
posted by Patapsco Mike at 10:12 AM on May 28, 2019 [7 favorites]

I would buy a locking cupboard for them. Can be a gun safe, or a trunk, or anything that's a reasonable size. If you have any silicon drying packets, throw them in. Keep it unlabeled in a safe spot; guns are a high theft item. Padlock it, and don't worry about it.
posted by theora55 at 10:26 AM on May 28, 2019 [1 favorite]

I understand not wanting guns in your house on principle, I have small humans so we don't have guns in our house because statistically our children are the most likely to die from a gun in our home. My husband is a veteran and came into our marriage with some firearms so our solution was to remove the firing pins because then they're not guns, they are sentimental family heirlooms that aren't dangerous to anyone. When we no longer have small humans we can always hire a gunsmith to put the firing pins back in and make them guns again but that's a discussion that will have a different day and honestly probably not actually going to happen. We chose to go the firing pin route as opposed to selling because they were sentimental and I didn't feel right asking him to get rid of family heirlooms because I perceive them to be dangerous when there was an easy solution to make them not dangerous.
posted by julie_of_the_jungle at 10:36 AM on May 28, 2019 [6 favorites]

Would you be willing to allow them to be stored in a securely locked gun safe if they were completely disassembled? Maybe pay a good gunsmith to break them down as much as they can be?
posted by RichardHenryYarbo at 10:37 AM on May 28, 2019 [1 favorite]

Check whether GunSitters has any locations that are close enough. (You would think that gun dealers would get into this as a business. It might be worth checking with some local ones.)
posted by beagle at 10:38 AM on May 28, 2019 [2 favorites]

I'm not trying to sound condescending but in case you're not sure how guns work once you remove the firing pin even if you put a bullet in it and pull the trigger it won't fire because the mechanism to make the bullet fire isn't there.
posted by julie_of_the_jungle at 10:38 AM on May 28, 2019 [4 favorites]

If storing the guns offsite is not possible and it is desired that the guns remain functional, an option would be to purchase cable gun locks (random link, I cannot vouch for that particular product) and store the key(s) offsite.
posted by sacrifix at 11:47 AM on May 28, 2019 [1 favorite]

This article goes through a list of options, such as at a gun range or even at a pawn shop -https://www.storagefront.com/therentersbent/storing-your-firearms-safe-options-for-gun-storage/
posted by the agents of KAOS at 12:48 PM on May 28, 2019

Response by poster: Yes, I know there are options to reduce risk while keeping the guns in our home, and I'm considering them. My personal preference is to never own a gun, so keeping them in my house in any condition gives me pause, and that's why I've posted this question.

My cursory googling revealed that off-site storage (like GunSitters as beagle suggests, which is unfortunately not close enough to us) options do indeed exist. So I'm asking specifically about off-site storage options, even if there's cost associated with it, and I'd appreciate answers that focus on those options.
posted by katieinshoes at 1:10 PM on May 28, 2019

Gun ranges sometimes offer secure storage for firearms. And some police departments offer secure storage for firearms.
posted by slkinsey at 1:44 PM on May 28, 2019

Gads, $55 a month for a 1'x1'x5' storage?
Totally disassemble the guns; or remove the firing pins.
-Zero- ammo in the house is another safe option; and/or locking the ammo up in a separate box.
Fwiw; as an owner of a few heirloom deer rifles and .22 target rifles; the massive $100-200 that each is worth isn't worth the wtf factor of selling them; so not unlike your buddies; they stay in locked Plano cases, cleaned a couple of times a year; essentially taking up space and being um; boring. Ah, sentiments. Respects for respecting your buddies.
posted by Afghan Stan at 3:11 PM on May 28, 2019

Bury them? The prepper and outdoors communities have plenty of advice and resources for water-tight underground gun storage for decades, you know, just in case. In a nutshell, you'd be gunking up the works with a lot of grease/oil/wax to protect it, bagging it against air and water, and sealing the lot into a buried PVC pipe.

But yeah, go with a more practical option like removing firing pins/bolts, or get a proper-sized gun safe-- it's handy to have a big safe around, by the way. My own gun safe isn't large enough for my rifle, so I lock away the important bits inside the safe, and cable-lock the rest outside it. There's not enough gun in any one place to fire a bullet.
posted by Sunburnt at 3:23 PM on May 28, 2019