Gun owners have an important responsibility to ensure that their guns are secure and can be used for no harm even when they are stored. And in the vast majority of instances, a quality gun safe yields the best method for storing an unused firearm safely and responsibly.

When most people think of gun safes, they think of the large, heavy, spacious vaults used by many gun owners, and many of those are indeed, fine storage units. When trying to sell the best safe for your customer’s purposes, there are a number of things to consider. While we don’t have space to look at every aspect a safe shopper should consider, we’ll hit on a handful of high points.

One critical consideration is size, as gun safes can hold anywhere from a few to several dozen guns. If your customer purchases one that’s too small, he’ll likely have to purchase another one down the road. My advice is to suggest they buy one bigger than they think they’ll need — buy once, cry once. They’ll likely eventually fill it up.

Type of firearms they plan to store is also an important consideration. The insides of some safes are made for mostly rifles and some pistols, while it is just the opposite with others. Know what your customer needs before you start the sales process.

Physical space is also important. If they have a huge area to put the safe in, exterior dimension isn’t a limiting factor. But if they have a small corner, they’ll probably want one with the smallest dimensions that can hold the number of guns they wish to store. If a safe shopper hasn’t considered where he or she will be placing the safe, that decision should probably be made before continuing with the process. 

Fire safety is another critical factor to consider. Safes are rated for minutes of fire safety and also degrees Fahrenheit. The higher the number on each, the more fire protection your customer will have. Unfortunately, higher fire ratings tend to push safes out of the financial comfort zone of many shoppers.

Other important factors your customers should consider are the thickness of the steel, the locking mechanism used, whether it has a digital or mechanical lock, number and size of locking bolts, and whether or not the safe has interior lights and/or a humidifier built in.

Incidentally, there are many other options available nowadays aside from the conventional large, heavy gun safe. While those remain the standard, lighter modular safes and even small, handgun-specific safes have a place in the safe firearm storage arena.

For this column, we’ll take a close look at one of each — a conventional safe, a modular safe and a handgun safe.

Fort Knox Marquise 

Fort Knox is a legendary name in gun safes, and units like the Marquis are a good reason why the company has such a stellar reputation. The Marquise, Fort Knox’s standard home safe model, is crafted with an industry-leading 3/16-inch body. It comes standard with security and fire protection features that surpass most other home safes on the market. In fact, the Marquise features two firewalls, resulting in a fire protection rating of up to 120 minutes at 1,680 degrees Fahrenheit.

On the door of the Fort Knox Marquise 6024 home safe lies a S&G Group II manipulation-resistant lock, spy-proof and key lock dial protected by a drill stop hard plate with recessed multi-bearings. After the user dials in the correct combination, the door is opened with a turn of the five-spoke clutch drive handle, which is in gold, chrome or black chrome.

The smaller model, the Marquise 4026, has external dimensions of 40 inches high, 26 inches wide and 20 inches deep, yielding plenty of room for a good number of guns and other valuables. For those looking for a larger safe, the Marquise 6024 measures 60 inches high, 26 inches wide and 22 inches deep. The door edge steel thickness on both is 1/2 inch, and it has 11 solid steel locking bolts that are 1.5 inches in diameter.

Ft. Knox gives gun safe shoppers a lot of opportunities to customize their Marquise just the way they want it. They can select lock option, hardware color and configuration, trim color, interior fabric color and several other features.

Secureit Agile 52 Pro 

Newer-style modular safes are becoming increasingly popular these days. They are lighter, so can typically be moved by the owner. They can also be configured differently to meet the different needs of different gun owners, which is a good selling point.

One company that specializes in modular safes is Secureit, which makes lightweight safes of all sizes and configurations. The company’s safes, gun cabinets and gun walls can be configured to meet just about anyone’s safe storage needs.

The company’s Agile 52 Pro is one of its best-sellers, with more than 50,000 sold. And one of the most attractive features is it ships flat and can be assembled anywhere. It has outside dimensions of 52 inches high, 20.25 inches wide and 15.25 inches deep, with a capacity of six long guns and a number of handguns. And for those who move frequently, the fact that it weighs only 105 pounds is a great selling point.

The six-button keypad also includes a capacitive fingerprint scanner for fast access via the code (up to three codes, three to 12 digits each) or the user’s fingerprint. The keypad can be programmed to turn off the backlight, sound and even the biometric function should the owner choose to do so.

The Agile 52 Pro’s CradleGrid back panel offers unlimited customization with no tools required. Pro Kit accessories include cradles and stock bases, storage bins, storage shelf and trays, and a door organizer.

Hornady RAPiD Safe 2700KP

Many companies now make small handgun safes that use combination locks, biometric locks or even utilize both entry methods on the same safe. These safes are great for someone needing to store just a handgun or two, or who might want to take the safe along with them on their travels.

Hornady makes a great one called the RAPiD Safe. The 2700KP model has outside dimensions of 12.7x8.7x2.9 inches, and interior dimensions of 9x7.7x2.2 inches. It offers fast and dependable RFID entry activated by wristband, key fob or sticker that instantly opens the spring-assist lid. Up to five RFID tags can be programmed. It also allows convenient keypad access for those who prefer that secondary entry method using a user-programmed four- or six-digit code. And for those not impressed with the newest technology, it can even be opened with an old-fashioned key! 

The exterior housing is made of thick 14-gauge steel with two internal hardened locking lugs. The safe exceeds ASTM International safety standards for child and pry resistance, lock strength, drop/pick/saw tests and hinge attack resistance. Additionally, the included cable allows the 2700KP to be secured in virtually any location, and the safe meets TSA requirements for handgun safety in checked luggage. In addition to the 2700KP detailed here, the Hornady RAPiD Safe line also includes a number of other sizes and configurations. 

Wrapping It Up

Hopefully these three safes will give you an idea of what might be best to carry in your gun safe inventory. And hopefully they’ll lead to a happy customer once the final sale is completed, since we all know that a happy customer is a repeat customer.