Displaying guns-Does anyone still have open gun displays?

[gordon21]

I am curious about whether anyone still has old fashioned gun cabinets with glass doors, open horizontal wall racks or coffee table displays under glass instead of gun safes.

Another forum member sells display rods. They are cool looking. BUT, the only way I could use them would be if I had guns in a flat case (like a coffee table) with a glass top or a china hutch converted to a gun display. Think Cabelas gun room.

Almost 33 years ago when we got married, my new wife offered to buy me a K-Mart quality traditional gun cabinet with the etched glass door for my two long guns. We only had those two and a S&W revolver. We were moving every 6-8 months due to my job and I never got one. But, they sure do seem traditional.

I now have a modern fire safe where I keep guns, tax documents, family photos, etc.

I am getting nostalgic and am thinking about adding a box area under a current glass topped coffee table. It would actually be a relatively simple workshop project. I would occasionally access the guns by lifting the edge of a piece of glass about 15x20". These would be "display" guns which would be used only a few times yearly for guest visits.

I could then display the handguns under the glass and use those cool looking display rods. I have two grandkids who visit monthly and I shoot with them on a regular basis in the back yard. (both guns and bows) I have no worries about leaving an unloaded gun under glass. They have been ingrained with gun safety for years. They are 6 & 11 and their dad is a LEO. They have been around guns all their life.

I am in NC, so I don't need any lectures about California type DOJ safe storage rules.

Am I stupid and trying to relive the days of 1960's Mayberry or do I have some support here for my plan????

 

[chaparrito]

My gun case is an antique china cabinet so yeah, I do.

 

[timn8er]

Lord knows I wish I could display what few guns I have, but I just don't think its a good idea anymore. With the smash, grab, & go type of burglaries that seem predominant these days, anything you can do to slow them down is a good thing.

 

[BobC357]

I have a nice custom gun cabinet that has locking glass doors and drawers. It's fitted for the rifles, shotguns, lever action, etc.

 

[RobertJ.]

None of my modern guns are anywhere they can be seen. One wall of my loft (which is my "man cave", as they say) is Caribbean themed, and I have two black powder pistols, a flintlock and a caplock, hanging off to the side. I'm not too worried about them, and they look really cool.

 

[bushmaster1313]

The Russians still display their guns in the open.

 

[loeman]

I Wish I Could....

No displays for me! I really wish that I could but it's just too big of a risk. Isn't it a shame that so many of us have some of the most visually appealing industrial age mechanical marvels and we can't even display them properly in our own homes?

 

[sigp220.45]

Yep. If they get past the alarm and the Rottweiler they can have the ones over the firelace.

 

[Engieman]

Everything is in a safe, with the exception of a couple black powder rifles. Gives me piece of mind, and the trip wire attached to the Claymore behind the paneling is subtle enough to not take away from the beautiful lines of the Kentucky Rifle.

 

[Iggy]

Itchy gave me a custom made gun cabinet as an anniversary present not long after we moved to the ranch. When we moved back to town, we got a gun safe and the gun cabinet became a fancy book shelf.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Haven't seen a gun cabinet in years other than my dads. Even his is empty. Everything is in his gun safe.

As a part of the job, I've been in hundreds of homes. Every gun cabinet I see which is few, is empty. So I know there is a safe somewhere in the house or the guns have been sold off or given away.

 

[Bkreutz]

Unfortunately this is what we have come to. I see lots of ads for gun cabinets on Craigslist and many times they are in the "Free" section. I remember making a gun rack for my dad in shop class, bet they don't do that anymore either.

 

[Faulkner]

The only displaying I do is I rotate one long gun on the mantel above my fireplace during the seasons I'm not using the fireplace. Just depending on my mood, I'll display one of my M1 rifles or M1 carbines, or maybe my M1903 or No4 MKII Lee Enfield. Otherwise, everything stays in the gun safe and even the one over the fireplace comes down when I'm out of town.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

Display - no way. Everything is out of sight under lock & key. What a same. Actually I have considered a cheap upright cabinet to put some junkers in so the thieves would be satisfied with that. But civil liability scares the jebies out me. A dope head steals a gun in a burglary of your home, knocks off a 7-11 and kills someone and you are libel for allowing it to happen.

 

[gmiller0737]

I have 2 Gun Cabinets still in addition to The Safe 1 cabinet was custom built out of Wormy Chestnut, Only have cheaper stuff & BB/ Pellet guns in the cabinets


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[traderdell]

The only ones I have on display are a few Browning Sweet Sixteens. I've collected too many over the years and there isn't room in the safe.

 

[bettis1]

Think of the way that your guns are stored/displayed as the end of an equation. How they are safely stored/displayed is dependent upon what other security assets you have. If you live behind an iron fence or a gated community, have a lighted and alarmed interior and exterior, dogs, patrol vehicles, etc. your collection is relatively safe in a glass fronted display. If, on the other hand, you live in an apartment or a development that abuts a freeway, or an isolated rural environment, you should have them in a safe that isn't visible in the room.

(Oh yeah, don't describe it too fully here.)

Bob

 

[brucev]

In 1986 our first daughter was born. In 1987 our second daughter was on the way. A retired cabinet maker who was a member of my church called me up. He asked if my wife and daughter and I could come over. We went to their house and had a wonderful time. When it was about time to leave, he asked me to step out to his shop. There he had a large walnut gun cabinet waiting. He said he was concerned that my rifles and shotgun needed to be safely stored so that the children could not some day get hurt. I've had that gun cabinet for 28 years. It has very well served our family holding my beloved rifles and shotgun as well as hunting gear. Every time I look at it I remember that kind man and his genuine love for my family. One day it will belong to my daughter and her husband.

 

[kozmic]

My brother has an absolutely gorgeous long gun cabinet that a buddy of his made out of pecan and hickory and glass doors. It's was stunning loaded with his collection of old double barrel shotguns and lit from above.

He saw the writing on the wall and moved his guns to a conventional safe. At the "urging" of his charming bride, he refit it as a curio cabinet a couple years ago. He refers to that day as his second circumcision. Makes me almost puke seeing if full of chachkas and tea cups.

I don't know of anyone who displays working guns anymore.

 

[Smoke]

A dope head steals a gun in a burglary of your home, knocks off a 7-11 and kills someone and you are libel for allowing it to happen.

I'd like to see a cite for that