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The Best Gun Safes For Maximum Security At Home

Pretty much everyone knows that a gun safe is the most secure way to store your firearms, suppressors, and other important items.

When you start shopping for a gun safe is when you realize just how many different options there are to choose from, and it can get overwhelming pretty quickly.

Not all gun safes are created equal and none of them are perfect for everyone. In an attempt to find the right gun safe for maximum security at home, we've put together this list of our top picks for the best gun safes.

Our Top Picks For The Best Gun Safes

Here are a number of different types of gun safes that we recommend along with the best places you can put them.

Best Bedside Gun Safe

While plenty of options are available for bedside gun safes that can sit atop your nightstand, the GunVault SpeedVault is designed to mount on the side of your nightstand. This adds to the bedside gun safe’s security potential by keeping it out of view of potentially prying eyes when they do a quick visual scan of the room. You can also mount it inside a cabinet or closet, further hiding your firearm. Out of sight is out of mind.

Using any of the 20 different fingerprints that you can store in its memory for access, when the SpeedVault opens up, the handgun is presented right to you. The gun is ready for you to grasp the grip right away without having to actually pick the gun up and then get a good grip on it. This makes it an excellent choice when seconds matter.

Where to Set It Up

Since this is a bedside safe, it makes the most sense to set it up near your bed. This could be on your nightstand, your dresser, a small table, etc. Whatever piece of furniture makes the most sense for you when accessing a gun from the bed.

Best Budget Gun Safe

Just because something is labeled as "budget" doesn't mean it's "cheap." SentrySafe has been making safes for almost 100 years, so they know what they’re doing. If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to protect a handgun yet still have immediate access, then the SentrySafe Quick Access Gun Safe is a solid option. This smaller safe will fit just about anywhere while offering rapid access and security for your handgun.

Made of pry-resistant steel and featuring an automatic opening with a compression strut for quiet access, this biometric safe provides access with a fingerprint or keypad, plus backup key access. Inside, the safe’s high compression foam will help keep your gun secure from sliding around if the safe gets jostled around, and the built-in lights will ensure that you can see what you’re doing even in the dead of night.

Where to Set It Up

The best place to set this safe up is completely up to you. It depends entirely on what kind of access you want to have to your gun and where you may need it most.

Best Gun Safe For Pistols

If you want the best in pistol protection, this is it. The Vaultek LifePod 2.0 improves on the already fantastic design of the original LifePod. It’s water-resistant, floats, and is airtight. Bigger than the original version but still small enough to toss in a backpack, you can now store two full-sized pistols in this portable biometric safe.

Weighing just over three pounds, it won’t draw any unnecessary attention to your bag because it seems unusually heavy. With the increased size of the LifePod 2.0, you now have the option to store any other essential EDC gear you might need in the removable tray and the interior lid organizer. Wallet, keys, knives, passport, you name it. Use the included security cable to lock the unit down someplace, like a hotel room, when it isn’t traveling with you, and rest assured that you’ve got the best portable biometric gun safe on the market.

Where to Set It Up

Pistol safes are small and portable, so you can set them up wherever it makes sense for you at the time. It could be in one of the living spaces in your house, under the seat in your car, in a backpack while traveling, etc. The portability and size of these safes make them perfect for securing your pistol in a variety of places.

Long Gun Safes

Pretty much all full-size gun safes are considered to be long gun safes. Sure, you can certainly put pistols in them, too, but their height makes them ideal for shotguns, rifles, etc.

There really is no one best long gun safe, but there are some great options out there for every budget. Models sold by Liberty are well-known and trusted in the gun world for being great long gun safes, but they also come with a higher price tag. Models sold by Tractor Supply are used by countless people throughout the United States to protect their long guns, and they're a more affordable option.

Where to Set It Up

The size and weight of a long gun safe will play a key role in where you set it up. You'll need to make sure that the area you place the safe can withstand the weight of it on the floor. This is especially important if you're in an apartment or putting the safe anywhere that isn't the ground floor.

Aside from that, exactly where you put the safe is up to you. It could be in a den, home office, bedroom, or even in a closet for a bit of extra hidden security.

Fireproof Gun Safes

It's a fairly well-established industry standard that a gun safe will come with some degree of fireproof rating. Remember, though, that a gun cabinet is different and may not offer any fire protection. Depending on the make and model, they could be rated for 30 minutes or two hours. The degree of fire protection that you need is going to be based on where you live. If you're in a city, close to the fire department and a neighborhood hydrant, you might not need as long of a fire rating. If you live out on a secluded piece of property and it's going to take some time to get help and water to your location, you might want a longer fire rating.

Where to Set It Up

Where you choose to set up a fireproof gun safe is entirely up to you. It will depend on your living situation, the layout of your house, and more.

Best Fingerprint Gun Safe

The best fingerprint gun safe for rifles and pistols has not to be the Vaultek RS500i. It's the Goldilocks of their rifle-sized safes, right in the middle of their size lineup. With modular configuration options to fit your specific needs, this safe will hold 5-7 rifles and 6-8 handguns, depending on your particular setup. There’s even room for a dehumidifier if you so choose.

When authorized access is granted, the door opens automatically on springs to provide immediate access to the automatically lighted interior of the safe. Equipped with WiFi, the safe can alert you to impact detection and other access attempts. You can also access the safe’s information via website and smartphone app, ensuring that you always know exactly what’s going on with the security of your weapons. The safe’s technology is powered by a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery, which is included.

Where to Set It Up

Proper placement and setup location for a fingerprint gun safe is, again, entirely up to you. Since this is a full-size safe and not just a pistol-size safe, you'll be a bit more limited in where you can place it, but it's definitely no more limiting than any other full-size gun safe.

How To Choose The Right Gun Safe For You

A gun safe is a big purchase, often both physically and monetarily. As a result, it’s not advisable that you make buying a gun safe a sort of impulse buy. Doing so will almost certainly result in buyer’s remorse, and a gun safe isn’t exactly something that’s easy or convenient to return.

Obviously, the final decision is up to you, but if you decide that you’re going to buy a gun safe, then here are some of the things you should think about before parting with your hard-earned money.

Size

Don’t buy a safe based on the number of guns and other items you’ll be storing in it right now. Gun collections tend to grow over time and you’ll soon be out of room if you’re only planning for today. Instead, figure out what works for what you own right now and then go one or two sizes up.

Security

Different model safes have different levels of security ratings, both in terms of lock safety and fire protection. Keep those ratings in mind as you figure out what you’ll need based on your neighborhood, fire department response time, etc.

Budget

In the end, it all comes down to money. Once you figure out the size safe you want and the security features that are most important to you, then you can begin to narrow down which makes and models offer what you need at a price that you can afford.

Add a Suppressor to Your Safe Today!

A gun safe is an investment that protects your other investments, such as guns, precious metals ... and suppressors! At Silencer Central, we’ve been selling silencers all day, every day for more than 15 years. In that amount of time, we’ve sold countless silencers to people who now have these accessories living happily in their gun safes. If you’re unsure which one to pick, give us a call and we can help select the right silencer for your needs.