stolen gun question

[I-Shoot]

At the moment, there are 39 posts in the "stolen gun" sticky. Several of them mention that the location of the guns when they were stolen, and frequently when mentioned it was from a vehicle.

It would be interesting if for the sake of all of our knowledge, if in each post it was mentioned where the guns were (in a vehicle, under the bed, in a safe (and if so, what kind)) when they were stolen.

I have all of my guns in safes, and I'm wondering if any of the thieves actually breached a safe, or as I've heard has been more rarely done, removed the entire safe from the house.

I'm just wondering if my small Bi-Mart combination safe is a deterrent, or a false sense of security? Are most thefts the quick "grab and run" type of thing, where only things that are not locked down are taken?

It would be good for all of us to know what works and what doesn't.

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[Muddslinger12]

Be careful in answering this threadnot to mention your "good spots" hate to put a damper on anyone looking for the "best spot" or way to secure their firearms but in reality the best spot for me may not be the best spot for you. ALSO dont tell ppl where and how you secure CRIMINALS WILL READ THIS TOO!!!

Best advice to you is BOLT down a small safe in a HIDDEN and seemingly uncommon place or better yet right under your nose but with a CREATIVE disquise (Use your OWN imagination on this!)

AND like OP was saying POST what has NOT worked for you.... IE: Certain safes that you have seen or experienced being breached. Spots that they were stolen from etc.

OP please DONT google this it will seriously SCARE you! (It SCARED me!) In reality ANY safe is a false sense of security. With a few hands tools just about any safe can be breached. Especially if they can remove the safe and get it to their garage! But just do what you can and hope for the best, most crooks are in such a hurry to get in and out they may not notice you have a hidden safe

ALSO buy a steering wheel club (and a pedal club) criminals will see that and might choose another car. But Mainly they cant steel you CAR, if that happens ALL bets are off they will strip it to the core and find everything!

 

[I-Shoot]

Be careful in answering this thread not to mention your "good spots" hate to put a damper on anyone looking for the "best spot" or way to secure their firearms but in reality the best spot for me may not be the best spot for you. ALSO dont tell ppl where and how you secure CRIMINALS WILL READ THIS TOO!!!

Thanks for clarifying that, I am not asking where your favorite hiding places are. I'm more interested in the common types of storage, and how well safes are doing at preventing theft.

I have heard that if they are "professional thieves", they will get through just about anything, if they have the time. But I don't live in a neighborhood a professional thief would waste his time in. There is a lot of talk about what can happen, I just thought we have an opportunity here to survey what actually has been happening.

 

[Muddslinger12]

I personally like (and use) the "gun vault" seems built solid and so far no complaints

 

[The Redpaw]

As a general contractor, I can't stress enough that what you bolt it to is the most important. It appears that some homes here in Oregon have press board subfloors (chipboard) and that type will release a bolt with a simple pry bar used under the face of the safe and a lifting motion.

But, before you think you'll just use longer bolts into a correct subfloor, make sure what is under the flooring of the house. Plumbing, electrical, gas lines, can be where you least expect them.

It may be inconvenient to not have your safe exactly where you want it space wise, but you need to drive those bolts either into a floor joist OR use a bolt that is long enough to accept a 2" steel thick washer under the house.

I do home turnovers, most people in this economy leave their safes behind after cleaning them out. I just grab my ridgid battery powered sawzall with a ten inch tempered metal cutting blade and slip it under the front and cut the bolts.

5 minutes tops and the safe is in the dumpster.

Use high grade bolts or stainless steel, use plate washers, use your head, criminals don't care what they destroy to get your goods.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I once read (and I don't remember where) that the "official" Hecks Angels method of opening gun safes was;
1. Get the safe down on the floor, door down. The back of most safes is thinner.
2. Pearce the back of the safe with the spike of a previously stolen fire axe (heavy axe!)
3. Use the blade of the axe to chop around the back of the safe ala can opener!
4. They bring plenty of guys and tag team on the axe so it goes very fast!

I have steel plates under the floor where the bolts go through and the bolt, nut and plate are tacked together. I'm probably deceiving myself but it may slow a thief down a little more. Then there's the dog

 

[Glackowitz]

I was looking at safes locally and found this company, Rogue safe and they had a video of a couple guys opening a Blacked out name safe in about 90 seconds

<broken link removed>

Looks like he makes his own brand with heavier materials and actually has a safe rating.

I need to go take a look and get some pricing..thinking a basic black color will save some $$
I have looked at some of the name brands..Liberty, Cannon and they look good but out of my price range, The stack ons are out of my trust range

 

[Trailboss]

Here's an idea, cut the back off your safe and then bolt your safe it over the door to your kennel where you keep your six large dobermans. Your guns can just lean against the wall in the kennel. It would be fun to watch the bad guys finally get their way.

 

[WhyteCheddar]

If the crooks have enough time they can get into pretty much anything. Seems to me that making a reasonable effort to secure then make sure your insurance is up to date and covers your stuff. If you have heirloom or other guns of special value you might look into special security for those. It also helps to not let the whole world know you have them.
It also helps for contractors to not tell the whole world how they remove safes too. LOL

 

[mortar maggot]

If the correct bad guys want in your safe there is not much you can really do. They can bring the right tools and a number of people and either remove the safe quickly or open it fairly quickly.

I think the best security method would be place a very good safe bolted to the floor and wall in a vault room, where the safe cannot fit through the vault door. Lots of pre planning and money to do things right.

 

[I-Shoot]

I think we have established that if someone who knows what they are doing and comes prepared, and if they get in and have time to work, they can get through just about anything. We have also established that if you talk about your gun collection a lot, you raise the probability of attracting a thief with such knowledge.

What I'm still curious about is; based on the thefts that have actually happened, how often are they well prepared and knowledgeable, and how often are they "grab and run" opportunistic low level thieves? It would be informative to know how many people have had their home burglarized, and maybe electronics and small items were taken, but the safe was not touched? That would be a clear indication that at least in that case the safe actually functioned as a deterrent.

Something is always better than nothing. Putting a bicycle cable through the trigger guards and locking your guns to an eye bolt in the floor is better than nothing -- but a 2000 lb. fireproof safe bolted to the cement foundation of the house while being hidden in a secret room, is a better solution. Usually, we live somewhere in the middle.

It would be interesting to know, for instance, if 95% of the home burglaries were done by crack-heads who neither were capable of nor prepared to breach a safe. That would indicate that owning even a moderately secure safe is a significant advantage. I would not be surprised to find out that the vast majority of the guns stolen were not locked up at all (beyond the vehicle or house they were in, having its doors locked). But I'm just guessing, so I'd like to get some facts, if that's possible.

 

[mattg521]

I think we have established that if someone who knows what they are doing and comes prepared, and if they get in and have time to work, they can get through just about anything. We have also established that if you talk about your gun collection a lot, you raise the probability of attracting a thief with such knowledge.

What I'm still curious about is; based on the thefts that have actually happened, how often are they well prepared and knowledgeable, and how often are they "grab and run" opportunistic low level thieves? It would be informative to know how many people have had their home burglarized, and maybe electronics and small items were taken, but the safe was not touched? That would be a clear indication that at least in that case the safe actually functioned as a deterrent.

Something is always better than nothing. Putting a bicycle cable through the trigger guards and locking your guns to an eye bolt in the floor is better than nothing -- but a 2000 lb. fireproof safe bolted to the cement foundation of the house while being hidden in a secret room, is a better solution. Usually, we live somewhere in the middle.

It would be interesting to know, for instance, if 95% of the home burglaries were done by crack-heads who neither were capable of nor prepared to breach a safe. That would indicate that owning even a moderately secure safe is a significant advantage. I would not be surprised to find out that the vast majority of the guns stolen were not locked up at all (beyond the vehicle or house they were in, having its doors locked). But I'm just guessing, so I'd like to get some facts, if that's possible.

So eloquently stated.

So...yeah what he said.

 

[longcolt]

I think we have established that if someone who knows what they are doing and comes prepared, and if they get in and have time to work, they can get through just about anything. We have also established that if you talk about your gun collection a lot, you raise the probability of attracting a thief with such knowledge.

What I'm still curious about is; based on the thefts that have actually happened, how often are they well prepared and knowledgeable, and how often are they "grab and run" opportunistic low level thieves? It would be informative to know how many people have had their home burglarized, and maybe electronics and small items were taken, but the safe was not touched? That would be a clear indication that at least in that case the safe actually functioned as a deterrent.

Something is always better than nothing. Putting a bicycle cable through the trigger guards and locking your guns to an eye bolt in the floor is better than nothing -- but a 2000 lb. fireproof safe bolted to the cement foundation of the house while being hidden in a secret room, is a better solution. Usually, we live somewhere in the middle.

It would be interesting to know, for instance, if 95% of the home burglaries were done by crack-heads who neither were capable of nor prepared to breach a safe. That would indicate that owning even a moderately secure safe is a significant advantage. I would not be surprised to find out that the vast majority of the guns stolen were not locked up at all (beyond the vehicle or house they were in, having its doors locked). But I'm just guessing, so I'd like to get some facts, if that's possible.

Bingo! You are correct. The majority of home robberies are conducted by folks that are trying to make a fast buck to buy some drugs or pick up some quick cash. They are in and out quickly for the most part and will not mess with a safe unless they can pick it up and take it with them.

The scary part is many of these robberies are done by folks you know. Friends of your teenage son or daughter that like to brag about dad's big gun collection. That gets around and you get robbed. Lock up the guns folks and you stand a good chance of keeping them.