The Ultimate Gun Room: A Guide for Creating a Safe and Organized Gun Room
Over time, hunters acquire a collection of guns for different pursuits. For some, it can be simple. A shotgun, a rifle for big game, and a .22 rifle. Just enough to cover all the bases and no more. For others, collecting sporting guns has become a part of the hunting lifestyle. Whether you have a few guns or enough to arm a small country, you need a place to store them, clean them, and do some basic gunsmithing. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the considerations for creating the ultimate gun room – a space that combines security, functionality, and aesthetics.
Secure Gun Storage
When I was a kid growing up in rural Minnesota, everyone I knew had guns and they were commonly displayed in an oak gun case in the living room. I had a gun rack in my bedroom, and as soon as I passed my hunter safety training, I had the green light to go hunt and shoot. Plus, I had access to what seemed like an unlimited supply of ammo as my dad worked at Federal Cartridge at the time. Unfortunately, the world has changed since I was a kid. Increasing concerns over safety, misuse, or theft make secure storage a critical component of the modern gun room.
Today we need to ensure that our guns are secure at all times. At a bare minimum, you should use a trigger lock to make the firearm inoperable. Every gun manufacturer today ships their guns with a trigger lock or an action lock in the case of lever action rifles. A trigger or action lock will not protect against theft, but it will help to ensure that someone cannot operate the gun with the lock in place. If you need a trigger lock, many police stations will provide them free of charge. Or you can purchase one here.
Gun Safes
The next level and the ideal choice for most hunters is a quality gun safe. A good gun safe will protect against fire, and theft and it will keep your guns out of the hands of kids. Buy a quality safe, and place it in a climate-controlled section of your home, ideally on a concrete floor.
Even if your safe is in a climate-controlled area, it’s a good idea to use an electric dehumidifier rod to remove moisture from your safe and prevent rust. My safe is a model from Liberty Safe with a traditional combination lock. It weighs about 800 pounds empty and I used a hammer drill to bolt it to the floor into the concrete.
Secure Gun Rooms with a Vault Door
The ultimate level is a secure gun room. This would include a secure safe-like vault door controlling access to a room that is most typically all concrete in construction to prevent an ambitious thief with a reciprocating saw from going right through the wall. Creating a secure room with a vault door is an ideal option if you have an expansive gun collection. It also provides the added benefit of being a safe room for your family during emergencies.
Gun Cleaning and Gunsmithing Supplies
Beyond storage, a good gun room is a place to clean and maintain your guns. To start, you’ll need a solid workbench. I’ve been using a workbench from Gladiator that has worked very well for me.
You’ll need a set of basic gunsmith and gun cleaning equipment. You can find a complete list of everything you’ll need to clean and maintain your gun here.
Ammo Storage
A shelf or two in your gun room should be dedicated to ammo storage for each firearm that you own. As you’re using your ammo, it’s best to practice FIFO (first in first out) so you’re always shooting your oldest ammo first.
Gun Room Gear Storage
Beyond gun storage, my gun room becomes a staging area for hunts. All my core hunting gear is organized and close at hand. I organize smaller items in Plano Sportsman Totes that I label with the contents of each tote to make it easy to find what I need. All my hunting packs, optics, and gun cases all live in my gun room.
Gun Room Security
Beyond the gun safe, it’s a good idea to add additional layers of security to your gun room. Limit access to the room and ensure that you can lock the access doors. Ideally, locate your gun room in an out-of-the-way section of your house that would not need to be seen by your cable guy, or other random people who may visit your home. No security or gun safe is unbeatable and the fewer people who know you have guns in your home, the better!
Adding a webcam to your gun room provides a record of anyone accessing the room and you can set it to alert you if it detects motion.
Gun Room Final Thoughts
If you have guns, you need a way to safely store and maintain them. What that ultimately looks like is only limited by your budget and imagination. The most important thing that we need to agree on as gun owners is our core responsibility to keep our guns secure and out of the hands of children without supervision.
For more on gun safety and safely securing your firearms, check out Project Child Safe from the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
Disclaimer: Where you live may have specific requirements or prohibitions around firearm storage. HuntTested is NOT an expert on the gun laws in all municipalities. If you live in a state that infringes on gun ownership, you should probably move. But at a minimum, please familiarize yourself with local laws and regulations regarding firearm storage. Ensure that your gun room aligns with safety standards and legal requirements.
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