Tips on Securing Your Gun Cabinet

Let’s face it, wood gun cabinets are mostly used for displaying your gun collection.  They have locks on the doors and drawers, but by their nature and design, they are not very secure against a true threat.  Most wood gun cabinets have glass doors that can easily be broken to access your guns.  Additionally, even though you own a locking gun cabinet, the locks on most of these products are wimpy at best.

Below are some ideas I came up with of how you could further toughen or secure your gun cabinet.  Depending upon your current cabinet, budget, skills or even desire these may not all be possible.  If security is still a concern, maybe you should think about buying a metal gun cabinet or a true gun safe.  Otherwise, here are some tips:

• Replace the wimpy glass doors with a some stronger glass.  Most of these doors have the least expensive flat glass which will break easily into shards of glass.  One option is to replace the stock glass with laminated safety glass.  This is the same type (albeit not as thick) that is in your car windshield.  It is a sandwich of flat glass and plastic and even when struck with an object, the plastic holds the broken glass in place.  It takes much more work to open this type of door.
• Add extra wood or even metal plates around the lock and replace the lock with a heavier unit.  You can replace it with a traditional deadbolt.  Alternatively, you can purchase electronic cabinet locks that have up to 320 pounds of holding force for less than $100.  You could have a secret switch to open the cabinet or even wire it into a combination control.  Go on-line to look for options.
• Secure the cabinet to the wall and/or floor.  If you make some of the above upgrades a burglar may simply tip a cabinet over and try to destroy the wood sides or back to gain entrance.  Having the unit properly secured will prevent this.
• If you have a home security system, add a contact switch to the door of this unit.  Then if it is ever opened, you will know.
• Many gun cabinet manufacturers save costs by having a thin piece of plywood or press board for the back.  They then secure it using 1/2″ long staples.  With a crowbar, this back material could be off in seconds.  Remove the existing back or add another piece of 1/2″ to 3/4″ plywood to the back with at least 1″ long screws (and possibly some construction glue) to truly secure the back.  This tip will also help if you intend to bolt the cabinet to the wall, as you will now have an excellent mounting surface.

Many of these enhancement will add weight to your cabinet, but if done correctly, you should never be able to notice the changes.  While none of these gun cabinet security upgrades will prevent a determined burglar, it may slow him down enough to either have him think twice about wasting his time or maybe, he takes too much time and get’s caught in your house!