Free For All Friday, 4-25-14: Gun Safe Locations and Carry Gun Questions
It’s Friday again! It looks like all the nasty weather in Florida is clearing up. Segues are difficult, sometimes. The NRAAM is starting up today. People have been talking about it all week and a bunch of companies have announced new products ahead of time. I’ve never really understood why companies reveal their big product in its entirety weeks before a trade show meant to reveal new products. To me, it just ruins the full excitement of seeing a product for the first time. That would be like saying “Tyler Durden isn’t real” weeks before the first trailer for Fight Club even premiered (oh…uhm…spoiler alert). Tease your product. Work up a frenzy. Make people fight to get to your booth to see what the heck you’ve been teasing for a month. Also, it seems more really new stuff is being announced at NRAAM than at SHOT Show. What’s up with that? I’m guessing it’s because all the major companies found out that I already blew my travel budget on SHOT this year.
I live in South Florida and have been thinking about a gun safe. Not a gun cabinet, but an actual safe. The problem is, I live in an apartment with no spare space. I do have a single car garage. Do you think I can put the safe in my garage? I can anchor it so it can’t be moved there. I was more worried about the heat and humidity of South Florida. -Skyler R.
My answer to the question of “should I get a gun safe” is always a resounding and firm “yes”. The biggest problem is always where to put it. A good place is just to throw out some stuff and make room in a closet somewhere (preferably in your main closet). I don’t ever recommend a garage, however. First and foremost: garages are incredibly easy to break into. Also, any time you have it open, the world can see what you have in it. Nothing says “hey, you might want to bring a crowbar or two” to a criminal like driving by and seeing a big safe sitting there with plenty of room around it to get some good leverage.
So what are the other options? Well, if you have primarily pistols, you can opt for one of the half height safes and those can be easily tucked into a corner somewhere, covered with a sheet and made to look like an end table or something. There is, like I said, the option of just emptying out a closet and sliding it in there as well. Make sure you get really good measurements first. There’s also half width sized safes as well, in the cases of more long guns that pistols.
Also keep in mind that apartment management companies tend to get really pissy about drilling anchor holes into their concrete.
I live in North Florida currently and, having lived in South Florida as well, I can confirm that the humidity problems are consistent across the state. The bright side is there are a lot of dehumidifier options for safes and they work very well. Everything from electronic heater bars to silica gel packs, you can get that moisture out of there fast. That’s another reason, by the way, I don’t recommend garage locations: the AC unit will remove a lot of moisture to begin with. That means your chosen dehumidifier won’t have to work as hard. You’re not looking for 0% humidity in the safe, just in the 40%-60% range. Lower than 40% and it can actually lead to other problems like stock and grip shrinkage/cracking and dry rot, for example.
Hey guys, I am looking for a handgun, specifically an affordable .40, which brought me to looking at the s&w sd40ve. It seems to have good ratings (most just say its a lot like a glock). But my question is mainly about its safety- or lack there of. Some people say carry weapons should have a safety, others say they leave the safety off purposefully because it takes longer and messes up the flow of your motor skills. What do you think? Also, if I may ask, do you recommend carrying with a round in the chamber or no? -JD
The SD40 VE and the SD9 VE have almost as dedicated of a following as S&W’s M&P series. They’re solid guns for a good price. I haven’t personally shot one but I have handled them on multiple occasions. The only thing to watch out for, in my opinion, is the trigger. It’s a long pull that weighs in at over 8 pounds. There is a company called “Apex Tactical” that has made their living almost entirely by selling trigger upgrade kits for S&W pistols. In fact, it seems to be that many people buy the trigger upgrades at the same time. Why S&W just hasn’t bought Apex and incorporated their triggers, I have no idea.
The “safety switch for carry weapons” is one of those topics where you can go to any random gun forum, ask that question and then sit back and watch the Royal Rumble type brawl that will commence. I am of the opinion that it doesn’t matter provided you actually practice drawing your carry gun. If your chosen gun has a safety switch, that’s perfectly fine. You just have to make sure you practice clicking that switch to shoot every time you go to shoot. You want to practice it to the point that your thumb makes the motion out of habit if you go to shoot a gun without a safety. You want to have dreams where you do nothing but click that switch. It must become an obsession. By the way, you want to do the same level of practice no matter which gun you choose. Drawing and readying a carry gun must be practiced to the point that it’s automatic.
Manipulating the safety is one thing, it’s an entirely other thing to chamber a round. It takes a lot of time and far too much time, as far as I’m concerned. Hollywood and politicians love to make it look like a gun will go off if you so much sneeze next to them. Aside from popular belief, most guns are made to not shoot unless you really want them to. So much so that, whenever you hear someone say a gun “just went off”, chances are they’re trying to cover up something stupid they did. You could probably take a Glock, load it up, chamber a round and then use it to hammer a nail into a wall and nothing would happen. Author’s note: DO NOT TEST THAT THEORY. There are two tricks to keep in mind: 1) follow your safety rules to the letter with none of that “oh, I just checked. It’s ok.” nonsense that I hear from people. Follow the rules and you will never have a problem. Ever. 2) Don’t skimp on your holster. There is a huge difference between a $15 Uncle Mike’s holster and a $60 Dragon Holster. A good holster will cover the trigger and keep anything other than your booger hook from pulling the bang switch.
So yes, chamber a round. That also gives you that wonderful “+1” capacity. After all, why carry 14 rounds when you can carry 15?
Thanks for the questions!
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