Safe installation question - in shed or under house?

Questions about New South Wales gun and ammunition laws. NSW Firearms Act 1996.

Safe installation question - in shed or under house?

Post by tucked » 12 Jul 2013, 2:49 pm

Hi all,

I'm moving into a new house shortly and need to arrange where to install the safe for my FA's.

The new house doesn't really have anywhere ideal to install the safe inside, its timber - plasterboard etc. on stumps to no concrete floor, but it does have a shed in the backyard which is on a concrete slab, and a cellar which is also concrete.

The shed is just your average garden shed with a padlock door. Nothing special.

The cellar is actually pretty solid though. Full concrete and only 1 door in which is like an metal-bars type gate and has a lock/bolt which goes into the brick. It would be a serious effort to get in there at all, and then to get the safe out of the concrete or whatever, as opposed to being easier to get inside and get it away from timber.

The only catch is this door is outside, not inside. So someone could walk around and see in.

Am I right to install the gun safe in the shed or cellar? Or is that no go?
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Re: Safe installation question - in shed or under house?

Post by Blackened » 12 Jul 2013, 3:59 pm

Best to check with registry as always, but it sounds like the cellar option should be ok as long as doors locked and safe's bolted in etc.

Best to double check though with the "outside access" door.
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Re: Safe installation question - in shed or under house?

Post 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.
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Re: Safe installation question - in shed or under house?

Post by tucked » 15 Jul 2013, 3:24 pm

Lorgar wrote: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.


Sounds right :roll:

A mate of mine has his in his shed on his property. It's brick with no windows, attached directly his house and has a heavy wooden door with solid locks. Safe is bolted into the concrete bed and also to the brick wall behind. No power tools ever kept in there (and no power anyway).

Still got the third degree from the copper because it was "still a shed" :roll:

10x harder to get into than his actual house.
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Re: Safe installation question - in shed or under house?

Post by Vati » 16 Jul 2013, 9:51 am

If your basement is as secure as you say, maybe look at doing some work on the gate?

Cut some timber to size or something to attach over the metal gate so you can't see in.

Conceal the whole thing with the timber door part and get the security of the concrete and gate?
Reach out and touch...
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Re: Safe installation question - in shed or under house?

Post by tucked » 31 Jul 2013, 9:31 am

Vati wrote:If your basement is as secure as you say, maybe look at doing some work on the gate?

Cut some timber to size or something to attach over the metal gate so you can't see in.

Conceal the whole thing with the timber door part and get the security of the concrete and gate?


Good idea, going to go with an inside install though in the end.

Got in touch with my local FA officer and explained the situation, he "strongly recommended" against it.

Looks like I'll be going with the peace of mind option for the police, rather than the more secure option :?
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Re: Safe installation question - in shed or under house?

Post by Guliver » 09 Dec 2013, 4:00 pm

I'm not an expert, but I would be checking on the humidity level if you do decide to use the cellar.
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Re: Safe installation question - in shed or under house?

Post by tuffstuff » 09 Dec 2013, 6:31 pm

Guliver wrote:I'm not an expert, but I would be checking on the humidity level if you do decide to use the cellar.


Sounds fair enough to me.

I've lived with a couple of shockers for moisture under houses.

Rot a safe and its rifles to pieces when it's bad enough.
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Re: Safe installation question - in shed or under house?

Post by yoshie » 04 Mar 2014, 9:02 pm

What about in a wardrobe inside the house, get a stud finder and find some studs and noggings and use coach bolts. Simple patch job when you leave.
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Re: Safe installation question - in shed or under house?

Post by Triang » 05 Mar 2014, 10:09 am

Not if there is wall paper :(
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Re: Safe installation question - in shed or under house?

Post by Barbarian » 01 Dec 2020, 8:54 pm

I can confirm the coppers look down on safes in sheds, this is in WA however.

A coworker of mine who shoots has his safe in the shed and got a fine for unsecure storage conditions as the sliding front door of the shed was open when they arrived on the premises in spite of it being secured with a padlock when closed as they described the safe as ‘open fronted’.

Now, he does have it positioned badly to be visible from his driveway when open, bit of a bellend, so it’s not entirely undeserved and the coppers were misleading in their description. But it always pays to keep on your toes, end of the day. Use a little common sense and ask yourself if you feel it is secure. After that, so long as your mounting options are solid you should come away unscathed.
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