When Security Matters

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onAugust 8th, 2011

Here at GunSafes, we don’t really endorse one brand of safe over another. There are so many models and styles of gun safe, in so many price points, that what works for you might not work for someone else.

We can say, though, that most of the time, you get what you pay for. Just look at this post from a public firearms forum:

“I live in a rural area where there are no neighbors to hear an alarm. Last year on May 19 my home was broken into. My Browning safe put up a good fight and won, but unfortunately my Cannon safe gave up 13 long guns, two pistols, and a laptop computer. Please don’t think just any old safe is really safe. I lost a lot of family history that day because ‘it would never happen to me,’ and I tried to save a dollar. I now know the meaning of priceless. Spend the money buy a quality gun safe.”

I’m not here to tell you that Browning is better that Cannon, or that a $3,000 safe is going to work better for you than a $1500 safe. I will say that there is a difference in manufacturers, and a difference in prices. You also can’t compare Cannon’s cheapest model with Browning’s most expensive.

What you can do, though, is research exactly what you  need. Decide beforehand the amount of space you require. Are you more concerned with fire or theft? Does a standard dial lock suit you, or would you be better served with an electronic lock? Only you can decide the features and degree of protection you need.

Once you have an idea of what you’re looking for, give us a call or open a chat window. Nobody knows more about gun safes than the reps at GunSafes.com

You tell us what you’re looking for, and we’ll give you the straight dope. Whether your priority is saving money or saving your legacy, we’ll make sure you find exactly what you need.

Our goal is your satisfaction, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing you and your valuables are protected. When security matters to you, give us a call.

Best Prices, Best Practices

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onAugust 1st, 2011

Why is it that GunSafes.com has the best prices on gun safes?

To start, we are the top retailer of gun safes on the internet. Moving so many safes means we can narrow our margins, thereby offering our customers better prices.

In addition, we do not charge sales tax (unless you live in our home state, Idaho) and shipping is free.

We have a small team of dedicated and knowledgeable gun safes sales reps, who know the products inside and out, and who maintain close relationships with all our gun safes manufacturers. So not only do you get the benefit of their combined years of experience, you also have powerful advocates who can exert their influence should any issues arise.

We also have special relationships with our shippers, and because we do a lot of business with them, they can offer us the best possible prices on both curbside and white glove delivery.

Best of all, should you find a better price on a gun safe, GunSafes.com will do our best to price match it.

GunSafes has made a science of easy ordering, customer support, quick delivery, and simple returns. We also provide technical support throughout each step of the process.

At GunSafes, our goal is to make online shopping easy and pleasant. That’s why we offer the most brands and models, the most friendly and helpful sales reps, and, of course, the best prices on gun safes.

Safe Rooms

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onJuly 29th, 2011

When I say “safe room,” one of two things probably comes to mind—a place to hide from home invasion, or a place to store a lot of guns.

Actually, you can have either or both with a little clever architecture. If you want a truly secure panic room, you will need to have reinforced walls, floor, and ceiling, and methods that go beyond the scope of this post. However, if all you need is a secure place to regroup and call for help, or store a large number of valuables, you can achieve this with an interior room and a vault door.

Whether you need a security door, fire door, or combination-locked vault door, check out our selection at http://www.gunsafes.com/Vault-Doors.html

Vault doors lock securely, and can be opened easily from the inside, but not the outside.

Styles of vault door vary, but most have thick steel plates filled with insulation. These doors feature from 10 to 20 locking bolts that penetrate into the doorframe, making the door virtually pry-proof. Higher-end doors also feature re-lockers, so if someone attempts to drill the lock from the outside, a re-locking mechanism will engage extra security bolts or lock existing ones into place.

If you have renovation and remodeling experience, you will be able to install one of these doors with some assistance. If you don’t, be sure to contract the job to a trustworthy source. It’s not only a matter of personal safety, these doors weigh several hundred pounds and need to be installed correctly in order to function properly.

So whether you need a retreat or a walk-in gun closet, look into making your own safe room with a vault door from GunSafes.com

Bullet Tax

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onJuly 20th, 2011

This week’s “Seriously?” news comes from Baltimore, where mayorial candidate Otis Rolley says he would institute a $1-per-bullet tax, with the hope the tax would cut down on the amount of ammunition people buy.

“This is not a revenue-enhancement tool,” Rolley said. “It’s a make-it-difficult-for-you-to-buy-bullets tool.”

Rolley believes that the tax would generate awareness and decrease random shootings.

One has to wonder if he took seriously Chris Rock’s standup routine of some years back, where Rock stated that gun control wasn’t necessary, all we had to do was make bullets $5,000 apiece. That way, he said, there will be no innocent bystanders. If a bullet costs $5,000, he reasoned, a person is going to be very careful who they shoot, and certainly the victim would have deserved it at that price.

While Rock’s routine is quite funny, and certainly makes sense in the context of random shootings in inner cities, Rolley is failing to take into account that, like most gun control legislation, criminals would simply find a way around it. It will only be honest, law-abiding gun owners, who would like to purchase large amounts of ammunition for range practice, who would suffer by passing such legislation.

Criminals care little for conscientious gun ownership, nor do they care about properly caring for and practicing with their weapons. The bad guys will find ways to get cheap bullets, or steal them, just like they find ways to get guns even when strict purchasing and ownership laws are in place.

The spirit of Rolley’s idea is actually quite clever, and makes sense from the point of view of someone caught in the crossfire of drive-bys and gang violence, but taken to its logical conclusion, this is a proposition that just doesn’t pass muster.

GunSafes Joins USACarry Giveaway

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onJuly 18th, 2011

GunSafes.com has joined USACarry’s giveaway promotion, which includes a Ruger LC9 pistol, Crimson Trace laser sight, Crossbreed holster and belt, Console Vault vehicle safe, and GunVault GV1000 mini deluxe pistol safe from yours truly.

GunSafes is excited to partner with one of the best concealed carry forums out there, and now you not only get a ton of information and advice about carrying concealed weapons, you can also win one of our products just by being a forum member.

Check it out at USACarry!

Social Butterflies

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onJuly 15th, 2011

GunSafes.com is more than a website specializing in gun safes.

We’ve got all kinds of social media presence, as well.

You can chat with us on Facebook, get Tweets via Twitter, and sign up for exclusive e-mail promotions. Heck, you could even stop by our showroom for a face-to-face talk!

When you’re ordering a safe, you can purchase on our site, live chat with one of our reps, or call in.

The lines of communication are many and varied!

Here’s links to our various media:
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/pNbeMQ (daily updates, exclusive promos, and shooting news)

Twitter: @GunSafesPR (sales and links to gun stuff)

E-mail sign-up: http://www.gunsafes.com/email-sign-up.html

Live chat: http://www.gunsafes.com/ (for questions about gun safes, just click the pretty lady in the upper left corner)

And of course, if you’re ever in beautiful Sandpoint, Idaho, stop by our store at 509 North Fifth Avenue and say hi. We love to keep in touch with our customers and find out what’s happening in their lives.

Annie Oakley

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onJuly 7th, 2011

Annie Oakley is known across the United States as not only an amazing sure-shot, but one who could out-gun even the most skilled men who dared challenge her.

Oakley was born Phoebe Ann Mosey in 1860 outside of present-day North Star, Ohio. She was the last of six children born to her parents. Her mother would marry and be widowed three times and have three more children.

Between the ages of 6 and 8, Annie hunted to feed her family as well as earn extra money from local restaurants and hotels. Accounts vary, but it seems she may have trapped small game, only shooting a rifle once, and getting into serious trouble from her mother after doing so.

Annie was put in the county poor farm for a time when she was 8 years old, then reunited with her mother and second stepfather at age 13. Her hunting skills, now aided by the rifle, helped pay off the farm’s mortgage a few years after that.

Oakley’s skill became well-known throughout the region.

During the spring of 1881, the Baughman and Butler shooting act visited nearby Cincinnati, and 21-year-old Annie responded to Frank Butler’s challenge that he could outshoot any local “fancy shooter.”

A local hotelier arranged a shooting match between Butler and Oakley. Oakley bested Butler, and he became enamored. The two married the next year and lived in the Oakley neighborhood of Cincinnati, from where it is believed she took her stage name.

Butler and Oakley joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show in 1885. At a mere 5 feet tall, Oakley was given the nickname of “Watanya Cicilla” by fellow performer Sitting Bull, rendered “Little Sure Shot” in the public advertisements.

Oakley became the star of the Wild West show, her most famous trick being splitting a playing card edge-on, then firing several holes into it before it hit the ground.

Annie performed for kings and queens and heads of state, and even volunteered her services and those of 50 other lady sharpshooters for the Spanish-American War effort.

Annie survived a train wreck and an auto crash. She dabbled in acting. She continued to set shooting records well into her 60s.

Throughout her career, it is believed that Oakley taught upwards of 15,000 women how to use a gun. Although she never believed in women’s suffrage, Oakley felt it was crucial for women to learn how to use firearms.

Annie died in 1926, but not before earning a reputation as the best shot in the country, a skill, it is said, that never diminished as she aged.

Annie Oakley

The Right Safe for a Tricky Space

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onJune 30th, 2011

If you have been putting off buying a safe because it’s just not convenient to your lifestyle, you might want to give modular safes a look.

Modular safes are shipped in easy-to-assemble pieces, and require no special tools to put together. Each piece of a modular safe can be moved by a single person, and their light weight means you can transport and set up modular safes in places that conventional safes can’t go.

Modular safes assemble from the inside out, so a potential thief can’t simply disassemble your safe to get inside.

Once assembled, a modular safe is as sturdy and reliable as a traditional gun safe, and has many of the same safety features, including fire rating and theft deterrents.

If you live several floors up, have limited space, or tend to move a lot, check our modular safe selection at http://www.gunsafes.com/Modular-Safes.html

Twisting the Lion’s Tail

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onJune 29th, 2011

Independence Day is just around the corner!

Though the popularity of the holiday seems to ebb and flow, the late 19th century saw the Fourth of July in its heyday. In the year 1870, July 4 become an official federal holiday, and one Miss Nettie Spencer, interviewed for the American Life Histories project, recalled that the Fourth was the biggest event of the year, drawing folks together from all parts of the countryside.

There would be floats in the morning and the one that got the [girls?] eye was the Goddess of Liberty. She was supposed to be the most wholesome and prettiest girl in the countryside — if she wasn’t she had friends who thought she was. But the rest of us weren’t always in agreement on that…Following the float would be the Oregon Agricultural College cadets, and some kind of a band. Sometimes there would be political effigies.

Just before lunch—and we’d always hold lunch up for an hour—some Senator or lawyer would speak. These speeches always had one pattern. First the speaker would challenge England to a fight and berate the King and say that he was a skunk. This was known as twisting the lion’s tail. Then the next theme was that any one could find freedom and liberty on our shores. The speaker would invite those who were heavy laden in other lands to come to us and find peace. The speeches were pretty fiery and by that time the men who drank got into fights and called each other Englishmen. In the afternoon we had what we called the ‘plug uglies’— funny floats and clowns who took off on the political subjects of the day…The Fourth was the day of the year that really counted then. Christmas wasn’t much; a Church tree or something, but no one twisted the lion’s tail.

How wonderful we can still twist the lion’s tail in our day and age! True, the political verbiage may no longer be directed at the King of England, but remember in the midst of your differences and debates, how very blessed we are to live in a country where we can argue to our hearts’ content.

quote: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jul04.html

image: fanpop.com

Did You Know?!

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onJune 23rd, 2011

Did you know that you can refuse a package delivery? Many people don’t realize that when a shipping company shows up at their door with a damaged item, they do not have to accept delivery of it.

Although it seems like a tough product, gun safes do get damaged on occasion. At GunSafes.com, we ask that our customers inspect their safes upon delivery. Should a customer find damage, they should call us immediately, while the delivery company is still there.

In many cases the damage is minor, and we can offer you free touch-up paint or a small refund as long as you note the damages on the bill of lading before signing for the item.

In rare cases where the safe is considered non-salvageable, you should not only contact us, but also refuse the delivery. The company will remove the product, and we will ship a replacement as soon as possible.

Each company has their own preferences for how you handle damaged merchandise, so check with them when you place your order so you will know how to handle your next dinged or dented package and get a replacement in the easiest, quickest way possible.

Now you know!

More Than Safes

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onJune 21st, 2011

Did you know that GunSafes.com doesn’t just sell gun safes? We’ve got a lot of other neat stuff, too! Including some really beautiful gun cabinets.

Whether you want a handsomely finished showpiece for your living room or den, or the added security of a locking metal cabinet, there’s sure to be something that appeals to both your practical and artistic sides.

Of course we have a huge selection, plus some of the best prices anywhere. Add in free shipping and no sales tax, plus the convenience of shopping right from your computer, and you’ve got it made!

To see our selection of gun cabinets, click on http://www.gunsafes.com/Gun-Cabinets.html

A Declaration of Unity and Strife

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onJune 20th, 2011

Only two weeks until the celebration of our nation’s independence. If you have never read the Declaration of Independence, or it has been many years since you last put eyes on it, I highly suggest brushing up a little.

The Declaration is one of those documents that seems to change each time you read it. Every new viewing reveals a little more about the document itself, or about the person who is reading it.

Though a few things have changed significantly in the past 235 years, some things stay the same. People are still dissatisfied with their government, and still like to provide a listing of the things they think are going wrong. True, today we do it on the internet or by writing shocking “tell-alls,” but the fundamentals are still there.

In addition to being one of the most important steps in founding a new country, the Declaration is also pretty exciting stuff—tales of piracy, pillaging, and espionage. Although you do have to read a little between the lines.
The thing that struck me with this reading of the Declaration was the phrasing “united States of America.” No capitalization on the “united.” For some reason that made the word stick out even more. The united States. Not the consolidated or conglomerated or loosely tired, but united.

At first the word was meant as an adjective. It was only later that it would grow into a part of the official title of our homeland. It was a promise that although the individual was free to live like he wanted, we would all stand together and fight together as a single unit should our security be threatened.

I like that idea. I think that even though things have changed a lot, we still have that resiliency once found in the rebels and patriots who made a hardscrabble way of it. You can still see it in the headlines today—we are always breaking apart and coming back together.

Happy Birthday, Miss America. Some days you don’t look a day over 20!

Guns and/or Ammo

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onJune 15th, 2011

Although many people keep all their guns, ammunition, and valuables together in one safe, there is a school of thought that advocates separate ammo storage. Why?

Let’s take a look at some of the reasons you might want a strong box, or even a second safe, to keep your ammunition in.

Kids
Having a second safe keeps your kids and grandkids safer. If you keep your guns locked in a safe and unloaded, and keep your ammo in a separate safe, it’s just one more step to keep kids from accidents. It’s also a good idea to have a pistol safe near the bed if you keep a handgun nearby for home protection. I know that’s a lot of safes, but they’re called “safes” for a reason!

Guns and Valuables
A second safe keeps your guns and valuables protected. If you should have a fire, the heat may be enough to discharge your ammunition. The flying bullets will stay inside the safe, but may cause some serious damage to your firearms, and will most likely destroy any valuables. If you have important papers or fine jewelry, you will want to keep them away from volatile gunpowder.

Outgrowing
In some cases people simply split their gun and ammo supplies because they have outgrown a single safe and need to acquire another. In this case it is simply a matter of convenience—one safe for arms and valuables, another for ammo.

Long-term Storage
If you want to store large amounts of ammunition for a long time, a safe with a dehumidifier is your best option. Though most rounds will still work even after years of exposure to elements and moisture, if you want to fully protect your investment, you should think about a secondary safe.

On Blogging

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onJune 13th, 2011

Here at GunSafes.com, we write a lot about gun safes and gun-related items.

Go figure!

There’s a lot of areas to branch off into, though, and if you would like to see us write about something specific, review a certain product, or even post a guest blog, drop us a line and let us know!

Flag Day 2011

By Gun-Safe-Guru, onJune 9th, 2011

Whether you call her Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, or the Star-Spangled Banner, Flag Day is the time set aside to honor the symbol of the United States of America.

Flag Day is June 14, which falls on a Tuesday this year. During the entire week—Sunday to Saturday—flags are to be flown from public buildings. Because the holiday falls on a Tuesday, many ceremonies will be conducted on June 11, the Saturday before.

This is also a time in which long-flying flags are lowered for cleaning or repairs. Flags that have been damaged beyond repair are respectfully burned, and many times the ashes are interred or scattered on the gravesites of veterans.

Here are some guidelines for proper flag etiquette:
• Flags are normally flown from sunrise to sunset, raised briskly in the morning, and lowered slowly at sunset. Flags flown at night need to be illuminated.
• Flags should not be flown in inclement weather (all-weather flags are permitted).
• When flown vertically, the blue field (union) is placed to the left. When visible from both sides, the union is placed away from the building.
• The American flag is flown at equal heights when flags of other countries are also on display. Lesser-ranking flags, such as those that represent states, are flown lower. The flag appears to the viewer’s left with lesser-ranking flags.
• The flag should not touch the ground. If the flag does touch the ground, it does not need to be burned. Clean the flag if necessary, and hang or store it properly.
• The flag is not dipped to any person or thing. It is not used as a drapery or covering, except on caskets, where it is removed before burial.
• Flags should not be used on temporary or disposable items, nor on clothing, except as part of an official uniform.
• The flag should not have writing or marks of any kind placed on it, or be used as a receptacle.
• A flag should not be flown upside down except in cases of distress where immediate assistance is required.
• Flags should be folded for storage.
• Flags should be cleaned and repaired as necessary, and destroyed when they become too tattered, either by burying or burning respectfully.

There are many regulations for flying the flag at half-staff. Follow the lead of the nation’s Capitol, or refer to a more comprehensive list that describes each scenario.

To retire a flag properly, contact your local American Legion, or Boy and Girl Scouts. They conduct flag retiring ceremonies.