Buying a biometric gun vault

***jnp*** · Posted On: 10/31/2011 10:48am

I am not satisfied with the trigger locks on my guns at home, so I have decided to buy a gun vault for my pistols. Having had experience trying to open a key code gun vault in a high pressure situation, I'm leaning toward a biometric type. This one caught my eye after a modest amount of research,

http://www.gunvault.com/handgun-safe...biometric.html

Anyone here have any suggestions? I'm no expert, so I'd like to benefit from some of the more experienced gun owners here.

**Devil** · Posted On: 10/31/2011 1:11pm

I've spent a lot of time looking at biometric vaults, but I've chosen not to pull the trigger. My opinion is they're awesome in theory, but after reading lots of reviews on different models they seem to be rife with problems. Different companies, different designs, same problems.

A lot of customers experience first time opening accuracy MUCH lower than advertised. I wouldn't trust my life on a weapon that fires 95% of the time and I won't trust it with a box that opens on the first try 95% of the time.

Of course there are happy customers too, but those things are a bit pricey. I just don't feel confident enough to spend the money on one.

After much consideration I've chosen a storage method for firearms that would leave most people in a state of shock if I told them. The majority of my guns are unloaded, but I have one loaded weapon downstairs and one loaded weapon upstairs that, wait for it.......are unlocked. GASP!!! The horror!!!!

I take my children's safety very seriously. I've weighed all my options. I've just got to have an accessible weapon. Otherwise they're just rocks. Here's what I do: One pistol on top of the refrigerator, magazine loaded on an empty chamber. One AR in the top of an upstairs closet, magazine loaded on an empty chamber.

I also train the kids. I take them shooting. I let them shoot watermelons, bottles of water, spray cans, etc. They understand guns will do the same thing to them or their family that they'll do to those targets. They understand they can die or their parents or siblings can die if they play with guns. They understand they'll be in the deepest trouble they can imagine if they touch a gun without adult assistance.

I also remove the curiosity factor. They know if they ever want to handle a gun to just tell me. I'll stop whatever I'm doing, get out whatever gun they want to see, unload it and let them handle it until they're satisfied. Then it goes back.

They don't know how to operate semiautomatic weapons yet. Even if the worst case scenario occurred, I think it's extremely doubtful they would figure out how to properly chamber a round, especially with the AR. We're also very diligent about locking the guns away when we have visitors with children and our kids know what to do if they ever see another kid messing with a gun.

It's definitely not a store and forget strategy. We have to pay attention to our guns. But we should be doing that anyway, right?

Just my 2 cents. I'm not saying it's the right way for you. I wish there was a vault like that I felt I could trust. Maybe in a few years.

**vashanka** · Posted On: 10/31/2011 1:21pm

I don’t have any experience with biometric vaults, but we do have biometric locks at every door at work. What I have learned:
Iris readers suck the big one, fingerprint readers are better.
If you are late, the reader will realize this and give non-stop false negatives, making you even later.
Wet fingers, or very cold and dry fingers, throw the reader off.
There is a very wide range of quality in this market…

**Permalost** · Posted On: 10/31/2011 2:01pm

Originally Posted by vashanka

]Wet fingers, or very cold and dry fingers, throw the reader off.

Do you suppose the physiological reaction to high stress would cause enough of a change to make such a vault fail to recognize the owner?

**vashanka** · Posted On: 10/31/2011 2:23pm

Originally Posted by Permalost

Do you suppose the physiological reaction to high stress would cause enough of a change to make such a vault fail to recognize the owner?

No clue. Never had anyone scare the bejeesus out of me while trying to get into work. If I wash my hands and don't dry my fingertips thoroughly I get bounced, and during winter if I don't wear gloves I have the same issue.
I don't think I would want to rely on one of these in a life/death situation...

**Devil** · Posted On: 10/31/2011 2:34pm

By the way, if you do buy one please give us a review. I'd like to know how it works out for you.

**It is Fake** · Posted On: 10/31/2011 2:55pm

Originally Posted by Permalost

Do you suppose the physiological reaction to high stress would cause enough of a change to make such a vault fail to recognize the owner?

For me the unreliability of the work clock makes me never want to find out. I'll add poor placement, dirty screen, lotion, and cuts obscuring the reader.

**chainpunch** · Posted On: 10/31/2011 7:25pm

I love keypad safes myself. It takes me 2-3 seconds to enter my code wait for approval and pull the release arm to gain entry.

Gunvault non-bio safes i think are better choices over gunlocks. they are not meant to thwart someone that brakes into your house to rob you when you are away (Gunvault bio same low security) but can be good for keeping unwanted family members from accessing your weapon. I would just store it for when i am home and want to secure a loaded weapon with fast access.

If you want a bio safe the reliability is ranked LockSAF Fingerprint, Barska Biometric Gun Safe, and then Gunvault Biometric in that order.

LockSAF will accept your fingerprint automatically at different angles. 10 individual fingerprints can be stored. Best construction and keypad back up.

Barska will allow you to input your fingerprint at 3 angles. 30 fingerprints. Key back up.

GunVault allows 30 programs so you can manually enter your fingerprints at different angles. Lowest quality construction. Many people have problems with their GunVault bio and have to use a screwdriver to pop it open after the bio read (its cheap poor quality). Keypad back up.

If you go bio-scan models remember to wipe your fingerprints off of the screen because a crafty teenager could use the print to gain access into your vault.

**dflanmod** · Posted On: 10/31/2011 7:37pm

I've got the gun vault 5 finger key pad style safe myself. But to be honest I have less than 95 percent first time open due to keying mistakes. Like others I'm leery of a sketchy bio lock. Ultimately I think you need to have a time buffer built into your security plan either way.

Let us know how you like it if you get it.