The 10 Best (and 8 Worst) Places To Hide Your Guns
Ensuring your guns are properly hidden is critical for two reasons: First, you want to make sure your guns are hidden from any burglars or intruders who could break into your house while you are away.
Secondly, and this may seem like a more extreme example, but if martial law is ever declared in your jurisdiction in response to a major disaster, authorities could move quickly going door-to-door to ensure that everyone in the area is disarmed.
The last thing you want is to have your firearms out in the open or in obvious hiding spots where almost anybody could find them.
If you need ideas on where you can hide your guns, we’re here to help. We’ll cover some of the best and most secretive places to hide your guns, and then we’ll dive into some common gun hiding spots that are actually not that secretive.
Here are the best and worst places to hide your guns in 2023 …
The Best Places To Hide Your Guns
Here are the best places where you can hide your guns:
Air Vents
You can either use fake air vents or real ones for this one. Most burglars won’t think to look inside air vents, and in a martial law scenario law enforcement or military units may overlook them as well.
Buried Outside
Bury your guns outside in your backyard (or elsewhere on your property) and then ensure that the ground where you bury them looks exactly as you had left it. It’s vital that you bury your guns correctly, meaning that they must be stored in suitable containers and that additional precautions be taken to ensure they are protected against moisture and humidity. Be sure to research carefully how to do this properly.
Books
There are many kinds of ‘books’ that appear to be books on the outside but in reality have a storage compartment for hiding a pistol. Alternatively, you can take an existing book you have no value for and cut away the inside of the pages to fit a handgun instead.
Don’t just leave the book on a nightstand or table out in the open. Rather, place the book amongst many other books in a bookshelf. You don’t want a guest in the house to pick up the book out of curiosity and open it to find its real contents.
Computer Monitors/Printers
If you have an old computer monitor or printer that you don’t use anymore, there should be enough space on the inside where you can place a pistol.
Electrical Outlets
The concept here is the same as the air vents. In this case, however, you’ll be best served by purchasing a fake electrical outlet instead.
Inside a Couch or Sofa
No, not under the couch or sofa. *Inside* the couch or sofa. Turn your couch or sofa upside and down and cut away a small portion of the fabric there. Then, stash your firearm in there and place your sofa back to where you had it.
Mirrors
Some mirrors are designed to slide away to reveal a storage compartment behind the mirror, where you can store guns and other valuables. Just make sure that opening the mirror to reveal the compartment will require maximum effort. For example, you shouldn’t just have to slide the mirror to get it to open. Instead, go with a model where you have to open a hard-to-see lock on the side or underneath to get it to open.
Old Boots or Shoes
It may not be the most pleasant place to store a firearm, but a pair of old boots or shoes will work for a good hiding place. Be sure to keep the boots or shoes amongst a pile of many others to help make it even more secretive.
Picture Frames
Just as there are fake air vents and electrical outlets designed to hide firearms, there are fake picture frames designed to do the same thing. Just make sure you select a rather dull-looking picture that a burglar won’t be incentivized to steal. It may not be the prettiest aesthetic for your house, but it’s a decent idea if you need a secretive place to hide a gun.
Trash Pile
This one is perhaps even less pleasant than the old boots and shoes idea, but you can easily hide a gun inside a trash gun overflowing with trash.
The Worst Places To Hide Your Guns
Now here are the worst places where you can hide your guns:
Closets
Closets are a very cliched place to hide guns and other valuables. This is one room where burglars or looters will always go to check out, and you can guarantee that law enforcement or military units in a martial law scenario will do the same.
Desk Drawers
Desk drawers are another very obvious location for hiding guns. The exception here is if your desk has a secret compartment designed for storing guns or valuables, in which case you might be able to get away with it.
Freezer/Refrigerator
A freezer or a refrigerator may seem like a creative place to hide a firearm, but you’d be wise to avoid it for the simple reason that in the event of a martial law scenario the authorities will want to confiscate peoples’ food to ensure dependence on them. If they enter your house and start removing food from your refrigerator, they’ll surely find any guns you have in there as well.
Kitchen Cabinets and Pantries
Kitchen cabinets and pantries are an even poorer place to store guns than freezers or refrigerators. It’s too obvious of a hiding location and in a martial law scenario where the authorities confiscate food you simply won’t be able to hide anything in here.
Nightstands
It’s common practice for people to keep guns on their nightstands for home defense, whether they be out in the open or hidden in a safe attached to the nightstand. While this does make the gun very accessible, especially if you have to respond to a home invasion in the middle of the night, it’s a poor place to hide it.
Shoeboxes
People will often store their jewelry and money in shoeboxes, which is why robbers will almost look inside any shoe boxes they can find when burglarizing a home. Don’t store your guns in shoeboxes for this reason.
Under the Bed
Under a bed is perhaps the most obvious place to try to hide rifles and shotguns. Burglars will always get down on the floor to take a peek under your beds to see what you have under there.
Unhidden Gun Safe
Gun safes are very effective at deterring intruders and protecting your guns from a fire. The problem with gun safes is they are incredibly large and obvious. If you plan on keeping your firearms in a gun safe, you need to take action to hide the safe as best as you can. One idea is to cover and surround your gun safe with moving or storage boxes.
Another idea is to go with a hidden wall safe. This is where you cut holes in the wall in between wall studs, and then place the safe in there and then rework the wall so it looks like nothing is there. This will require a lot of work and expense to get it professionally installed, but it will keep it hidden from intruders.
Another option is to cover the safe with a ‘safe cloak,’ or a fabric that will drape over the safe to make it look like a cabinet. At first glance, it won’t make it obvious that it’s safe.
Conclusion: Hide Your Guns Here, Not There
Hiding your guns so they become very difficult for anyone else to find requires a good degree of creativity on your part. Besides the above best and worst examples we’ve shared, walk around your house and think about more specific places where you could hide your guns. You’ll probably find a few places beyond the ones we’ve covered in this article.
