Keeping your guns safe and hidden means you are looking at three different objectives.
- Fast access
- Secure storage
- Kept away from kids
Combining the three can be difficult, especially where kids are concerned. They can get into anything, anywhere.
The biggest challenge is hidden and yet immediately accessible. If your gun is very well hidden, but takes a few minutes to get to, well, you may not have that much time.
As a lifelong gun owner, I have learned how to hide my guns. Here are some of my top tips and some from other gun experts for hidden gun storage ideas.
Where is the best place to hide and store a gun?
The best place to hide and store a gun is one that gives you quick access to the gun, but it is not a place a burglar would think about going to. A top hiding spot is over the door on the inside of your closet. No one looks there and it is super easy to get to.
You will need to do a quick modification to that space above the door. You can drive a nail into one of the wall studs.
The trigger guard on a handgun can hang on the nail. A couple of nails or big gun hooks will support a shotgun or rifle.
Your bedroom, sock or underwear drawer is one of the worst places to hide anything, especially a gun.
It is easy to access, and thieves will ransack your dresser because they know people often hide things under the clothes.
The Top 10 Best Hidden Gun Storage Ideas
Here are our top 10 best hidden gun storage ideas. Some of these may be familiar. Some may not be.
Prices range from cheap gun storage ideas to storage that will set you back as much as a guided hunt or a premium rifle.
1. The Freezer
Even though it sounds crazy, this idea is incredibly simple! If you plan on storing a gun in the freezer, you must do two things first:
- Make sure you lightly lube all the gun parts with some kind of low-temperature gun oil. Brands like Break Free CLP Collector’s, EWL and Rem Oil come highly rated by gun owners from cold climates.
- Store the gun in a sealed plastic bag after getting out as much air as possible. Get half-gallon-sized bags at minimum.
If you choose to hide your guns in the freezer, you must do two more things.
- Store the gun for a week. Take it out and cycle it. If it’s an auto, rack the slide after making sure the gun is pointed in a safe direction. The safest way to do this is with snap caps. If you have a wheel gun, empty the cylinder and two-stage fire it. If you reload, you can load up 4-5 dummy rounds with no powder or primer. This is important because you have to know the gun will run after being in the freezer.
- Store the gun in the freezer that is part of your fridge. Do not store the gun in a deep freeze. The freezer compartment on your fridge does get as cold as the big freezer. Keep it on the door, which does not get as cold as the back of the freezer space.
If you’re concerned about the ammo working after being stored in the freezer, don’t worry; it will work.
While its performance will have reduced a little, it is not a factor at home defense range. However, it can be a factor if you shoot out to 100 yards.
2. Biometric gun safe
A biometric gun safe means you are not looking for a key when seconds count. Since these safes are small, they’re easy to hide.
However, their size also means they are easy to steal and steal from, so you need to mount the safe to the floor.
It would be best to mount the safe behind your bed’s headboard. The tricky part is mounting it so that you have easy and quick access to it. To figure out where best to mount the safe, here’s what you need to do:
- Lay down on the bed and reach your hand behind the headboard.
- Pull the bed away from the safe’s opening and lay down again. Ask someone else to hold the safe to the headboard where your hand is.
- Move the safe around until you can access it rapidly. Now, have that person mark the headboard so you know where to mount the safe.
- Before you start drilling and sinking screws, make a photocopy of the mount side of the safe. This will show the mounting holes. Stick this piece of paper over the place where you will mount the safe.
3. Hidden wall display
Hidden wall displays are item like picture frames with hollow interiors or shelves with hidden compartments on the bottom.
These stealth wall concealed storage boxes come in a variety of shapes and sizes. You can also get hidden compartment shelves.
Smaller units can hold a single handgun and some extra mags, while long ones can hold a shotgun or rifle and some extra ammo.
If you fashion your own hidden wall display at home, use super magnets to hold the door closed. If the door is on the underside and opens down, you will need bigger magnets that can support the weight of the door, plus the gun and ammo.
4. Inside existing furniture
Hiding a gun inside existing furniture storage allows you to conceal a gun inside the furniture you already have at home.
We don’t recommend doing this if you have children or if children frequently visit your home.
You can slide a handgun between the cushion and the armrest with a good holster. You may need to wiggle it around to find the best spot so it is easy to get to and not visible.
Check the gun’s position frequently, as it may shift around. If you are handy, you can secure the holster below the cushion to the armrest supports.
5. Purpose Built Furniture
Purpose-built furniture is made to hide a gun. It looks like a regular table, night stand or something else and has a hidden compartment to hide your guns.
Examples of purpose-built furniture include nightstands, side tables, and even tissue boxes.
6. Fake Vent
If you are comfortable cutting a wall and bending down, consider a fake vent. You have to be willing to bend down because a wall vent stuck in a wall at eye level is just too suspicious.
This is another case where you have to be somewhat handy with tools. If you are not comfortable cutting into a wall, a home remodeling company can do this for you.
If you go this route, consider installing several more throughout the house. Putting in just one might cause someone to look twice. If you have a fake vent in all the major rooms, it will look a lot more normal.
Before you get out the saw, remember the carpenter’s adage: Measure twice. Cut once. If your hole is too big, you have repairs and an installation to make. A too-small hole can be opened up.
7. Hidden Wall Mirror
Like the fake vent and wall display, a hidden wall mirror takes advantage of the empty spaces between the walls inside your home.
The big advantage to this is the mirror in front. Someone breaking in may see the mirror. If they cannot get it off the wall, they will break the mirror. In this case, they will just see what appears to be the wall.
Installing a hidden wall mirror requires some handyman skills. You have to measure and cut a space in the wall to fit this case.
Before you start cutting, remember these storage cases have an outside frame that sits flush against the wall.
The actual storage area is smaller. This is the space you are cutting for.
Then you have to mount it to the studs in the wall. If that sounds like too much, any home remodeling company can do the work in less than a day.
Because it opens with a magnet release on the bottom, it is also very secure from small hands. Just be sure to store the opening magnet where it is both handy and not obvious.
8. Murphy Door
Taking a page from the Murphy Bed that folds up and into the wall comes the Murphy Door. This converts a closet door into a bookshelf.
Of all the hiding places on our list, this one requires the most work and is the hardest to install. You will cut door pieces to fit and may have to enlarge or reduce the doorway as well.
To start with, you must know the size of the opening leading into the space. Then, you have to trim the various pieces to fit the available space.
Remember this carpenter’s rule. If you cut something wrong, you have to get a replacement.
9. Laundry Basket
A laundry basket is one of the easiest and cheapest gun storage ideas on our list.
That said, this is another idea that should be avoided if you have kids in the house. Kids just get into things, even dirty laundry.
If you do this, be sure the people who do laundry know the gun is there. You do not want your gun winding up in the washing machine.
You do need to create a false bottom for the basket or keep the gun in a carrier or sealed case. You can even use a biometric case.
We all sweat and that sweat is full of salts. It will rust a gun in a hurry. I speak from unfortunate experience.
This idea is also best for stainless steel guns as they are massively rust-resistant.
10. Fake Plant
Nobody looks twice at fake plants, which is why they make a great place to hide your guns, especially when the pot has a false bottom. Someone might yank the plant out, but all they will see is the bottom of the pot.
This is another top cheapest gun storage idea. You will not fit a big gun in here, but you can keep a subcompact in there.
Additionally, you can put fake plants anywhere. You can also make your own fake bottom pot cut by cutting an insert to fit. It is best to make the insert from the same material and the same color as the plant.
Frequently Asked Questions
Guns can be stored vertically or horizontally. It really does not matter.
Guns can be stored vertically or horizontally. It really does not matter.
Is it OK to store guns in a soft case?
Storing guns in a soft case is OK for the short term or you have a protective lube on it. Hoppes Elite is great.
Are cheap gun safes worth it?
Cheap gun safes are only worth it if you hide them. They can be easily pried open. If they are not mounted, they are easy to steal.
Conclusion
If you use any of these tips to hide your gun, the best additional advice I can give is to check the gun frequently. Pull it out, unload it, cycle it.
You must make sure it still runs. You are checking for dirt and rust. Rust means you need to change how you are storing the gun. Dirt and dust mean you are not checking it often enough.
Take it to the range and shoot it for the ultimate check. Just because everything appears to work inside your house does not mean the gun fires.
You could have a hidden obstruction blocking the firing pin. Besides which, you need to practice.
