House Flooded…. Where do my guns go??

[Jcremer24]

So… Our townhome rental had a pipe blow up and long story short- the entire house is going to have to be gutted. Where can I store my firearms? I currently have two safes that house my near 40 gun collection. The house restoration guy who is running the show suggested that I could leave them in safe but make sure they are secure- not sure I want to do that… Does anyone have any thoughts on where they could be stored? My collection consists mainly of milsurp rifles- so they cannot be broken down. What happens to my ammunition??

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[Gunbuggy]

Any family members or friends?

Family members you can just give the guns to for now. Friends are a different story, if you want to legally go about it you can store the 2 safes at your friends house and lock them and not give him access to the safe (key or combo)

Or you could ask a local ffl to store them for you.

Or you could put them in a storage unit. I don't necessarily think it's legal to do that but I've had my guns in storage many times with no issues

 

[Certaindeaf]

So… Our townhome rental had a pipe blow up and long story short- the entire house is going to have to be gutted. Where can I store my firearms? I currently have two safes that house my near 40 gun collection. The house restoration guy who is running the show suggested that I could leave them in safe but make sure they are secure- not sure I want to do that… Does anyone have any thoughts on where they could be stored? My collection consists mainly of milsurp rifles- so they cannot be broken down. What happens to my ammunition??

If they're good safes I'd leave them.
The workers wouldn't know it was empty or not and you'll be by occasionally to check on things anyway, yada yada.

 

[Jcremer24]

Any family members or friends?

Family members you can just give the guns to for now. Friends are a different story, if you want to legally go about it you can store the 2 safes at your friends house and lock them and not give him access to the safe (key or combo)

Or you could ask a local ffl to store them for you.

Or you could put them in a storage unit. I don't necessarily think it's legal to do that but I've had my guns in storage many times with no issues

ALL of my family lives in Texas. Ive only been in WA a few years. Didnt and dont plan on staying much longer. Maybe a few more years tops. I have a buddy willing to take them- but transporting my big sage might prove a challenge. Problem is, he only has a gun cabinet- and it is small.

 

[Jcremer24]

If they're good safes I'd leave them.
The workers wouldn't know it was empty or not and you'll be by occasionally to check on things anyway, yada yada.

Both are pretty nice safes. The larger one is a 460 lb browning safe (32 gun). The smaller one is a cabelas 10 gun. They are able to house all of the guns. But I believe they are going to want to pull the safes out- everything is going to be demo'ed in the house to my understanding. It is completely effed.

 

[spookshack]

Safefire in SW WA, has safes you can rent. Maybe some shooting range/FFL that is closer to you has something similar?

Safe Storage Rentals – SafeFire

www.shootatsafefire.com

 

[OutwardHound]

You can legally store firearms in a Uhaul storage locker ( your own risk of course), but not the ammo.

 

[Joe13]

Safefire in SW WA, has safes you can rent. Maybe some shooting range/FFL that is closer to you has something similar?

Safe Storage Rentals – SafeFire

www.shootatsafefire.com

This.

I know there is a gun Storage facility up near St Hellens in OR so it must be a thing.

 

[gmerkt]

Or you could put them in a storage unit.

You can legally store firearms in a Uhaul storage locker ( your own risk of course)

I highly recommend against storing firearms in typical self storage units. These are subject to being broken into, internal theft, etc. It's risky for anything of value.
In your case, a commercial warehouse with high security option might be the way to go.

Another option, pawn the guns. Take out a loan on them which would require the pawnbroker to store them until you come back to redeem them. This would only cost the interest on the loan.

 

[Hooyah DeepSea]

You can store the guns at most storage places, AND, you may very well be able to claim the cost on your homeowners insurance due to the reason you can't keep them at the townhome. Just be very sure that you insure them in a short term separate policy while at the storage facility. Your insurance agent should be able to help you with all this, because it's a win-win for them too. Your friends can store your ammo, that's perfectly legal.

Also, there are safe moving services (like piano movers) out there, and the cost of that may also be covered by insurance too.

 

[User 1234]

Pawn is not an option for the newly-banned guns. I would find an FFL who has secured storage where the FFL never knows the combination and therefore never takes possession.

 

[Jcremer24]

If they're good safes I'd leave them.
The workers wouldn't know it was empty or not and you'll be by occasionally to check on things anyway, yada yada.

Thanks all for tons of great suggestions/responses. I think I will be going with this option. Im going to go over tonight and bubble wrap each rifle individually and insulate the safe with blankets!

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

If you go with the commercial storage I would recommend getting some wardrobe boxes, if the guns are bubble wrapped you could do a loop at one end and hang maybe 3 or 4 in a box with clothes on the ends (and maybe between as buffers). That way anyone seeing you move in just sees clothes and not gun cases

 

[Alexx1401]

Thanks all for tons of great suggestions/responses. I think I will be going with this option. Im going to go over tonight and bubble wrap each rifle individually and insulate the safe with blankets!

Is the home still going to have power / net? If so I would leave them in the safe and have a camera and alarm. If not? I would rent a GOOD storage place. One of the kind that is inside a building. Then when moving the guns in I would have them in some kind of cheap containers like you buy at Wally or such or hidden in some way so when you are taking them in no one watching has any clue what they are.

 

[Joe13]

I've thought about this a lot so maybe a great idea or maybe not - I think finances and space will be the deciding factor.

Where you will be staying is there a place to park a small enclosed trailer?

My medium safe is 650lbs and my 12 gun is probably less then 150.

A single axle with either a ramp or a swing sideways gate should be easy enough to get the safes loaded and then put all of your guns back into them. Pad it on the inside with blankets or something and lag bolt them to the floor (I would put a foot long piece of 2x6 under the floor to reinforce it).

Pad lock the door with a very high quality lock and put a tongue lock on the hitch.

It's not uncommon to see a small trailer in a driveway. Park in front of it at night if you can and once it is parked, remove the blankets and run an extension cord to power a golden rod or similar in both safes for humidity.

If you find an ok one used then you should be able to make money on it come fall or winter when everyone wants an enclosed trailer.

I think most decent trailers are rated for 1/2 ton so depending on how many ammo cans of ammo you have you should have enough room to stack that in there as well.

Edit: you could also put an alarm system in the thing of you have the knowledge and run it from that power cord as well with a battery backup.

 

[Belial]

Guns go where I lay my head....

 

[Alexx1401]

Guns go where I lay my head....

Me too but, it sounds like OP may be having to live someplace temporary while work being done. If I was say being put up in a hotel? NO WAY In HELL would I store my guns there unless I never had to leave the place.

 

[Belial]

Me too but, it sounds like OP may be having to live someplace temporary while work being done. If I was say being put up in a hotel? NO WAY In HELL would I store my guns there unless I never had to leave the place.

Rent something that works.

 

[thebigbaby]

Buy a bunch of lockable hard rifle cases and store where your staying or with a trusted person.

 

[coltemp]

I'd put all the guns in cases and move the safe empty. Drop the safe with a friend or fellow member here. Load up the safe from teh cases. Forget about it until the reno is done. And yeah only you have the combo to the safe.
You might ask Jeff at Sound Loan as he might have some suggestions as well.
Sorry for the hassle. Also I would bill the insurance for the hassle of moving the safes and such. That should all be on them