Many consumers like American Security because it is an American company with a long history (about 60 years) of quality products. American Security prides itself on their history of quality and durability in all of their products. 

When it comes to gun safes, like many manufacturers, American Security offers several options to meet your needs. The main things to consider are size and weight, type of lock, available space, features, and fire and burglary ratings.   

By now you have probably taken inventory of everything that you would want to store in your gun safe. This would include firearms as well as ammunition, accessories, etc. American Security offers models with various sizes and internal configurations to accommodate your possessions. Many of these models come with an option of a combination lock or electronic lock depending on your personal preference. American Security offers an option to upgrade to an electronic lock on many of their models, while the combination lock is typically standard. 

Depending on the model, American Security offers features such as upholstered interiors, interior shelving and organization, interior lighting and electrical access holes. Security features include extra-thick doors, optional electronic locks, pre-drilled anchor holes, and locking bolts. 

Many models offered by American Security come with fire ratings. For instance, an American Security safe with a 90 minute fire rating means that the contents inside the safe should remain safe during a fire for 90 minutes. There are other fire ratings that range from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on what your needs are. Many people consider a fire rating to be as important in securing their possessions as theft deterrents. However, many gun owners’ main concern is keeping their firearms out of the wrong hands so the fire rating might not be as important to you. 

Whatever your needs are, American Security has many options available to suit most consumers’ needs. Keep in mind what you top priorities are and start narrowing down the options from there – whether you choose American Security or another trusted brand.

Hazardous Materials

One of the top injuries that occur at home is poisoning. To avoid illness due to poisoning in your home here are some basic safety tips: Be aware by knowing all of the products that are in your home and what are potentially dangerous. Keep any of these products in an inaccessible area from children and be sure they are labeled correctly. Also, have the number of a poison control center and your doctor on your refrigerator or another easy to find place in case of emergency.

Fall-related Hazards

Another common home-related injury is a fall. Falls often occur in young children and older adults, but they can happen to anyone. For small children, be sure to child-proof your home with hardware-installed baby gates, secure window guards and balcony guards. For older adults, make sure to install hand-rails on all stairways and in bathrooms. In addition, try to keep your home clutter-free and well-maintained to avoid falls from obstacles or maintenance issues.

Firearm/Dangerous Item Safety

Home Safety month is a great time to evaluate any items in you home that might be deadly in the wrong hands. This especially includes guns but also other weapons such as knives and pepper spray. These items should have a secure place to be stored such as a gun safe. Large gun safes are ideal for rifles, shotguns or collections of firearms, but you can also invest in a wall safe or drawer safe that locks. Any kind of safe can work – as long as you can make it inaccessible to children or others that shouldn’t handle these dangerous items.

Fire and Emergency Safety

When getting prepared for a fire or other emergency, it’s very important to have a plan implemented. When you talk to you family about a fire plan, you will want to make sure everyone knows where all potential exits are, and where to meet outside the home. Young children should know how to dial “911″ and have their address memorized. Other emergency plans could include what to do in a flood, tornado or other potential disaster. Write your plan down and review it at least every six months to make sure everyone remembers.

Other things you can do is to check your fire and carbon monoxide detectors, update emergency phone numbers, and talk to family members and baby-sitters about your home safety as well.

Although it’s not the only reason, gun safety is a big part of using a gun safe. The more guns you own, the more reasons to have a gun safe. For people that own one handgun for protection, for instance, you can get away with maybe a wall safe or even a locked drawer. This is because you only have one gun and it’s ammunition to keep track of.

For hunters, collectors or other gun enthusiasts who own several guns, gun safety is especially important because you have to keep track of many potentially deadly items. In this case, an actual gun safe is recommended. Gun safes come in many sizes, shapes and features to accommodate the type and number of guns you own.

By keeping all of you firearms and ammunition in a secure gun safe, you can rest assured that you are doing everything possible to prevent a child (or anyone inexperienced with firearms) from gaining access to these weapons. Every year, children die in accidents related to firearms. Using a proper gun safe prevents those you care about from falling into those statistics.

Owning and using a gun safe is also a great way to keep your guns in good shape and keep track of your firearm accessories and ammunition. Large gun safes often have shelving and areas to keep accessories as well. A large gun safe with storage for all your guns, your ammunition, scopes and other accessories is a great way to keep all of these items organized and secure.

Gun safes can also prevent damage to your firearms in case of fire. Many gun safe manufacturers offer products with fire protection ratings in addition to security features. This is a great way to protect your investment of a very valuable gun, an antique or a firearm with irreplaceable sentimental value or history.

If you carry other valuables in your home a gun safe can also act as an all-around safe. Many people own large gun safes to store not only their firearms but important documents, jewelry, cash, etc. Since you are already investing in securing your firearms from fire and theft, why not get a larger safe to store other items you want to protect and secure?

Once you decide to invest in a safe, make sure you get one with all of the security that you want. There are many options for shapes and sizes not to mention types of locks, amount of fire protection, weight, etc. Consider all that you want (and need) to have locked up and start looking – because everyone with a gun needs a gun safe.

Paid and unpaid bills stacked on a desk, important documents strewn about, waiting to be filed properly, and most importantly – many people leave important financial documents out for anyone to see. We may typically consider an unorganized den nothing worse than an eyesore or frustrating when we are trying to find something. However, keeping important documents out of safe places can be more dangerous than you think.

First of all, if you don’t have a designated spot for all your bills and papers, you will never be organized. Secondly, you are sure to lose something at value. Third, and most importantly, an office area that is cluttered and messy says “jackpot” to thieves.

A potential burglar peeking in windows may ignore a clean, organized home as unappealing because it’s likely that important things are locked away or hard to find. A messy office however, screams of likely treasures like blank checks, credit card and banking information.

Also, this kind of disarray may tell a potential thief “if all this is left out, there may be other valuables unsecured.” Now do you really want your home to say that?

The first step to avoid this vulnerable look is to get organized. Make a permanent place for things like paid and unpaid bills, financial information – especially checks and bank account documents. Create a filing system so that everything has a place.

Next you will want to invest in a system to secure your most important items. Wall safes are a great way to discreetly hide away your valuables. You can purchase wall safes that can be hidden behind mirrors, pictures, or nearly invisible panels painted like your wall. They secure your valuables and provide a permanent place for them, which reduces clutter.

Safes come in many sizes, shapes and features. A wall safe is discreet while a large gun safe is intimidating. A media safe can harbor your valuable electronics, media storage and back-up files. Smaller safes can be locked and hidden in a closet or bolted to the floor. There are many options for safes, you should choose one that best suits your needs.  First Alert Safes come in compact sizes for storing documents, passports and other important paperwork.

Your goal is that if a potential thief looks in your den, they immediately cannot see anything valuable and see no vulnerabilities. To a thief, this say’s “not worth it.”

Most travelers look at a hotel safe like they do the other amenities: an iron, hairdryer, or shower cap. Something that’s nice to have but you probably won’t use it. Most people don’t even think to use it because they feel the hotel is secure enough or that their valuables aren’t at risk.

Many travel professionals will advise otherwise. If there is a hotel safe at your disposal and you have valuables of any kind, you are only ensuring their safety by using it. Hotel safes are very easy to use. Often there are instructions for their use right on the safe. If not, you can call the front desk to find out how to get your personalized access. This is usually a card that you swipe or an electronic combination.

One of the best things to keep in a hotel safe is extra cash or travelers checks. Whatever extra cash you don’t keep on you during the day should be kept safely in your safe. Also, things like jewelry and electronics that you don’t have on you when you leave should be stashed away in the hotel safe.

Think about all the valuable things that you carry with you on vacation: Expensive phones, laptops, GPS’s, media storage, cameras, etc. Most of us just think of these items of things that we need for vacation, but thieves will look at these as things they can steal from you.

Many thieves will target travelers in higher end vacation areas, knowing that they will be carrying some valuable electronics, jewelry or cash and travelers checks. You could easily be targeted in a hotel lobby. This is just one reason to take advantage of that hotel safe.

Another very practical reason is that when we travel with valuables, we want to know where everything is and that it is secure. Why waste time digging through all your suitcases and bags for your camera or travelers checks when you can just immediately place them in the hotel safe on your arrival? After using your valuables throughout the day, place them directly back in the safe when you return.

This can save you some stress when you pack up to leave and can’t immediately find something valuable. It can also save you some time each day when you prepare to leave – you will know exactly where to find your camera, cash, etc. so you can be prepared for the day.

A depository safe offers more than just the face value of protecting cash. By eliminating this weak point, you are discouraging dishonest employees. Many a burglary has been an “inside job” where employees seek out easy ways to rob your business. By being proactive, these types of people will quickly move on without an easy target.

Depository safes, sometimes known as “drop safes” are simple, yet effective. There are several kinds to choose from, depending on your business’s needs. Hayman Safes is a well-known manufacturer that has several deposit safes – we’ll use them as an example for this purpose.

Hayman Safes manufacture deposit safes for almost any business need. There are several ways to distinguish different types. First is the way you deposit. There are slot-styles and hopper style deposits. A slot style safe has a slot in the safe large enough to put and envelope or stack of bills, but impossible to retrieve anything. A hopper style safe has a hinged opening to fit larger stacks or envelopes and deposits it when you close it. Both kinds have a safe at the bottom to hold your deposit securely – usually with a combination lock or key lock.

The lock is another feature that varies. Hayman safes make products with combination locks, key locks and electronic locks. The type of lock is something that you will want to consider for sure. For example, a dual key lock provides extra security in case of a robbery as it needs two separate keys to open. Also, the combination lock works well as long as only a very small group of trusted individuals has the combination. This way, employees can make secure deposits, but do not have access (or a way to give access to another) in case of an attempted burglary.

Hayman Safes make deposit safes with two safe compartments as well, one for deposits and one as another safe for other valuables. This may be a good idea if you determine there are other valuables besides cash that you would like to keep secure.

The benefits of having a deposit safe are many, and the consequences of not having that security are many as well. After weighing the benefits, think about your business’s needs, how large a safe you need, what kind of lock, who has access, etc. and then make the investment for your business.

Because of this, we may very well see a rise in the investment of personal security. Modern thieves understand that in any given household, there is likely at least one desktop computer, one camera, one mp3 player, one laptop, and one high-tech cell phone. In many cases, there is more than one of each.

For this reason, people may need to do more than just be diligent in locking their doors. A home safe may be a good investment to ensure that valuable electronics – and even more valuable data contained therein – are securely locked away.

Although any safe with a secure lock is better than leaving these valuable electronics out in the open, there are many safes designed specifically for securing these types of items in your home. Honeywell Safes is a good example of a company that is reputable and has been around long enough to establish itself and keep up with ever changing demands of consumers.

Honeywell Safes produce a large variety of safes, but for this particular topic, we should look at safes that are designed for home use and would be appropriate for electronics and media. Honeywell makes a waterproof fire protector media safe which is mostly self-explanatory. Waterproof and fire proof are obviously beneficial. The reason it is called a media safe is because it is designed to hold various media such as CD’s, DVD’s, photos, film, cassettes, etc. and protect these items from fire, water and theft.

Because of these protection factors, a media safe is a good option to keep your small electronics in. The only downside is that a media safe is small and could possibly be carried out by a burglar. Honeywell Safes have many options for large safes that cannot be carried out. This may be a good option if you have lots of other valuables or guns and can use a very large safe.

If you don’t have a need for something that big, a hidden safe may be a great option for your valuable electronic devices. Honeywell Safes make wall safes that are discreet so only you and your family can tell where they are hidden. Basically, a wall safe is installed within a wall of your home, with the door and lock flush with the wall. You can then cover the safe with a picture or mirror so it is completely hidden.

As you invest more of your money into expensive electronics and fill them with irreplaceable data, you may want to consider investing also in a way to protect them.

This question is what prompts business owners to invest in a safe. Manufacturers of safes have been catering to these needs for years, and in doing so, safes have evolved. Today’s safes use innovative technology to provide the most secure method possible to protect important documents, files and of course, cash.

Take the company Gardall for example. This is a well known safe company that has been in business for decades. Gardall has evolved, like many manufacturers to keep up with the demand for secure, high quality and technologically advanced products that business owners (and homeowners) demand.

This demand is for more than just something heavy with a tricky lock. Gardall has entire lines of safes for every purpose you can imagine. Fire safes are big business because fire is one of the things that business owners can only prepare for, but cannot totally prevent. If a fire were to destroy your physical business, it could be rebuilt with the help of insurance, time and dedication.

But if a fire were to destroy your records and other important files, you could go out of business completely. Companies like Gardall make fire-rated safes that could save this information so that you can rebuild. New market items like media safes are in high demand for businesses because they allow a place to store back-up files, important documents and valuables and keep them protected from fire and theft.

In this way, Gardall and other manufacturers are helping businesses to be more proactive in securing their valuables. If you have a media safe on premise, you are more likely to create backup files knowing you have a place to keep them. This helps to ensure business for Gardall as well as provide a very valuable product for companies like restaurants, retail shops, and any business that needs to protect irreplaceable documents.

For businesses that carry lots of cash, like restaurants and bars, Gardall provides deposit safes. These safes can have features like storage for valuables and fire and theft protection, with the added benefit of a depository slot to keep cash until it is ready to be deposited. Electronic locks and features that protect against sledgehammer, crowbar, and other attacks add even more value to these safes.

Another way safe manufacturers are keeping up is with safes that are hidden or immovable. Gardall makes safes that are heavy enough or bolted to the floor preventing the entire safe from being taken. There are also safes that can be installed in the floor and hidden from view.

All of these innovations help to keep businesses secure in the event of a break-in or fire that may otherwise devastate a business.

The following are 5 safety measures you can take:

1. Correct hazards that could cause tripping and falling: cluttered areas, extension cords, throw rugs, slippery floors, and uneven surfaces.
2. Lower the temperature on water heaters and insulate any exposed hot-water pipes. Block off radiators with furniture or a gate.
3. Keep cleaning supplies, insecticides, gasoline, paint, solvents, and medicines out of reach or stored in cabinets with childproof latches. Get rid of poisonous houseplants, and put small items (pins, buttons, etc.) out of reach.
4. Hide the stove knobs so the person can’t turn on the burners. If you have an electric stove, install a switch that inactivates the burners, or switch off the stove at the fuse box or circuit breaker. If you have a gas stove, ask the local gas company for suggestions on how to disable it.
5. 5. Put your guns and hunting knives in a safe. You can still have access to your firearms with a simple push button safe. But the peace of mind that your loved ones cannot handle the weapon is a must.

We hope this post helps you think about safety first with a terrible disease that we hope will one day be cured.

The Closet Vault is a very popular case among AuthoritySafes.com customers. What accessories do you think are needed to best maximize the interior space of the case?

Mary: The Pegboard Door Panel gives extra storage space on the door; hand guns can be hung on the Pistol Racks, and spaced around long guns or shelves inside the Vault. The Pegboard is a steel panel with the same hole pattern as standard pegboard so you can buy additional hooks at the hardware store to hang small items, such as jewelry.

Are all of the V-Line Cases rated by the California Department of Justice for approved Fire Arm Safety?

Mary: All except the Shotgun, Rifle and Closet Vault, and Narcotic Security Box. The Shotgun Rifle and Closet Vault are still legal to sell in California under the exception law for long gun storage.

What type of lock is on the Narcotics Security Box?

Mary: A Kaba Mas Unicon CL-20 Lock with a Key override is featured on the Narcotics Security Box. This is an electronic lock powered by a single “CR2” lithium battery. The key override is a tubular lock which can be order key’ed alike or different for quantity orders. For additional information on the CL-20 lock’s unique features visit

http://www.kaba-mas.com/pdf/brochures/Unicon_CL20_Web.pdf

Can you order the Unicon CL Series Software to be used with other safes? If so, what requirements does that safe have to have to be able to use the software?

Mary: The Unicon CL-20 lock could be used with other safes, and V-Line is looking into offering it on additional models, however at this time it is only available on the Narcotics Security Box. The Software program is installed on the customer’s computer, and can be used with multiple units.

Are any of the V-Line products rated for fire protection?

Mary: At this time V-Line does not have any products that are rated for fire.

What is the largest sized gun that will fit in the Rifle Case (model 31242-SA)?

Mary: The Rifle Case was designed with the AR15 in mind, the inside dimensions are 41” x 11 ¾” x 2 ¾”

Does the bolt hardware come standard with the V-Line cases?

Mary: Only the Quick Vault and Closet Vault include installation hardware, as the other models can be installed on such a variety of surfaces it would be difficult to include all the possible hardware.

Custom logos can be printed on select V-Line cases. Which cases can customer logos be applied to, and what are the requirements for putting a logo on a case?

Mary: Custom logos can be applied to any units; the Desk Mate and Hide-Away are difficult to put a logo on because of the small size of the door. Orders of 50 or more of the same unit there is no charge for a custom logo, camera ready art work is required. Logos will be in the same standard gold tone ink, multi-color ink or custom ink colors are available but will be an additional charge.

What are the advantages to having a safe with a five button mechanical lock?

Mary: The mechanical lock is very reliable, it has been used for safe and door openings for over 50 years. There are no batteries to change or fail at an inopportune time. Especially in hot and cold climates batteries have a shorten life. There are no keys to keep track of or worry about falling into the wrong hands. The Simplex mechanical 5 button lock has 1100 possible combinations, giving a wide combination choice; buttons may be pushed singularly or two at a time. Combinations are easy to change. Most important the locks are very quick and easy to use.

Are there any questions you receive on a regular basis that would be helpful for customers to know?

Mary: Lock “problems” are to most common questions I receive:

Question: “My lock won’t lock: it opens without pushing any buttons.”
Answer: “When the combination was being changed the knob was turned left instead of right on “Step 6” which caused the code to clear and set a 0 combination. To correct go back though the instructions to change the code, at “Step 2” you will not enter any combination, (as you don’t have one). Follow Steps 3, 4, and 5, and be very careful on “Step 6” to turn the knob to the right, or clockwise.”

We hope this will help with any questions you may have about V-Line products. Special thank you to Mary providing the answers to our questions!