Secure Storage
What is Secure Storage?
Secure Storage means storing firearms locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition. Securing firearms protects children and adults by preventing unintentional shootings and gun suicides.
Why is Secure Storage Important?
An estimated 54 percent of gun owners don’t lock all of their guns securely. Every year, nearly 350 children under the age of 18 unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else.
Stolen guns also lead to crime: More than 30% of guns retrieved at crime scenes are found to have been stolen.
And—chillingly—60% of the guns used by K-12 school shooters were obtained in the shooter’s own home.
Secure Storage Options
There is a wide variety of safer storage solutions for firearms, both for homes and vehicles. But remember: The safest solution is the one you will use consistently—and no solution is as safe as not having a firearm at all.
Options for safer storage include:
- Trigger locks, which physically prevent the trigger from being pulled;
- Cable locks, which pass through the gun’s action and prevent it from being loaded or fired;
- Gun safes, which provide secure storage for multiple firearms;
- Lock boxes, which are smaller and more portable than safes, suitable for handguns or other small firearms.
All of these products are available at common retailers, including online marketplaces like Amazon; big box stores such as Walmart; and sporting goods stores like Bass Pro Shops. Additionally, many law enforcement agencies offer free gun locks through programs like Project ChildSafe.
Colorado’s Secure Storage Law
In Colorado, guns must be stored in a locked safe, container, or secured with a locking device. In vehicles, handguns must be stored in a locked hard-sided container out of plain view, in a locked vehicle or trunk. Non-handguns may be stored in a vehicle in a soft-sided container, but must have a locking device (such as a trigger lock) installed on the firearm while stored in the soft-sided container.
Unlawful storage of a firearm is a class 2 misdemeanor. Unlawfully providing a handgun to a juvenile or permitting a juvenile to possess a handgun is a class 4 felony. Unlawfully providing a firearm other than a handgun to a juvenile is a class 1 misdemeanor. Unsafe storage of a firearm in a vehicle is a civil infraction and can result in a fine.
*A special Thank You to St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral of Denver for their support,
which makes it possible for us to purchase and distribute gun locks!