Hooray! Summer is finally here! It’s time for picnics on the beach or at the park, camping trips, or just hanging out and relaxing as a family. The kids are out of school of course, and with June being National Safety Month now is an ideal time to give a few reminders and tips on how to keep your precious children safe around fire arms this summer.

3 Gun Storage Safety Tips

1. If you don’t have gun safes, now is the time to get at least one! Keeping your firearms unloaded and stored away under lock and key is the only fool-proof method for safeguarding the well-being of your kids and your neighbors’ children too. And it will also prevent incidents of theft while you are on vacation.
2. If you keep a loaded handgun in the home for personal protection, keep it in a biometric safe where you can access it quickly but unauthorized little hands cannot.
3. Even if your own firearms and ammunition are always stored away securely in gun safes, there is absolutely no guarantee that your neighbors’ are. Take the time to teach your kids not to touch unstored guns they may come across when they are playing with their friends, and to tell an adult about these weapons immediately.

Gun Handling Safety Tips

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the warm summer months are the peak time for family target shooting expeditions. Shooting is a great way to spend quality time together and sharpen aiming skills: and it’s a whole lot of fun too! Before every target shooting session, be sure to go over the four basic rules of gun handling safety with your kids: even if they are experienced teens. A little refresher course never hurts:

1. Always keep a gun’s muzzle pointed in a safe direction
2. Treat every single gun as if it is a loaded gun
3. Absolutely do not touch the trigger until it is time to shoot
4. Know exactly where your target is and what is behind it

The best role model for responsible gun ownership, storage, and handling is YOU. Kids watch your every move, so don’t have one set of rules for you and a separate one for them: such a practice sends mixed messages and will not reinforce the safe gun handling lessons you’re trying so hard to teach. `

Bottom line: With kids home from school, it’s wise to keep your guns stored in Gun Vault gun safes whenever firearms are not in use; and now is the time to teach and re-teach the sound basics of gun handling. Happy summer!

Mike Baker President Presenting A Gun Vault Safe to J

You know that keeping your handgun in a quick-access safe is the smart thing to do, but did you know that gun safes just might save your life someday? A California man (whom we’ll call J) recently found this out the hard way when a violent gang of youths forced their way into his home during broad daylight.

What Happened

This Gun Vault.com customer had recently purchased a Multi-Vault Quick-Access gun safe just prior to the birth of his daughter. J chose this vault because it was small enough to keep on his bedside table and provided total safety for his child and other family members; yet it also provided immediate access to his handgun should he ever need it in a crisis. Little did he know that this crisis would come sooner than he ever imagined.

J just happened to be home in the middle of the day when he heard a loud pounding on his front door. Through the window he saw that it was a suspicious-looking stranger whom he didn’t know doing all the knocking; so J crept upstairs and quickly removed his .45 from his Gun Vault safe. As soon as he came back downstairs, the front door burst open and a 6′tall, 200 pound armed man came into his home. J immediately brandished his own weapon and yelled for the intruder to get down. The man fled while J shot at him repeatedly with his .45. Because J had the presence of mind to keep shooting, the intruder never had a chance to fire his own weapon and ran off. Because of the incident with J, the gang was later caught by police.

What J Has to Say About His Gun Vault Safe

J wrote a letter to Gun Vault telling us what happened and said the following:

“This product saved my life, and I am pleased to write this [letter]. My hope in [writing my story] is to make people aware of the need for quick access in gun securing. I believe that any other product out there would have taken me longer to access my weapon.”

The safety and well-being of your family are too important to leave to chance. With quick-access gun safes from GunVault.com you can keep your loaded weapon where you can get to it fast without compromising your family’s day-to-day safety. Hopefully, a story like J’s will never happen to you; but if it does, with the right gun safe: you’ll be ready.

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Owning a firearm is as American as 4th of July fireworks, Sunday football games, and flying the flag; in fact, the last few years have seen a dramatic upswing in the number of people all across the land purchasing new guns and plenty of ammo to go along with them. The right to bear arms is a fundamental part of the Bill of Rights, but with that right comes great responsibility: especially if you have children in the house.  Here are 3 tips for keeping kids safe around guns.

1. Invest in one or more gun safes: Chances are, if you are reading this blog you either already have a safe or are giving serious thought to purchasing one. Having a secure place to store your firearms just makes good common sense. GunVault.com has a wide selection of types and styles to choose from and a range of access technologies as well: one of them is just right for your needs.
2. Be open with your kids about guns: Don’t make the mistake of thinking that if you ignore the subject of guns, then your kids won’t be curious about them. Actually, the opposite is true! Talk to them about the dangers associated with using guns unsupervised and set strict guidelines about what to do if they find one: i.e. they should never even touch a gun if you are not there to help; if they are playing at a friend’s house and find a gun they need to tell you immediately.
3. If you don’t have a safe yet, keep your guns disassembled so that they won’t accidentally go off, and store all ammunition under lock and key in a separate location. If you think just hiding the firearm will prevent accidents, think again: too many children are hurt or killed when they find a “hidden” loaded gun.

Remember that investing in high quality gun safes like those offered by GunVault.com and talking openly about firearms with your children are the most important keys to keeping your whole family safe when there is a weapon in the house. The right to own guns for self-protection, hunting, and recreation really is as American as apple pie: but when there are children in the house, safety should be our #1 priority.

You would never consider leaving your toddler alone in a room with a tiger, would you? Unfortunately, some firearm owners do something similar when they keep their guns in accessible storage areas around the house: every gun is a potentially lethal weapon, and you never know when little curious fingers might pull the trigger.

Responsible gun owners take every possible precaution when it comes to storing their firearms: some store them completely disassembled while others choose to use gun safes instead. A safe is a more practical option: but how do you know which type is right for you? Here are three quick tips.

1. Get the right size: If you are a hunter, you’ll need to get a safe that can accommodate your firearms’ length. These types of security containers usually come in floor and wall models, so the choice is yours. Most people opt for a floor model that can accommodate from six to 20 guns depending on the size selected. If you have a single handgun, a small table-top model is perfectly adequate.
2. Security features: The number one reason for having a safe in the first place is security, so always go for a model that offers complete peace of mind through solid, durable construction. An optimally-designed safe will be impenetrable with common hand tools and will be constructed from high-gauge steel. Note: there is a real difference between a gun safe and a gun case: for complete security, avoid storage equipment that features a glass front.
3. Access options: The ease with which you want to access your firearms depends both on the purpose of your firearms as well as personal preference. For example, if you keep a handgun in the house to protect against intruders, you may want to buy a safe with biometric fingerprint recognition technology; whereas if you use your guns for hunting, a combination lock may work just fine. The main types of access options include:

• Combination locks
• Key locks
• Touch pads
• Biometric fingerprint recognition

Gun safes help protect what you value most: your family’s well-being. If you need help determining which type of safe might be best for your needs, contact the experts at GunVault.

News stories about accidental shootings in the home are heart-breaking, but they are an unfortunate by-product of Americans’ love affair with their firearms. Guns are, of course, dangerous weapons: especially if they fall into the wrong hands. Keeping yours secure inside a gun safe when they are not in use just makes good common sense. But safeguarding children is not the only reason why gun safes in the home are a great idea; here are 10 other great reasons why today’s gun safes are a sound investment.

1. A large gun safe is extremely heavy and virtually impossible for thieves to move unless they have special equipment.

2. Today’s gun safes come in all shapes and sizes, including miniature ones. All are difficult to break into but are a cinch for owners to open quickly and easily: they allow you to keep your gun accessible while not endangering family members.

3. They protect your investment. If you are an antique firearms collector, you want to be sure that your guns are kept in a secure place.

4. Most gun safes are water- and fire-damage proof, so even if your home is hit by fire, flood, or tornado, your firearms will be OK.

5. Many large gun safes are finely crafted pieces of furniture that will look attractive in virtually any style home.

6. Many states have gun storage laws in place: having a safe in your home will help you to stay in compliance.

7. If you invest in a large gun safe you will have room to store not only your firearms but also other expensive and important valuables.

8. Today’s technologies offer a range of options when it comes to locking and unlocking your safe. Whether you prefer mechanical or super fast electronic locks, you’ve got choices!

9. By keeping one or more gun safes in your home, you are practicing the highest degree of responsible firearm ownership.

10. You will have greater peace of mind when you go to sleep at night.