If you own any firearms or valuables you want to protect, then you ought to consider buying a safe. Before you buy a traditional safe, however, you ought to consider biometric gun safes to use versus the traditional pistol safes. Actually, many safes can come as a fingerprint safe or utilize biometric technology. It's merely another form of locking mechanism. But before you do just spend your money on the first clearance-item safe you can find (because they can be fairly expensive), look at the various brands on the market, and be sure your safe is loaded with benefits to suit your needs.
Let's begin with a definition.
What are Biometric Gun Safes?
These are simply the latest, next-generation upgrade of pistol safes available today. (Of course, the locking mechanism may be used on other types of safe, but for the purpose of this article, we'll focus more on the pistol-size safe.) As expected, their technological advancements translates into a bigger hit on your budget, but you pay for what you get. The term "biometric" simply refers to the mechanism by which the safe is locked and unlocked. Rather than keys or dials, Personal Identification Number keypads (or "PIN"), these safes use biometric readers. Typically, biometric safes are actually "fingerprint safes," since fingerprint reading technology makes more sense for a gun safe to begin with.
Why the Need?
The fingerprint safes are a fantastic buy for a gun owner for several reasons. First, as stated, the fingerprint scan allows for quick access. Second, in the case of an emergency (such as a home invasion), if you can't find the key to your pistol safes, that story doesn't end well. The same is true for combination locks, especially for those who tend to forget their combinations. The need for gun owners to keep their guns put away arose largely from gun control laws, but also from common sense as parents want to protect their curious kids from hurting themselves or others.
For the ease of access in the case of some emergency situation, a biometric gun safe is probably the best bet. Imagine the situation in the worst-case scenario, and under pressure if you had your choice to use your fingerprint safe versus fumbling for the key or recalling the right combination...you can surely see the clear advantage of a biometric design. Biometric pistol safes are also great if you have small valuables to store, as many of these safes come with enough storage for your guns and then some.
What's the Difference Between Various Biometric Gun Safes?
Like most products, there are a number of varieties of pistol safes to choose from. There are biometric gun safes for every budget, depending on features. You can expect to pay anywhere from or so on up to -500 for a personal safe. The capacity of the safe also determines the price, as you can have a safe designed for one handgun, or you can have a veritable gun closet (vault-style) that can contain your entire collection of handguns and long guns. These bigger safes usually come with several fingerprint readers, and the memory to store more than one user's identity.
Many safes have a rating that can give you at a glance what to expect as far as anti-theft features, fire-proofing, water-proofing, etc. There is an additional category for biometric gun safes - and this category includes "false acceptance rate" and "false rejection rate," commonly abbreviated "FAR" and "FRR" respectively. The false acceptance or "FAR" ratings will let you know the likelihood of unauthorized entry, opening for the wrong person. The "FRR" identifies the likelihood of someone who should be given access, being denied that access.
A fingerprint safe may come equipped with a singe scanner, and are known for their reliability and relatively low cost. Other safe manufacturers scan 4 fingers, which come with a higher price tag as well as higher degree of security. It is also typical that the 4-finger biometric gun safe will have a higher FRR, denying access to the owner more often.
Another feature that distinguishes one of these "next gen" pistol safes from each other is the memory capacity. How many users can be stored on the device? Also, how quickly does the computer on board process the finger-swipe? The better the safe, the quicker such scans are recognized, and the more users can be stored in the memory.
**Quick tip about using the biometric fingerprint scanners: According to many reviews of various "cheaper" models, it's a great idea to swipe your fingerprints in the set-up phase from different angles, using different amounts of pressure, different heights, etc. This will help lower the amount of FRR, or false rejections.
Finally, a difference between the biometric gun safe design is whether or not there are multiple modes to unlock the safe. Many offer a back-up method, such as a key or combination. Others offer a combination of modalities in order to gain entry, so you may need a key and the right finger swipe. If the safe only comes as a strictly fingerprint safe, then the cost will be lower. The more modalities there are to the locking mechanism, the higher the cost of the pistol safes.
Of course, the more complicated the opening mechanism, the longer it will take to open the safe. If you are keeping your home protection in there, then this isn't the best choice. They will also be more complicated to set up and use, so the choice is really yours to make, it all depends on the reason you're getting the safe to begin with.
The overall reason to get a biometric gun safe, for most buyers, is to replace the need for combination codes and dials, or keys. It's usually about ease of access, and relinquishing the need and worry about remembering combinations and where you left the key. These safes are a great choice for parents as well as those guarding against damage or theft. The amount of features really determines how much you'll pay for your pistol safes, but if the point in purchasing was to gain access quickly to your firearms, it's hard to beat the fingerprint safe.
Scenario to Highlight the Advantages of the Biometric Gun Safe
It's 3:30 a.m., and all is quiet as a dormouse in your home. You think you hear the sound of breaking glass. Then you hear footsteps, and furniture scraping across the floor. A thud here...a slow-paced progression of footsteps there. It's an intruder, and you have mere moments to act. Where's your pistol? It's in the gun vault. Deftly, you get up and walk across the room to the gun cabinet, and there remember you left your key on the nightstand. Now what?
This scenario can read another way, with a biometric-style safe, kept near your bed, perhaps on the nightstand. In the dark of the early morning, you can reach out and grab the safe, find the molded fingerprint reader, and gain access to your gun all without leaving your bed. That's again why, for home protection purpose, if you use a biometric lock on your pistol safes, you're in better shape. Under pressure, it would be easy to misplace your key, not so much you finger!
If you are using a pistol for home or work security purposes, then the use of a biometric gun safe simply can't be beat. There are models that are made to attach to your desk, under the desk top, or in a drawer, or a cabinet. Some attach their safe to a slide-out drawer with a false bottom in the desk, or a cabinet door. In the case of invasion, they can deftly escape behind a closed bathroom door or the like, and access their firearm. If the gun is kept in a smaller, personal safe, then the possibilities are endless as to where you can keep your pistol. You can even find models of biometric safes that fit into your brief case.
Shopping Tips
Look for reliable companies providing a reliable - not fussy! - fingerprint safe. Check online for starters. You also want to be sure that the battery life is decent - 6 months is a good length of time - and that replacing the battery doesn't replace your data. If the safe operates on common battery sizes, this is also a benefit to you. Button batteries are far more expensive than, say, a 9-v.
Another consideration is reputation and warranty. Good brand names to be cognizant of when buying a biometric safe are: Barska, Sentry, Tychi Systems, Protex, Secure Logic, and Gunvault, to name a few. Like with any investment, the warranty can be a clear indicator to overall life.
Read online reviews, get tips from other gun owners, and be sure you stick with reputable companies before you buy a biometric gun safe or any fingerprint safe. Word of mouth is still a great indicator of overall value
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