Home security for under $1000

Shooting Industry, June, 1990 by Ed Rivers

HOME SECURITY FOR UNDER $1000

How long has it been since one of your customers asked for help in verifying an insurance claim dealing with a break-in where his firearms were stolen? Did it happen a month or a week ago, or was it yesterday? It occurs too often. Contrary to what some believe, the problem is not concentrated in the country's large metropolitan areas only. Statistics show that home burglaries targeting firearms owners are as likely to take place in rural areas as in most major population centers.

The FBI notes a private residence is entered illegally once every eight seconds. Most break-ins are done at random. Ninety percent of all home burglaries last five minutes or less. The chances of a home being broken into are as high as one in four during a five year period in some areas.

While the chances of a home being broken into are relatively good, the odds that it will be the work of a professional thief are low for owners with less than four dozen firearms. The biggest threat of firearms theft is from random break-ins. These crimes usually are preceded with little planning and are connected to drug use.

Such criminals enter homes seeking items that are easily carried and disposed of for money. Cameras and binoculars, coin or stamp collections, hand tools, jewelry, electronic items such as VCRs, stereos, camcorders, home computers and televisions, and of course firearms fit this bill.

Security experts acknowledge there is no way to totally secure a private residence, or anything else from professional thieves. However, given sound advice from you, most of your customers can devise strategies that provide them reasonable protection from break-in losses, and an acceptable cost.

Gun shop owners also can profit by providing customers with advice on home security to deter burglars. First strive to become knowledgeable with local crime rates. Display newspaper accounts of home break-ins. Familiarize yourself with different strategies for securing personal items like guns or jewelry for a cost of under $1,000. This figure is the key selling point for retailers to cash in on this quickly growing fringe portion of the firearms industry.

Suggest to customers that they make entry into their homes difficult for intruders. Many insurance companies offer homeowners who install deadbolt-style door locks lower premiums. Also recommend inexpensive devices for automatically turning on and off lights and radios in their homes. While gun owners may not be able to ward off all prospective burglars, injecting a healthy dose of doubt, and making entry difficult prevents many problems.

Safes and vaults provide outstanding protection against the majority of burglars. Most criminals lack safe-cracking skills, or the time and manpower needed for removing safes from homes. When confronted with a safe, thieves know the house next door probably will net what they seek at a fraction of the effort of wrestling with a safe!

In-home gun safes were rare prior to the early 1970s. Since then over a dozen companies have sprung-up that offer economically priced vaults designed for safely protecting firearms and other home valuables.

"Between 1980 and 1988 national sales for home safes and vaults rose an average of 10 to 15 percent annually. Since that time sales have risen better than 20 percent," said Chester E. Spangler Jr., National Sales Manager for the Tread Corporation. The country's largest maker and distributor of home safes, this Roanoke, Virginia based manufacturer recently made a major addition to it production capacity to meet consumer demand for their all-steel units.

"Despite quickly rising sales across all regions of the United States, it has been large, relatively sophisticated gun shops that have profited from this trend. Small shops have been slow to recognize the enormous potential of the safe market and how well offering these fits into typical gun shop settings," continued Spangler.

Like a number of safe manufacturers, Tread Corporation offers speedy delivery to stores and/or their customers. A retailers needs only to keep a single unit on their floor for demonstration and close examination by prospective buyers. When ready to buy, any of their units can be delivered within a few days. Such delivery schedules are typical of several safe manufacturers.

Most gun shop and sporting goods stores which exist by supplying the needs of shooters and hunters offer little in the way of home gun security. Sophisticated firearm owners with rare or other valuable guns usually have expertly installed security systems. However, owners having four to ten guns are at risk. Odds are, their firearms are inadequately protected by their home insurance policy.

Convincing customers they need additional security to protect their valuable firearms is not difficult if it is affordable. Several high quality safes are available for under $1,000; a magical figure many are willing to invest in keeping their guns safe. Sales personnel must couple prospective buyers with the security units that meet their needs and pocketbooks. Following is a round-up of some of the safes, vaults and security cabinets offered to deter burglars from strolling off with stolen goods.