Gun box recommendation

[sisk]

So I made the mistake of teaching my 13 year old how to pick locks. She's not very good at it, but she's good enough for cheap locks. And I'm looking at getting a handgun. You can probably see where this is going.

To put what I'm up against in perspective, I once left her home while I ran to the store. I was gone for 10 minutes and when I got back she'd gotten into the locked cabinet where I keep my sword collection and was swinging around a very expensive and very sharp saber. I moved the sword collection to a storage unit after that.

So, anyone know of a single-gun box (preferably small enough to sit on a night stand or not much bigger and mountable to a wall) with a biometric lock (if I need the gun I don't have time to mess with keys) that has a decent enough backup lock to keep this kid out? She's not great at lockpicking (she has yet to successfully open an American 1100), but all the boxes I've found have either cheap wafer locks or tubular locks.

I don't know what kind of gun it would need to hold. I want to have a way to keep it safe before I go gun shopping. But when I get that far I'll mostly be looking at .45s.

[sisk]

Also, for the record, yes, her lockpicks got taken away after that incident, but she knows where I keep mine.

[Squelchtone]

[ Moving this to What Lock Should I Buy? ]

[billdeserthills]

Why not just buy a medeco cam lock to replace the wafer lock with?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Medeco-duracam ... Sw~KpgCIeL

[sisk]

Why not just buy a medeco cam lock to replace the wafer lock with?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Medeco-duracam ... Sw~KpgCIeL

But that would make too much sense! Seriously though, why didn't I think of that?

[Squelchtone]

I have installed these Amsec K-1 drop safes at liquor stores before as a cash drop for the owner, but it has a Medeco lock, and can easily store a pistol and extra mags. It's also beefy as well, and has pre drilled holes for bolting it down.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/AmSec-K-1-Heavy-Duty-Gun-Undercounter-0-18-Cu-Ft-Safe-With-Medeco-Lock-w-Keys/193453876672

a video including that model




Then there's this slide out gun safe.. open it using biometric, pin code, phone app, or remote control fob! and it can even fit a full size 1911.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F8WTBMM/

the over ride key is a disc detainer like Abloy, so not as easy to pick as a pin tumbler or wafer lock.

and a video about it

[billdeserthills]

Also, for the record, yes, her lockpicks got taken away after that incident, but she knows where I keep mine.

My dad gave me a set of picks when I was a teenager--he was shocked & disappointed when he discovered I had been picking open peoples doors & stealing from them. It's important not to trust youngsters too much sometimes & it's hard to know when you can trust them because they like to show off for their friends at times. I hope you won't be too hard on her, unfortunately it is just human nature & doesn't mean she can't be a responsible adult someday

[stratmando]

How about a Biometric or Fingerprint Lock, If You have a Key, she may find and use.
Maybe you could recess in a wall, behind a picture, Tougher if she doesn't know where it is. Taught my Granddaughter to ride a Bike when she was just turning 3. Wanted to teach her to try picking around the first grade, love to teach. She did not want to try as I think she though it was bad, but then when she became a teenager, she was more interested, thinking it could open Doors for her, Literally. She has forgotten about it, never taught her.

[demux]

In addition to the lock itself, you'll also need to pay attention to the build quality/security of the actual box. There are many out there that can be trivially defeated without interacting with the lock itself at all. Per forum rules I can't discuss specifics here, but LPL has a few good reviews of some of the more egregious mistakes and things you should be looking out for. I highly suggest you go watch some of his videos before buying anything.

Personally, for when I need to secure any of my handguns outside my large multi-gun cabinet, I just went with a pelican case with locking rings and a couple of decent padlocks. You can find such cases large or small enough to fit just about any size gun, or multiple guns, and you can cut out the interior foam to exactly the shape of whatever you're carrying. Since pelican cases are pretty common, it also has the slight advantage of not being immediately obvious as a gun case, which may or may not matter to you.

Completely unrelated to locks, but general advice for a new gun owner, if you're at all concerned that your kids may get access to your firearms I'd encourage you to think carefully about how you store them. You could get into a lot of debate around emergency preparedness and if you need it how you might need it, but I have young kids as well and for me personally I've decided that unless any of my firearms is in my sole personal custody (in other words, I'm physically carrying or using it), it will never be stored at any readiness condition higher than 3 (loaded mag inserted but no round in the chamber). This requires the action to be cycled once before any unintentional discharge can occur. Again, people can and will debate this, but if a gun isn't on my person, in order to use it in an emergency I would need enough mental wherewithal and physical dexterity to open the gun safe and retrieve it, and if I can do that I have a high degree of confidence in my ability to chamber a round, even if it have to do something odd like push the slide against a shelf in the cabinet to rack it (if I was already wounded in one arm or something).

[GWiens2001]

More pricey, but AMSEC makes a decent box with a Simplex lock on it.

Gordon