According to research, around 32% of American adults claim to own a gun. However, gun ownership usually comes with great responsibility. For instance, as a gun owner, you need to keep your gun safe and inconspicuous. Visitors and the children you live with should not access your gun when it is in its storage space. You are likely to achieve this if you store your gun properly in a hidden storage area. Its imperative that this area is locked or the gun has a cable lock on it. You can build this storage space by yourself. Below are more details on how you can build a gun storage area that is hidden.
Build Your Own Hidden Gun Storage Area
When building a gun storage area, you should think about keeping your gun out of reach of children. You should also ensure that you will hide the gun from intruders. However, you should make sure that you can easily take the gun from the storage space when you need it.
Some of the hidden storage spaces that you can build include:
- A hidden cabinet in the wall
- A false bottom drawer
- A book spines box
- A framed art secret storage
Build a Hidden Gun Storage/Cabinet in a Wall
To build a hidden gun cabinet, you need to identify a wall where you can put a large painting or a full-body mirror. The approach will hide your gun storage cabinet. After identifying the wall, start building your hidden cabinet using the following steps.
- Make a hole in the chosen wall. The painting or mirror that you will use to cover the hole should be bigger than the hole
- Measure the width and length of the hole that you have made
- Build an open wooden box using the measurements you will get after measuring the hole you have made
- Install plywood at the backside of the box and add some hooks to the box
- Slide the box that you have just made into the hole in your wall and screw it in place. The box will act as your gun cabinet
- Look for a large piece of wood that you will use to cover the hole you have made. This piece of wood will act as your gun cabinet’s door
- Mount a mirror or a large piece of painting on one side of this piece of wood and door hinges on the other side. Optionally, use sliders so you can slide the mirror or painting
- Mount the piece of wood on the frame of your gun cabinet
- Use a keypad-activated lock to lock the hidden gun cabinet
Looking for inspiration on the options? Check out the video below:
Building a False Bottom Drawer
You should build a false bottom drawer in a drawer that you use to store common items such as tissues. To build this drawer, you will need to have basic carpentry skills. Building this drawer is easy and is likely to take you around two hours. Below are the steps you should follow when building this type of drawer.
- Look for a drawer in which your guns can fit and take the drawer out of its location
- Measure the length and width of the chosen drawer
- Measure the height of the gun that you intend to store in a hidden storage area
- Cut out four small pieces of wood. These pieces will act as supports for your false drawer. The heights of these pieces of wood should be bigger than the height of your gun
- Cut out a piece of wood that is thick enough to support the things that you usually store in your drawer. This piece of wood will act like the false bottom of your drawer. Therefore, it should fit easily and perfectly in the drawer
- Put some glue on the four pieces of wood and glue them in the corners of your drawer
- Let the glue on the wooden pieces dry
- After the wooden pieces are firmly held in place, make a small hole in the normal bottom of the chosen drawer. This hole will help you remove the false drawer bottom whenever you want to store or remove your gun
- Place your gun in the drawer and then place the false drawer bottom on top of the gun. The glued pieces of wood will help ensure that the false bottom is slightly on top of the gun
- Place the things that you usually store in the chosen drawer on top of the false bottom
Accessing the Gun
To access your gun, you will need to:
- Remove the items that are on top of your false drawer bottom
- Insert an ink cartridge or a small metal rod in the hole that you made in the drawer bottom
- Using the ink cartridge, lift the false bottom and remove your gun
Important: This option does not use a lock, so consider a trigger or cable lock for your gun to protect it from being used by children.
Building a Book Spines Box
Building a book spines box involves attaching several book spines to one side of a storage box. The process is usually easy, and it is likely to take you four hours. To make a good book spines box, follow these steps.
- Build a lockable storage box whose height is equal to the book spines that you want to use
- Select the book spines that you want to use and glue them on one side of the box. While gluing the book spines, ensure that they look natural
- Place your gun inside the box and lock the box
- Place the book spines box on your bookshelf or a shelf
Building a Framed Art Secret Storage
A framed secret storage box placed in a bookshelf will be a perfect place to store your gun. To build a good framed art secret storage, you will need a pencil, ruler, and drill screws. You will also need a framed artwork with a thick wood frame and a wooden box. After assembling all these items, do the following. First, make some markings on your storage box and drill holes in the marked areas. You will use these holes when attaching the wooden frame to your storage box.
- Flip your wooden frame upside down and place the lockable storage box on top
- Place screws in each of the holes on the box, and screw the storage box to the wooden frame
- Add felt pads to your box and lock it
- Place the box on your bookshelf or a shelf that is out of children’s reach
Conclusion
If you own a gun, you need to hide it from your children, intruders, and thieves. You can achieve this by storing it in a hidden gun storage. Some of the hidden storage spaces you can build and store your gun in are a hidden cabinet and a false bottom drawer. You can also hide your gun in a framed art storage box or a book spines storage box.
If you build hidden gun storage, always make sure it is lockable or you can put a cable or trigger lock on your gun for the safety of children.
