Okay, so I recently bought my first firearm, an M&P 9. I'm looking to get some kind of safe to use in the house(mainly for when I'm sleeping). I have small children who are insatiably curious and very smart, and I need something that will keep this thing out of their hands without question. My secondary consideration is having to retrieve the gun under duress and/or in the dark. I want for it to be as easy and fast as possible obviously, can I get some opinions? Top choices would seem to be electronic keycode or biometric. I don't want to have to retrieve a key really, and trying to work a combination in the dark sounds like a losing situation. The biometric sounds like a good way to go, but I question its reliability. Any thoughts?

Hornady® Security | RAPiD® Safe
I've seen them on sale for 199.00

I like V-Line safes...come in various sizes/prices...have 5 button "simplex" mechanical locks that you set your own combo for (which buttons are actuated/pushed in what sequence that open safe). Quick and easy to operate. I can have mine opened in 2 seconds. I have no interest or confidence in a safe with electronic circuitry/batteries. Anything can fail but I have more confidence in mechanical systems. Just my opinion as I know many people who have and love all kinds of electronic safes.

Whatever brand you decide on, go mechanical, rather than electronic.
There's a YouTube video that's been around for a while showing how easily one guy's 3yo got into some electronic safes, by simply lifting one side up and dropping it.

If I can find it, I'll link it.

Mechanical push button lock would be my recommendation. The handgun safes that use this lock are usually made of heavier steel too.

One thing you can do until you get more confident in operating the mechanical lock (Simplex style) in the dark, is you can pre-punch all or part of the code when you go to sleep. That will allow you to just punch the final button or two in your code, or if you pre-punched all just a turn of the knob. In the morning just a 1/4 turn counterclockwise resets the combination.

Quick, durable, reliable and will last many years if not a life time. Bolt it down to something solid and consider how you plan to mount it when purchasing as that can make a difference on what will work best for your application.

I have a Fort Knox pistol safe, which has a simplex lock. I've had around 5 years. I'm very happy with it. Was around $225.

I will only say please Google Opening Gun Safes and read and watch before you pick one. There is other threads on this site about it and I will no longer relate my experiences with a certain make and model. If your children are like mine was and his 3 sons are then be careful what you buy. Don

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M&P X5

I must agree, Fort Knox safes mechanical locks and warranty are the best in the industry.

One idea I'll share is to mount it to a shelf where your shirts are draped so it is not readily visible. I also have one of the electronic models that is flush to the wall and the door drops down. It works well behind the shirts. I agree that the mechanical lock will serve your purposes better.

I'm sorry... Train your kids!!!

When I had young kids (they survived, grew up , and moved out) There was no secret as to where my guns were or what they were capable of.
I showed them where they were so they wouldn't find them accidentally, I took the kids out to my range to watch as I shot and hear that BIG noise!
They were taught not to play with them or go near them, and they understood!
Never once had a problem.

I would hide or lock them up if there were a bunch of kids over playing, as we were that place the kids liked to go. Mostly just had to lock the bedroom door.

If you get broken into and you cant retrieve your gun in time to protect your family, then what's the point?

My daughter grew up in a house full of loaded guns. She knew from the git go not to touch them. Later, I taught her safe gun handling and how to shoot. She now has her own house full of loaded guns, and is the designated shooter in the event of a break in.

Another vote for V-line. Easy to set up and easy to use.

Excellent advice, thanks for the input, I'm definitely going to do my research. $200+ is a little steep for me, but can you put a price on your children's safety? I think not

So then teach them gun safety and awareness, don't just lock them out!!

I applaude Cbollo for his sense of responsibility in wanting to safeguard his guns from the curiosity of his kids. The comments from forum members about the importance and wisdom of teaching kids gun safety and awareness are right on in my book. However, it was a pretty good while before my two boys were, IMO, old enough to understand much about the inhererent dangers of careless firearm handling. I say we cut Cbollo some slack as maybe his kids are toddlers and by virtue of age incapable of understanding much about firearm safety or danger. He was, after all, just asking for advice on what to consider in safe features. Way to go Cbollo for wanting to safely protect your family from harm. And BTW, welcome to a great forum.

I certainly did not mean to come across as being critical of the OP. I have no children in my home, no guests either. I don't presently own a safe of any sort, but will probably be getting one soon. Any sort of lockbox can ultimately be defeated. Kids are smarter than we give them credit sometimes. They may lack decision making skills, but they will watch carefully and monkey will do as monkey sees. Sound training from an early age will help serve to backup the physical restraints. Taking young children out to shoot removes the curiosity factor. I was turned loose in the woods and fields around our home with a .22 rifle at about age 6 or 7. Never a mishap or any sort of problem, other than me raising hell with the rabbit and woodchuck populations. Today, sadly, that would likely land my parents in jail, and I would be sent off to some sort of gun free liberal haven for attitude adjustment.

Whatever vault/safe you get, practice opening it. It needs to be second nature to open, and retreive your firearm.
When things go bump in the night, memory fails.

I always carry a gun on me even at home. I agree that it needs to be where you are or too much time is wasted trying to get your weapon.

However, I do have a dedicated HD gun that is at my bedside and it is no problem accessing it very quickly with one hand with no chance of accidentally grabbing the trigger in the dark.

Sentry Safe. Electronic and very simple to use. I have it screwed down on a closet shelf in my bed room. I have it for the same reason you want it. Bought it from Costco on their web site about 3 years ago. Believe it was around $90.00 shipped to the house. Go to their site because they may still have it. If not try "Sentry Safes" and check it out. I have had no problems with it. Besides the electronic feature it also has a round type key that can be used. Good luck.
R.J.

Sorry, but do not buy ANYTHING Sentry makes.

Go with a mechanical lock such as Vline.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

If I understood your post, your only goal is to keep your kids away from it at night. Why not just put a child-proof clasp they make for cabinet drawers/doors on your nightstand and then lock the weapon up in a real safe during the day (if you're not carrying that is ). Any attempt to fumble with it at night ought to wake you.

I looked at most every "lockbox" on the market about 3 years ago and decided none of them we're worth the money as a true safe.

Like certain muscles, we all have opinions

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Really? U saw it in Wikipedia?

Love this forum, and love the opinions. I like to hear every side. And I couldn't agree more about teaching gun safety to children. My daughter(8yrs old) wouldn't touch it if you paid her to, but my 3 year old son has no real grasp on the danger of firearms. His only experience with 'pow pows' are as toys. I think once he actually sees one being fired, and hears the sound, he won't be too keen on messing with it. I'm not taking any chances with this, and I've been teaching him as much as I can right now. Problem with that though is I'm new to handguns myself and need to learn as well. Most of my shooting experience is with rifles and shotguns up until now. I will be practicing with this thing alot, whether that be field stripping it, drawing it quickly without fingering the trigger, swapping mags, safe retrieval, and even drawing and firing when my snap caps get here. Unfortunately, I'll have to pay for time down at the range, so I won't get as much time actually firing as I'd like(Every day!).
I'm leaning towards a simplex locked safe at this point, but they're pretty expensive so I may have to settle for putting the gun in the top of the closet and a magazine in a dresser drawer or somewhere hidden for now. Ugh. At any rate, I'm learning alot fast, and I appreciate everyone's input.

We don't know your situation and it's none of our business as to how you raise your children. You do what you feel is best.

The mechanical type lock WILL outlast any electronic lock currently used on pistol boxes.

I have two Gunvaults. One ten years old and the other two years old. They have both stopped working forcing me to use the override key. I also have a V-Line that is 20 years old and a Palmer Security (no longer made) which is 8 years old. Both have Simplex mechanical locks. I have no problems with either. They are easy to use.

Do the mechanical locks go bad? Yes. Under high use they can. The same mechanical locks are used on commercial push button locks. I've replaced too many to count. But again, they get used much much more than a gun box will.

If you search, V-line doesn't cost too much more. And it will still be working when your kids are grown and gone. It's an investment.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

When my son was little, I used a small keyed stack-on pistol box bolted to a bedside table. It was about $20. I kept the key on a hook out of sight and reach during the day and would put it in the box overnight. I had read about too many failures and just didn't trust biometric or keypad models. I will also echo the need to teach children about safety and the dangers of firearms at an early age. Massad Ayoob has a book out called "gun proof your children". Most of it's just reason common sense.

I have two Fort Knox vaults. One is larger and has room for 16 long guns, a top shelf for handguns, and shelves down the right side. The other is a bit smaller and is all shelves. Both have electronic locks. We have no children, so I have no need for a pistol locker. The Fort Knox Gun Vaults are the finest in my estimation.

I had a pistol box with an electronic lock. Eventually the lock failed and I couldn't get it open without the key. I still use it but just use the key. As far as big safes anything you get between 1-2k is probably going to be about the same as far as security. Anything to keep a real-live safe cracker out is going to cost over 10k, I'm sure. I have a Cannon safe that holds all of my 70 or so pistols that has USB hookups in case you want to store your home network computer in there. I thought about putting my security camera DVR in there but chose to hide it in the rafters of the basement instead. Safe is 6' tall by about 3' deep and at least 4' wide. I got it on clearance at Tractor Supply for $800.00. Same safe was 1300.00 at Dunhams.

Ask around at ranges to see if they have a military / public service membership that would give you a free or reduced rate. Several in my area offer plans that give weekday access at free or very reduced rates for an annual fee. My actual cost runs about $2 a day if I compare the annual fee and weekend costs vs number of annual visits.