In today’s security landscape, the importance of a reliable gun safe cannot be overstated. Safes are designed to offer peace of mind, ensuring our valuable possessions and firearms are shielded from unauthorized access.
However, recent developments have shaken the trust of many in the industry. The controversial decision by Liberty Gun Safe to provide the FBI with bypass codes to a customer’s safe has sent shockwaves throughout the gun community, raising profound concerns about privacy and the integrity of security policies.
This incident underscores the critical importance of selecting manufacturers that prioritize user privacy and true security. While some brands may have faltered, others stand firm in their commitment to end-user confidentiality.
Weapons are stored in the security forces armory in Building 500 June 14, 2017, at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. All personally owned firearms brought onto base or stored on base must be registered at the visitor control center. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Daniel Brosam)
Notably, a select few manufacturers have taken the commendable step of omitting bypass codes from their digital keypads altogether, ensuring that the sanctity of their safes remains uncompromised.
As we dive deeper into the world of gun safes, it becomes crucial to spotlight those brands that truly value and uphold our right to privacy.
Summary of our Top 3 Picks
Before we dive in, if you’re just here for the list of gun safes, here are our top 3 picks from the article! Keep reading for the complete list of gun safes as well as the ones that won’t give up your privacy when pressured by a tyrannical government.
Gun ownership is not just about the right to bear arms, but it also carries with it a profound responsibility.
One of the most critical aspects of this responsibility is the secure storage of firearms, and this is where the indispensability of gun safes comes into play.
Here are a few reasons why every gun owner should invest in a quality gun safe.
Safety First
At its core, a gun safe is about protecting those you love. Households can include children, visitors, or individuals unfamiliar with firearm safety. A gun safe ensures that firearms don’t end up in the wrong hands, preventing potential accidents or misuse.
Theft Prevention
Firearms are high-value items that are attractive to criminals. Storing them in a secure safe means they are shielded from burglars, ensuring your weapons aren’t used for illicit activities or resold in the black market.
Legal Requirements
Many jurisdictions mandate the secure storage of firearms. Owning a gun safe ensures compliance with these regulations, shielding you from potential legal complications.
Protection from Fire and Water
Many modern gun safes offer fireproof and waterproof features. This means that in the unfortunate event of a fire or flood, your firearms and any other valuables stored inside remain protected.
Insurance Benefits
Some insurance companies offer premium discounts or require the use of safes for firearms coverage. A gun safe could, therefore, result in financial savings in the long run.
Organized Storage
Beyond security, gun safes offer an organized storage solution. They can house not only firearms but also ammunition, accessories, and maintenance tools, ensuring everything is in one accessible location.
A gun safe is more than just a protective vault; it’s a testament to the gun owner’s commitment to responsibility, safety, and adherence to the highest standards of firearm ownership.
For a great conversation about the importance of a gun safe, check out the following Black Rifle Podcast where they sit down with Tom Kubiniec from SecureIt Gun Storage and get their minds blown by the knowledge Tom had to share. He has a different perspective on Gun storage solutions and loves sharing his passion.
Different Types of Gun Safes
Gun safes vary based on size, design, locking mechanism, and specific use. Here’s a breakdown of the different types of gun safes.
Handgun Safes
Purpose: Specifically designed for handguns and pistols.
Design: Usually compact and portable, making them ideal for bedside or under-desk storage.
Each type of gun safe offers its own set of advantages, catering to various needs and preferences. The choice depends on factors like the number of firearms, the desired security level, available space, and the owner’s access preferences.
Electronic or Mechanical locks?
When choosing between an electronic lock and a mechanical lock for a gun safe, both options have their own advantages and disadvantages. Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons of each:
Electronic Lock
Pros:
Quick Access: Electronic locks typically allow faster access than their mechanical counterparts. Just punch in the code, and you’re in.
Multiple User Codes: Many electronic locks offer the ability to set multiple access codes, useful if multiple trusted individuals need access.
Automatic Locking: Some electronic safes automatically lock upon closing, adding an extra layer of security.
Easy Code Changes: Changing the combination is typically straightforward, allowing for frequent updates if desired.
Cons:
Battery Dependency: Most electronic locks require batteries. If the battery dies, you might be locked out until it’s replaced.
Vulnerability: Though rare, sophisticated burglars might attempt electronic tampering. Additionally, some cheap electronic locks can be vulnerable to strong magnets.
Durability: Over time, the electronic components might fail, especially if not from a quality manufacturer.
Mechanical Lock:
Pros:
Reliability: No batteries, no electronics. A well-made mechanical lock can last for decades with proper maintenance.
No Electronic Tampering: There’s no circuitry to hack or bypass electronically.
Durability: Mechanical locks, especially from reputable brands, tend to withstand wear and tear better than electronic locks.
Cons:
Slower Access: Turning the dial to the correct combination takes longer than typing a PIN on a keypad.
Complicated Combinations: If not practiced, users can forget or fumble the combination, especially in stressful situations.
Maintenance: Requires periodic servicing to ensure smooth operation.
The decision between electronic and mechanical locks largely depends on your priorities. If quick access is paramount, especially in emergencies, an electronic lock might be more suitable.
However, if you value longevity and reliability without the concern of batteries or electronic failures, a mechanical lock could be the better choice.
Always ensure that you’re purchasing from a reputable manufacturer, as the quality can vary widely within both categories.
Best Gun Safes
Gun ownership comes with its own set of responsibilities. One of the foremost among these is ensuring that your firearms are stored securely, away from unauthorized users.
The ideal gun safe provides a perfect balance of accessibility for the owner and high-level protection against theft, fire, and tampering.
Let’s explore some of the best gun safes on the market.
Whether in your vehicle, camper or integrated into home furniture, this unit ensures premium safety standards. The intuitive 5-button punch lock offers swift accessibility, while its spacious design comfortably houses a range of pistol sizes, complemented with additional space for magazines.
Lined with a protective foam pad, each box is constructed using robust 10-gauge steel and fortified with a 3/16" door plate. With industry-leading security features, we stand by the quality of our product with a comprehensive lifetime warranty.
Designed to securely house a handgun, magazine(s), passport, and cash. The Vaultek VS20i Biometric gun safe offers versatility in placement, with options for mounting or tethering to surfaces like a nightstand, desk, or vehicle using the provided hardware.
Made with durable 16-gauge steel, it boasts an Anti-Impact Latch, Reinforced Interior Hinges, and Vaultek’s distinctive Unibody Design, ensuring unparalleled strength and longevity. Enjoy swift access to your valuables, documents, and compact firearms, courtesy of the automatic lid mechanism complemented by responsive LED lighting.
Ideal for on-the-go usage, this safe is effortlessly portable, making it suitable for car journeys, office settings, and integration into backpacks or luggage. Engineered to safeguard your valuables while ensuring immediate access, it adheres to TSA guidelines and accommodates handguns up to 10.70" in overall length and 5.75" in height.
Designed for immediate, dependable access during crucial moments, this safe incorporates a sophisticated biometric fingerprint scanner complemented by a silent digital lock and an override key, ensuring multiple layers of security. Interior LED lighting ensures visibility, while its discreet entry system and robust, pry-resistant steel construction highlight its commitment to safety.
Beyond its formidable features, this safe has earned the California DOJ Certification, further attesting to its excellence in firearm storage and protection.
The SecureIt HG2 Handgun Safe is a blend of quick access and security. Boasting a refined design complemented by a touch-screen keypad, it offers efficient storage for 1-2 handguns that seamlessly integrate into any space within your home.
This handgun safe has been designed to accommodate a broad spectrum of popular handgun brands. Its automatic door ensures that you’re armed and ready within moments. Furnished with cutting-edge nano-cellular foam, the HG2 safeguards against potential damage and corrosion. Additional features include an interior illumination system, a supplementary storage pouch, and a USB-C power port.
For installation flexibility, the HG2 comes with pre-drilled mounting holes, making it suitable for a range of locations—be it your nightstand, kitchen drawers, closet shelves, or dressers. For those seeking a covert, yet secure handgun storage solution, the SecureIt HG2 is a solid option.
Tailored for those seeking a handgun safe capable of securing multiple handguns and other valuables such as passports, cash, and watches. The Vaultek MX series retains Vaultek’s hallmark engineering precision and build quality.
Constructed with robust steel, this safe incorporates anti-pry bars, internal hinges, and additional shielding to deter unauthorized access. Pre-drilled mounting holes and the included hardware allow for easy and secure placement. Its auto-open lid ensures quick, on-demand access to your valuables.
The numeric keypad provides secure entry, boasting over 19 million possible combinations. An added security feature, the “Security Sleep Mode," becomes activated after repeated incorrect entries, locking out the keypad for four minutes. The built-in LED interior light ensures clear visibility, and the proximity-activated backlit keypad is optimal for low-light conditions. Several hot key features enhance user experience, such as sound toggling, battery status check, and a travel mode.
Powered by a long-lasting lithium-ion battery, this safe remains operational for over four months on a single charge, which takes just 2.5 hours to recharge.
Constructed entirely of steel, this Ready-to-Assemble 8 Gun Security Cabinet offers dependable protection for firearms and valuables, ensuring they remain safeguarded against unauthorized access.
Enhanced by a rigorously tested 3-Point Locking System, the cabinet ensures thorough security at the top, bottom, and side of the door.
Designed with convenience in mind, this Security Cabinet is compactly sized for effortless assembly and placement.
With its ultralight framework weighing merely 105 lbs, it promises effortless positioning, making it a perfect fit for compact spaces and an integral component of decentralized gun storage. Capable of accommodating up to 6 long guns, its versatile interior—powered by the innovative CradleGrid™ Technology—adapts to house an array of handguns, long guns, and accessories.
Constructed with the same meticulous expertise that SecureIt extends to the U.S. military, the Agile Model 52 projects durability and is backed by the claims of numerous end users.
The SteelWater Standard Duty Gun Safe uses an advanced X3 Biometric EMP-Proof Lock system: Prioritize security and ease with an all-encompassing lock mechanism, offering fingerprint, digital, or mechanical key entry. Accommodate up to 200 distinct users, ensuring personalized access.
Experience unmatched resilience with our EMP-proof digital keypad, fortified with a high-security, double-bitted, drill-resistant bypass key. Rest assured, you’ll always have unhindered access to your valuables.
Complimentary Door Organizer: Streamline your storage solutions. Our door organizer adeptly accommodates pistols and other valuables, enabling swift and straightforward access.
Elevate your experience with the newly incorporated Automatic Interior LED Lighting, ensuring your valuables are always visible even in low light conditions.
For those seeking unparalleled brilliance, choose our Extreme Lighting option, doubling the LED intensity and coverage, illuminating every corner of your safe.
Liberty Safe’s recent decision to provide the FBI with a bypass code to a customer’s gun safe has created a significant uproar in the gun owner community. Such actions raise significant concerns about the privacy and rights of gun owners and the very purpose of owning a gun safe – which is to safeguard one’s firearms from unauthorized access.
Customers are now on the lookout for manufacturers that prioritize their privacy and do not include bypass codes on their digital keypad safes. Safes with bypass codes, in essence, create a backdoor, giving the manufacturer (or anyone with that code) a way to access the safe without the owner’s permission. This understandably diminishes trust.
In response to these concerns, it is essential for customers to be aware of the manufacturers that prioritize security and privacy.
The Liberty Safe incident underscores the necessity for consumers to be vigilant and proactive in selecting products that genuinely protect their privacy and possessions.
Here’s a brief overview of the four gun safe companies that prioritize security by not using bypass codes.
SecureIt Gun Safes
We reached out to SecureIt to get their response in regard to bypass codes. We’re happy to say that SecureIt made the list of Gun Safe companies that we put our stamp of approval on. Here is their response.
The fact of the matter is this. SecureIt features a couple of different locking mechanisms for its firearm storage solutions.
The Securam lock in question is featured on our Answer line of safes. SECURAM locks have a default code and a master code. At SecureIt, we simply give the customer both codes, the default and master and encourage them to change them both upon purchase.
Our most popular lines for Agile and FastBox only have the default code, which we also encourage our customers to change upon purchase.
At no time does SecureIt maintain a database or linking of product serial numbers to override codes. Therefore, if subpoenaed to provide them to law enforcement, we would have no codes to provide.
Fort Knox Gun Safes
When it comes to unrivaled strength and security, Fort Knox stands tall. Their commitment to producing the most secure safes is evident in their decision not to incorporate bypass codes.
Fort Knox offers a variety of safes, each tailored to the specific needs of gun owners, whether for handguns or long guns. The use of premium materials combined with superior craftsmanship ensures that unauthorized access is virtually impossible.
Their refusal to include a bypass system emphasizes their dedication to customer privacy and security.
SteelWater Gun Safes
SteelWater is known for its robust and durable gun safes, designed to withstand external threats ranging from burglars to fires.
By opting not to use bypass codes, SteelWater reaffirms its pledge to safeguard the privacy and trust of its customers.
Their safes come with advanced security features, like reinforced steel walls and fireproofing, further ensuring that firearms and valuables remain protected from both external and internal threats.
Winchester Gun Safes
A trusted name in the firearms industry, Winchester also produces top-of-the-line gun safes. They pride themselves on offering products that gun owners can trust to protect their investments. By choosing not to have bypass codes on their digital safes, Winchester makes a clear statement about its dedication to privacy and security.
Although Winchester Safes DO NOT have a bypass code for the digital keypad, you get a bypass key with the purchase of a Winchester safe. If you lose this key, you can attempt to go through the process to reset the digital lock to factory defaults. Otherwise, you’re left with the option of opening the safe with brute force or a blow torch.
In the evolving landscape of gun safety and security, these three companies stand out for their commitment to ensuring the utmost privacy for their customers. Their decision not to use bypass codes reflects an understanding of modern concerns about unauthorized access, and it places them at the forefront of customer-centric safety solutions.
Gun Safe Accessories
Enhancing both the functionality and organization of your gun safe is essential.
From pistol racks that maximize space to dehumidifiers that ensure a moisture-free environment, interior lighting for clear visibility, and an admin drawer for orderly storage of smaller items – each accessory plays a pivotal role.
Dive in as we explore a few gun safe accessories that will optimize and enhance that gun safe you just spent your hard-earned money on.
Pistol Racks
Maximize your storage space while ensuring immediate access to your pistols with the Lockdown Handgun Rack.
This pistol pack is ideal for decluttering your safe or optimizing space. Boasting a robust over-molded design, it promises secure storage and stability. Its vertical access layout streamlines your handgun retrieval, making the selection swift and hassle-free.
The Golden Rod Dehumidifier operates by subtly elevating the ambient temperature within the gun safe or similar storage unit. This process facilitates continuous air circulation within the enclosure, effectively mitigating humidity, mildew, and condensation — factors that can compromise the integrity and value of your prized firearm collection. Proudly manufactured in the USA.
This unit incorporates water glass crystals engineered to absorb moisture effectively. An integrated window serves as an indicator, signaling when recharging is necessary.
For user convenience, the crystals can be effortlessly ‘recharged’ by connecting the unit to any standard wall outlet, ensuring the dehumidifier’s consistent use over time.
Leveraging the latest in COB LED technology, our Light Switch Light delivers unparalleled brightness, ensuring you can easily identify and access your firearms and accessories.
Not only is this LED light exceptionally bright but it’s also designed to last a lifetime without overheating, guaranteeing the safety of your valuable firearms.
In the modern era, security and privacy are more intertwined than ever.
The incident with Liberty Gun Safe serves as a crucial reminder that consumers must be vigilant in their choices.
While technological advancements can enhance security, they can also pose risks if not handled correctly. That’s why it’s essential to align with gun safe manufacturers who prioritize both robust protection and unwavering user confidentiality.
By doing so, we can safeguard our firearms without compromising our privacy.
Stay Tuned to the RE Factor Tactical Blog and be part of this all-VETERAN-run website. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for exclusive content and deals.
Check out our DAILY DEALS page for industry deals and discounts.
Leave a Reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *