Many gun owners are purchasing gun safes, as it used to be popular to have a glass fronted gun cabinet to display and store your guns. As burglary crimes and accidental shootings have increased, more people have turned to gun safes for safe keeping of their guns, whether collectibles, shotguns or hunting rifles, pistols and handguns. Many guns represent a substantial financial investment, and many gun owners may have young children around the home.
Of course, these are obvious reasons, but let's look at the 10 Reasons for Importance of Gun Safes:

1. Securing Guns from inquisitive children or determined thieves: As mentioned, glass is not secure enough and it is important that the locking mechanism is not a key that is hidden and can be found, whether by children or intruders. Also, a gun safe is not the same as a gun cabinet, which can be made of 14 gauge steel or less and offers little deterrence to a thief.

2. In rural areas, burglars are not as concerned with noise, so may attack a gun cabinet with tools in an unoccupied residence versus an urban burglary, where time is of the essence and if much noise or effort is necessary, they will move on. In rural areas, a gun safe with a minimum 3/16-inch in thickness will discourage most attacks.

3. If you own your own home, versus living in an apartment, you can bolt a safe in a remote, non-logical place to hide its existence and you don't have weight concerns, such as in an apartment where lighter weight may be necessary. You can also make the safe heavier by storing your guns in the lower compartments. If it takes a refrigerator dolly to move, chances are the thief won't be able to steal the whole thing, like a lightweight cabinet.

4. Some safes are so attractively painted or adorned that they can appear to be a fine piece of furniture, and may not draw attention by their design, unlike gun cabinets, that openly display guns to children and thieves.

5. Rare, collectible guns are often irreplaceable and beyond insurance cover. A gun safe wall thickness of at least ¼ inch is beyond hand tools, and it is recommended thicker for rare collectible guns.

6. For fire protection, you need to have a fire rated, gun safe, and most gun cabinets and displays do not offer this. Many fire rated, gun safe owners, purchase an additional smaller fire safe for cash, identification documents and valuables to place inside the gun safe.

7. Burglar proof or theft rated gun safes are available, basically making the best ones theft-proof, to protect irreplaceable guns and valuables.

8. Most gun safes are made with interior hinges, can be bolted to the floor and have locking mechanisms that incorporate a clutch mechanism or shear pin, that when forced, will make the handle or lock free spin, and not damage the locking mechanism.

9. You can place a gun safe in a tight space, which makes it hard for a thief to attack with tools, or may keep it out of sight altogether.

10. One of the most important things to keep in mind in regards to gun safes is that it is law that your guns remain secured.

There are many reasons a gun safe is important to protect your family, your guns and your valuables.