Critique my current firearm storage situation

[PaJ]

Here is an inexpensive option for secure in home storage.

My wife and I have 5 teens. They've all shot and know gun safety...but they are teens. When we first started buying guns we bought two small portable safes like you use in your car that could be opened by our fingerprint (there is a backup key). As our collection grew, this became impractical. So we purchased a locking metal gun cabinet (not a safe - no fireproofing, etc). It's bolted to the wall and locked. The key for the cabinet is in one of the portable safes so our kids cannot get to the key without using one of our fingers. That safe is in the same closet as the cabinet. We didn't want the key on our key rings since they are often accessible to the kids. If I'm caught without a weapon and can get to my closet, I have a chance to get into the cabinet regardless of where my car keys happen to be.

Note this is primarily for storage and not so much having quick-draw defense. That's what my EDC is for. But, if affordability as well as safety is an issue, this was a way to secure our long guns, pistols and ammo without it costing a small fortune. If the house burns down, the guns will be lost. If someone brings a blow torch into my closet, they can penetrate the cabinet. But those are risks I'm willing to take. The easy opportunity for a teenager to do something stupid...not so much.

[MAXouT]

Sorry bud, not to be rude, but I can respect that we all want to keep our wives happy- and with that being said, get a grip on the "firearm in the house" situation and keep it loaded at all times out of reach and stashed where the little ones cannot possibly take it in possession or be found by a thief. How so? Get creative. Put your foot down, tell her how it WILL BE, and educate/train her on how to handle it properly and safely. People are abd should be afraid of things they are ignorant of and don't know how to use. Sure, I was too before I learned. And so was my wife; she was adamant against guns. But I told her and explained "the situation" about guns, and now she's not bothered anymore. My mother is a whole 'nother situation, she's no Sarah Palin but she accepts my position.
Get ahold of the situation and GODSPEED to you all!!

[AlaskanInTexas]

Put your foot down, tell her how it WILL BE

I did that once. Turns out her foot is bigger than mine.

[Bitter Clinger]

Keeping an unloaded magazine in an unloaded gun in a hard to reach CD case, mostly zipped.... equals unarmed in my opinion.
Same for keeping a gun in your trunk. Why bother? Why risk it getting stolen?

1. Carry a loaded gun on your person.

If you are not able to carry on your person
2. In the house, use a quick access lock box. Like this... (not a recommendation for a product, just an example)
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3. In the car, there are many solutions.... easiest is the center console (Use a HOLSTER!). Myriad other choices.
I use a cable and lock box if I ever need to store my gun in the car.
[ Image ]

That lock box will definitley stop the casual or opportunistic thief, unless they are carrying a hacksaw and a ball peen hammer. Don't ask how I know...

[rotor]

Put your foot down, tell her how it WILL BE

I did that once. Turns out her foot is bigger than mine.

I did that once too, they are divorced now.

[goose]

Do people really leave loaded handguns laying around the house unattended? Seems terribly unsafe to me. If it isn't on your person/under your immediate control, I really think you ought to unload the thing. You just never know who might end up running across it and possibly creating a 100% preventable tragedy.

Im single and I live alone. I do what I want.

I am not single. I don't live alone. Everyone in the house is trained in the use of firearms, or trained in not approaching a firearm. I hope beyond hope that a tragedy never happens. But I don't think that I have ever lived my life trying to prevent every tragedy that is 100% preventable. And I don't say this with some fake internetz machismo. I sincerely believe that we all evaluate checks and balances to find what risks we take on to mitigate other risks (in a personal defense context). I have a loaded firearm in my home. I hope that I never have to use it in anger. I hope that it is never involved in an accident. I calculate that the risk of needing my firearm and it being inaccessible (in a safe) is greater than the risk of a family member treating ANY firearm in a casual manner. I hope that I am right. I might plan differently if I thought that my family wasn't safe in the handling of firearms. I'm just not sure blanket statements about unloading all unattended firearms is valid for everyone. I guess I would also qualify that I don't see my firearms as "lying around the house." A person would have to be fairly intimate with my dwelling to just stumble across a firearm.