by Lorgar » 12 Jul 2013, 4:26 pm
Hey Mate,
People do install their gun safes in sheds and while it can be legal, it's seriously frowned upon in most cases. For a couple of reasons...
Typically a shed is less secure than a house.
Thieves can enter the shed without alerting the household.
Tools probably stored in shed which could be used against the safe.
Neighbours won't care about noise going on in the shed, where would be more suspicious if they heard an angle grinder in your house etc.
I don't have any links to share, but in the past I read somewhere that a higher % of thefts occurred in sheds due to weaker security. I know there have been a few motions to make this illegal, not sure where these are up to though...
I've also read of someone passing an inspection with the safe installed in a shed, then being robbed, and charged for improper storage for the very same installation.
Personally I would never install a safe in a 'regular' shed for all the above reasons.
While you're basement setup sounds like it might be great, the fact that it's accessible from outside might outweigh the benefits in the eyes of some police.
As I understand it, ultimately the local police have the final say in whether or not your storage arrangement meets the requirements. So even if you do get the ok from the firearms registry, you could fail an inspection later or, touch wood, get into trouble later if a theft ever occurred because it was outside.
Speak to the registry, but if there is any doubt at all I'd find another solution.
I was in a position to bolt my safe in (and have done) but I also bought one that was over 150kg just to cover all my bases. That way if a copper doesn't like some individual part of the way it's secured, it's heavy enough that it doesn't actually have to be and I'm covered legally anyways.
As a 'lock box' type safe is $400 or whatever, and you can get a 150kg one for about $900, it was worth the extra $$$ for me for the piece of mine even though I only have 2 rifles. Have plenty of room to keep other bits and pieces in the safe too.