Gun safes make terrific Christmas gifts provided that the unit selected is appropriate for the recipient’s needs. That can be a problem, however, because the well-intended purchaser often does not appreciate the differences in quality, and they may not know about everything the user will store in the safe. The buyer is usually a girl friend or wife who is buying an expensive gift for her man. Understandably, she is focused on price because even a cheap gun safe is a big purchase.
Big box stores take full advantage of this situation with Black Friday sales and Christmas sales. They sell thousands of cheap Chinese units which, to the person who doesn’t do proper research, appear to be suitable. The result can be that the gun owner ends up with a safe he would not buy for himself. It might not offer the protection he knows he should have. While truly appreciating the thought behind his present, he may have unspoken doubts about using it. It’s a difficult gift to return. We have all been there with one gift or another.
So here are my suggestions:
- Don’t buy a gun safe as a surprise. Talk about it in advance. Get his input about brand, size, and value of what he will use it for.
- Be wary of Black Friday and Christmas sales.
- Don’t buy only, or primarily, based on price.
- Don’t buy a Chinese product.
- Both parties should learn the basics about gun safes, the differences in brands and models. A good place to start is by reading my earlier posts about gun safes, safe locks, etc.
- Buy from a legitimate safe store, not a gun store or big box. Your research time will be well spent talking directly with safe experts who actually service different brands.
- If cost of a good unit is too high, then agree that this gift will be for Christmas and his birthday, or this Christmas and next, or have him pitch in on the cost, or get his family to contribute.
Honestly, a quality gun safe is a gift he will actually use and remember for years, even if he has to help with the cost. But the memory will be less positive if it is one of those gifts that he would secretly prefer to return for something better.