Gun safe

Some safes use live locking bolt technology and pry resistant metal to ensure the secure protection of its contents against forced entry.

Some safes provide only protection against smash and grab burglary and unwanted access from young family members at home or outside,[4] while other safes provide additional protection against fire and flood and other natural disasters.

But most of them particularly the handgun safes are found by various locksmiths and independent researchers to be unfit for firearm storage and to be best avoided.

[9][page needed] Police may visit and inspect the storage facility before issuing a gun license, and will make random checks to ensure that legislation is being complied with.

Most require that the gun is hidden from view, and locked so that it is not easily reached by an unauthorised person.

A restricted or prohibited firearm must be inoperable by means of a keyed trigger locking device.

For full details of what is acceptable, refer to the latest version of the "Firearms security handbook".

[15] RSC certification requires that the safe resist for five minutes expert attacks employing tools including screwdrivers, adjustable wrenches, pry bars, punches, chisels and hammers no heavier than 3 lb.

However, in 2012, a report appeared in Forbes written by the investigative attorney and physical security specialist Marc Weber Tobias, presenting the results of his investigation into the quality of the security provided by eleven different models among three leading brands of gun safes sold in the U.S. through many retail outlets.

Tobias reported that he and his colleagues found that all eleven models could be opened with one of a variety of simple implements and techniques, including bouncing and rapping, or insertion of paperclips, wires, drinking straws, screwdrivers, or brass strips that can be purchased from a hardware store.

When Tobias reported their findings to the manufacturers and retailers of the "safes", no useful dialog or corrective action resulted.

Tobias concluded that the DOJ "Standards are woefully inadequate and do not address any of the issues that we found in any of the gun safes that we tested.

[21] Although rare, large gun safes may pose a risk to small children who could accidentally lock themselves inside one.