Gun Safes: Rules for Safe Gun Storage

Gun safes: rules for storing weapons

Personal weapons are not only a privilege, but also a great responsibility. To own a weapon, in Latvia, as in many countries, you need to obtain a license.

According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 210 of 05.21.2019 on the Rules on the circulation of weapons and ammunition and the law on the circulation of weapons , a permit to carry a weapon can be obtained by every adult citizen of Latvia who has fulfilled several requirements, namely: received a medical certificate confirming the state of health, underwent preliminary training in weapons ownership, paid the state fee and submitted an application.

Hunting is the most common reason for purchasing a weapon. Also, for personal needs, weapons are often purchased for self-defense.

However, not all gun owners know how to properly store them.

If you are planning to purchase a weapon, then you will need to apply for the appropriate permit to store weapons, as well as buy a safe.

A gun safe is a requirement for purchasing and owning a firearm. According to current legislation, weapons and ammunition belonging to citizens must be stored at their place of residence, in locked safes or gun cabinets.

Gun Safe Legislation

Legislative requirements for storing weapons are established in Latvia by the following legislative acts:

The Law on the Traffic in Weapons (adopted on March 14, 2019, entered into force on April 10, 2019) and the subordinate Cabinet Regulations No. 221 of May 21, 2019, “Regulations on permits for weapons and on the seizure and destruction of weapons” (entered into force June 15, 2019) and Cabinet Regulation No. 210 of May 21, 2019 “Rules on the circulation of weapons and ammunition” (came into force on June 15, 2019).

According to the law, an individual who has reached the age of 18 has the right to: acquire, store, carry and transport deactivated firearms that comply with the requirements of regulation 2015/2403 , store, carry and transport deactivated firearms after receiving a certificate from the State Police, as well as acquire , store and transport deactivated high-energy pneumatic weapons after receiving a certificate or certificate from the State Police. The permit to purchase a weapon is valid for three months from the date the State Police makes a decision to issue it.

The National Police issues weapons permits, carry permits, weapons collection permits, and European firearms licenses for a period of five years, and for hunting and sport for an indefinite period, ensuring periodic review of the permits at least once every five years. You can find all the necessary information about obtaining a weapons permit here.

Who controls the storage of weapons and how?

An individual and legal entity, at the request of a police officer or an official of an institution whose competence includes control over the circulation of weapons, is obliged to present weapons, ammunition, their components, and the corresponding weapons permit.

An employee of the State Police has the right, without prior warning, to check the storage conditions of firearms, ammunition, their components and high-energy pneumatic weapons at the address indicated in the weapons permit.

What types of gun safes are there?

There are different types of safes designed to store weapons. There are cheaper safes that meet only government security requirements (such as steel thickness) and there are also safes with certificates for both the safes themselves and the locks for them. Such safes are a little more expensive, but have high security properties and reliability.

Safes for storing weapons have increased wall thickness, a multi-layer body structure and are equipped with specialized, especially reliable locks. Locks can be key, electronic, code mechanical, or biometric, which means the weight of the products increases.

Depending on the type of weapon, all safes for storing weapons are divided into two types:

Small-sized pistol safes designed for storing short-barreled and traumatic weapons.
Gun safes are larger sizes designed to store shotguns, rifles and carbines.

We offer gun safes for both long guns and pistols, as well as exclusive gun safes.

Gun safes for long guns

The ARSENAL 1480T gun safe is ideal for storing firearms, pistols, ammunition supplies and essential gun accessories.

1480x300x300 mm

Metal thickness of the body and door – 3 mm

Comes with a Kaba Mauer key lock

Deadbolt locking system

Burglar resistance class : S1

Gun safes for pistols

Gun safe ARSENAL 25 T designed for storing firearms and ammunition.

250x340x280 mm

Body metal thickness – 3 mm, door metal thickness – 5 mm

Comes with a Kaba Mauer key lock

3-way deadbolt locking system

Equipped with a cartridge compartment (trazer), locked with a key

Burglar resistance class: A1

Exclusive safes for storing weapons

VALBERG JAGER 1660 gun safe is designed for storing weapons.

1438x425x377mm

Door thickness - 110 mm, wall thickness - 90 mm

For locking, an ultra-reliable 4-bolt locking system with protection against knocking out or drilling is used.

We recommend that you choose a gun safe from the wide range of our online store. Various sizes, weight, type of lock, locking mechanisms, thickness of the metal used, burglary resistance class, internal structure of the gun safe, capacity, price ranges and much more will allow us to select the optimal model for individual needs.

Choosing a gun safe based on its capacity and configuration

A gun safe is not only reliable, but also convenient, because gun safes have racks for guns and several shelves on which you can put pistols or other valuables. Many gun safes have a lockable cartridge compartment inside, which ensures compliance with legal requirements for separate storage of weapons and ammunition.

When choosing a gun safe, special attention should be paid to its internal dimensions. It happens that, for example, novice hunters purchasing their first safe choose a safe for only one or two guns, and after a while the stock of weapons is replenished and they need to think about replacing the safe.

You should definitely find out whether the internal height of the safe matches the length of your gun, so that the guns you purchase will fit into the safe you purchase. It happens that the description indicates the internal size of the safe without taking into account the cartridge compartment, so it is necessary to further clarify the height of the guns that can fit in the safe you have chosen.

A properly chosen gun safe can be used not only to store weapons and ammunition, but also as a secure place to store important documents and valuables. We advise you to consider purchasing a larger safe and use it to your maximum benefit.

A properly selected gun safe will help:

Ensure security and protect expensive weapons from theft
Ensure a high level of safety for your loved ones

Buying a reliable gun safe is not difficult; here you can find many models of gun safes of various sizes, appearance and price levels.

Installing a gun safe

Installing a gun safe does not take much time. However, when installing gun safes there are some nuances, due to its specific design - the small length and width of the base, and the height of the body many times greater than their height. For maximum stability of the safe, and also to ensure that a thief cannot take your safe out of the room, the gun safe must be attached to the wall or floor using anchor bolts (the gun safe must be stable and not tilt in different directions).

When installing a gun safe in your home, it is recommended to install it in a place inaccessible to prying eyes, so that it does not draw unnecessary attention to itself. To install a safe, you need to find an inconspicuous place inside some furniture container, behind curtains, in a closet or in another hidden place, and not in plain sight or near the front door. It is also advisable that the location of the safe is not a walk-through area.

How to properly store weapons at home?

A gun safe is an integral part of the gun itself. When purchasing a weapon, its owner bears full responsibility for its safe storage. Therefore, any future gun owner, when thinking about buying a firearm, must also choose the optimal safe model for it.

Compliance with the safety requirements for storing weapons is essential. The requirements of the Law stipulate that weapons and ammunition for weapons must be inaccessible to unauthorized persons, other family members and especially children and must be stored in a special safe or metal cabinet for weapons, locked with a key.

Access to a weapon should only be with its owner and no one else, so many gun owners carry the keys to the safe with them, and store a duplicate of the keys in an inaccessible place just in case, for example, in the garage or in the car under the rug or under the trunk trim . Your family and friends should not know where the keys to the gun safe are.

The legislation establishes the following requirements for citizens regarding the storage of weapons they own:

The wall thickness of a metal safe, metal cabinet or metal box for storing firearms, their interchangeable major components, firearm components, ammunition or high-energy air guns must be at least 2.5 mm.
An industrial safe made of another material specifically designed to hold firearms must be equivalent in strength to a metal safe, metal cabinet, or metal box.
The safe, metal cabinet or metal box must be locked with a lock that can only be unlocked by the owner of the weapon.
If a safe, metal cabinet or metal box is equipped with a mechanical lock, its keys must be accessible only to the owner of the weapon.
If a safe, metal cabinet or metal box is smaller in size than 1500 x 400 x 300 mm, then it is strengthened by connecting it to the floor or wall.
Hunting or sporting firearms and high-energy airguns must be stored unloaded (the ammunition feed mechanism (magazine or cylinder) and chamber must be unloaded).
Self-defense firearms can be stored as hunting and sporting weapons or with a loaded cartridge feed mechanism, ensuring that the chamber space is not loaded with ammunition.
Ammunition for hunting and sporting long-barreled firearms is stored in a safe, metal cabinet or metal gun box in a separate locked compartment or a separate safe, metal cabinet or metal box.

You can familiarize yourself with the conditions for storing weapons in accordance with current legislation here .

What are the consequences of careless storage of weapons?

Proper gun storage is not only a legal requirement, but also a matter of common sense and safety. A fine from the police for careless storage of a weapon is the smallest trouble that can happen. It is much worse if your loved ones suffer because of your negligence.

A weapon located in a visible place or lying in a box without a lock can be reached by children, in whom it will certainly arouse interest or be used by intruders who have entered the house. In the event of a tragedy, the owner of the weapon will bear full responsibility. After all, it was he who failed to ensure proper storage conditions and safety, therefore, he violated the law. For such an offense you may be brought to administrative or criminal liability.

We bring to your attention some tips on how to properly store weapons:

It is important to remember that access to weapons should be exclusively with the owner.
No matter how much your safe weighs, do not neglect the anchorage. Mounting a gun safe is a must. Thus, by securely securing the safe you will protect it from theft and from instability, since a small base area with a significant height makes gun safes unstable. This is especially true for safes for long guns, which have a tall design with a small footprint. They must be fixed with anchor bolts to the wall or floor. Almost every safe and gun cabinet has holes for attaching it to the floor or wall. You can attach the gun safe to a wall, furniture, or floor so that it cannot be removed from the premises. Such precautions will prevent the cabinet from accidentally tipping over and prevent intruders from removing it from the premises.
Store ammunition separately from firearms, in a special compartment of the safe, locked with a key. Pay attention to the placement of cartridges - store them no closer than 1 meter from heating devices. The proximity of a gun safe to radiators, stoves, heating devices and other devices that have an elevated temperature is very undesirable, since overheating of ammunition can lead to its explosion.
Place the safe in such a way that its presence in the apartment or house is not noticeable.
You can install an alarm that will go off in case of unauthorized access. For some safe models it is already included in the package.
Weapons should be stored in a disassembled state, if disassembly is provided for by its design.
The weapon must be stored in an unloaded state, the mainsprings must be deflated , it must be cleaned and lubricated.

Do you have any questions or need help choosing a safe?

Our specialists will answer all questions and help you make the right choice.

In our online store you can choose a reliable safe for safe storage of weapons. We have exclusive models of gun safes of different sizes and burglary resistance classes.

In our safes, your weapons will be reliably protected - choose right now and place an order!