The newer, fancy nightstand gun safes will open using your fingerprint – which means that if you notice suspicious activity in your home while you are in your bedroom, you can act upon it immediately.

In an ideal world, we would have a gun safe where we could lock away our guns – ready to take them out in the event of an emergency. However, the problem with classic safes is that they tend to stand out.

This means that everyone will know where are your guns and that can be a problem in case of home invasion or other emergency situation – which is why we need to either find a better place to hide the gun or to figure out a way to conceal the hiding place.

If you have a gun that you want to hide from children, family, and wrongdoers, there are a few ways for you to do so. And the funny thing is that most of the time, you can do it in plain sight.

The Secret to the Perfect Storage Space

Even when you are in your own home, you should never leave your gun for anyone to see. Not only is it dangerous for your family (e.g. your child accidentally taking the gun), but it can also prove dangerous in the event of a home invasion. If the invader finds the gun before you do, this might actually put your life in danger.

For this reason, you should hide a gun in a place where no one will accidentally stumble upon it. At the same time, it needs to be easily accessed. The last thing you want is to fumble with safe codes while the home invader is climbing the stairs up to you. You need to be able to get the gun fast so that you can protect your family.

The perfect storage place is one that can be easily accessed – but no one will think of looking there. It’s hidden – but at the same time, it will be in plain sight. When looking at that place, no one will think that a gun is stashed inside – or anything important, for that matter. Only you will know, as well as the ones you have trusted with this secret.

Ready-On Hiding Spots

You most certainly have some hiding spots in your house, but you didn’t realize this until now. They will hide your gun in plain sight, which will allow you to keep your family safe from home invasions.

There are lots of places where you can hide your gun – and you can rest assured that no one can see them. With just a little bit of creativity, the gun may be hidden so well that no one will even think of looking for it there. Here are a few ideas:

Dirty Clothes

No one will look through your dirty clothes – no matter if it’s a child, a guest, or a burglar. It may be placed on a chair or thrown into a dirty clothes bin – if anyone passes by it, they will never even think to search through the pile of clothes. Only you will know that the gun is hidden there – and you will be able to pull it out easily whenever you are in danger.

In an Empty Food Box

What home invader or guest ever starts going through your food? Sure, they might go through it if you stash it into a box of something delicious, such as cookies – but if you hide it in a cereal box, it might be more difficult to find.

However, bear in mind that kids tend to rummage through the food looking for snacks. To keep the gun safe from them, you should pick a food box that you know for certain they will not like. The safest bet would be a broccoli box – but whatever you know they find “yucky” would be alright.

To make things even safer, you should place the box high up, out of your children’s reach – but still easily reachable by you.

Pottery

If you have pottery pieces that are large enough to hold a gun, then you may easily hide it in there. No one will even think of looking there. To protect both the gun and the pottery piece, you should wrap the gun in a piece of cloth before placing it in the pot. This way, even if they peek in the pot out of curiosity, no one will realize that there’s a gun hidden inside there.

Closet

We know what you’re thinking: “Really? The closet? This is one of the most obvious places!” Granted, it is the place where most people store their gun – but at the same time, where you hide it is also of great importance.

For example, if you hide it on a shelf, people will obviously think about looking for the gun there. On the other hand, if you hide it in a pair of old boots, the chances are that no one will think about looking there. Add a crumpled sock for maximum effect, and that will end up being a spot that most people will avoid.

The Air Vent

If there’s one thing for certain, it’s that no one will start looking through your air vents. You may go for a fake air vent – or you can choose the real one. Some more experienced home invaders might think of checking the air vent for hidden belongings – but the average one won’t even think of it. Plus, it will keep the gun away from the kids, since they cannot get anywhere close to the air vent.

The Couch

No burglar ever enters the house with the sole purpose of stealing a couch – so, if you want to conceal your gun, the best way to do so would be to hide it in the furniture. Since the skeletal frame of the couch is covered by a piece of cloth, you can hide the gun there by cutting away a piece of that cloth. No one will think that there is a gun inside the furniture.

There is a great YouTube video that shows top 10 ways people made furniture with secret compartments for guns.

DIY Hiding Spots

These hiding spots are not purchased, nor are they readily available in the house. Still, you can make them and place them in plain sight as the onlooker thinks it is something completely different. Here are a few ideas for you:

Hidden Floor Space

Most houses have the floors built over a frame – which is why that should make your own makeshift “safe” there. Simply cut into the floor so that you may lift a piece and hide your gun there. You may want to find a strategic placement for it so that you do not forget where the gun is. Ideally, you should place it next to the couch or table in your living room – or right underneath them.

A Book

You can make a perfect hiding spot from a book that you are no longer using. No one would think of looking for a gun in a book – unless they are looking to read some fiction. To create this concealment spot, you just have to carve out the insides of a book enough so that it can fit your gun. Ideally, you should go for a book that has a hardback cover rather than a paperback one, since it’s less likely to lose its shape.

If you are planning to use this method, you might also want to ensure that you are hiding it among other books. A book on a shelf next to a bunch of other books will look less inconspicuous compared to a lone book on your nightstand.

Fake Electrical Outlet

Similar to the air vent, fake electric outlets are also a great way to conceal a weapon. You can create one yourself by carving a hole into the wall – or you may use an old hole where an outlet used to be. Granted, some home invaders know of this trick, and may check the electric outlet for valuables – but the chances of them stumbling across the right one are slim. Each house can have countless electric outlets – so good luck with finding the right one.

A Picture Frame

Picture frames come in all shapes and sizes nowadays – so, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see a gun concealed in a picture frame, next to the bed. For example, let’s say that you purchase a block-shaped frame that has a picture on every side. Not only can you hide the gun, but you can also use it as a container to store the ammo. If someone decides it would be a good idea to raid your home, they would soon find out that it was a bad idea.

Places to Conceal a Safe

Safes are generally the best choices to conceal a gun, mainly because everything is under lock and key. Still, since gun safes tend to stick out like a thorn, you might want to learn how to conceal them.

Behind a Mirror or a Painting

Perhaps one of the best but most efficient ways to conceal a gun safe is to build it in the wall, right behind a mirror. Mirrors are designed to look natural and compliment a room – which is why no one would think of looking for a gun there. Plus, even if they do end up finding the safe, they will not know how to get to the goods – mainly because they will have to get past the security first.

The same technique can be applied with a clock or any wall decoration. So, if you have something wide enough to hide a safe, you should use it.

In the Nightstand

You may either update your drawer so that it can fit a safe, or you may buy a nightstand that already has a built-in one. The newer, fancy nightstand gun safes will open using your fingerprint – which means that if you notice suspicious activity in your home while you are in your bedroom, you can act upon it immediately.

Under the Bed

On the same principle of putting a gun safe in your nightstand, you may also place one under the bed. Plus, considering that the space there is fairly wide, you will be able to hide a handgun as well as any rifles that you may use for hunting. A bed gun safe is a perfect place that you may use if you have an entire arsenal at home.

Final Thoughts

Hiding a gun can be quite easy. You just have to think this way: if I were a child or a burglar, where would I not look? People have come up with very ingenious ways to hide their guns in plain sight – and you should certainly try their methods as well.

This article by Chris Browning originally appeared at Gun News Daily in 2019.

Image: Wikipedia.