As a gun owner, we have a responsibility to prevent unauthorized access and negligent use of our fire arms. There are plenty of storage options ranging from free to several thousand dollars with features to prevent unauthorized access. This means there is really no excuse not to safely store firearms when they aren’t in use.

If you have purchased a new firearm in the last 20 years, then you have received either a trigger lock or cable lock included with your purchase. But if for some reason, such as having an older firearm, or received one as a gift, or bought one used, and don’t have a lock, then do yourself a favor and go check out Project ChildSafe to learn where you can get a free safety kit.

Rather than rehashing all of the different gun storage options myself, I’m just going to drop an infographic from Project ChildSafe that covers the options right here.

There is no reason not to safely store firearms or safely stage them for self defense. Even if you don’t have kids, you may have a visitor who does. All of the options above also work at a minimum as a deterrent against theft, while others provide significant levels of security against theft and unauthorized use. Not to mention that your local jurisdiction may have laws requiring safe storage.