We are selling our home and because we haven't found anything we like enough to buy, we are going to be temporarily leasing a place.

Not sure what to do with all my guns and ammo. I don't have any secure storage in the new place and it's a lot smaller than the house I'm leaving. I don't want to leave a bunch of pistols and rifles stacked in a closet.

We're storing a bunch of stuff in self-storage, but those places typically don't allow storage of firearms and ammo.

Has anyone else dealt with this problem?

I'd look to a family member (if you have one) or very good friend who would offer you temporary storage. I have several people I could turn to for that favor if the need ever arose.

bigdeal's idea was what I thought about first. Thinking outside the box and for highest security but probably least control, maybe a local gun dealer/shop or maybe even a pawn shop (if highly reputable) would be willing to act as a gun and ammo sitter.

quote:

Originally posted by ChicagoSigMan:
We're storing a bunch of stuff in self-storage, but those places typically don't allow storage of firearms and ammo.

When I was selling my house and buying a new one last year, I stored my guns and ammo in a climate-controlled storage unit for a brief period. The storage place I used had no prohibition against that. (Whereas my moving company's contract specifically stated that they wouldn't move guns or ammo.)

So the first step would be to check with the self storage place(s). Don't just assume that it isn't allowed.


If you can put it in self storage, look into some large, nondescript, rolling totes. I used these from Lowes: https://www.lowes.com/pd/COMMA...ching-Lid/1000421927

With the guns spread out amongst several of those, plus some rifle-length cardboard boxes that I had left over, and ammo in metal ammo cans with all my usual magnetic caliber labels removed, it wasn't glaringly obvious that I was loading/unloading a bunch of guns and ammo.

I moved everything into the unit piecemeal over a few week period in small loads using my vehicle and a buddy's truck, and then rented a small Uhaul when it came time to get everything out and into my new house, so I could do it in one fell swoop. And had a few friends along to help carry and load, and watch my six.

Can't help with the ammo but look at a reputable pawn shop. My nephew runs one and they have people that have high end firearms and will come in and "pawn" them and make the payments every month. Then when hunting season comes around they pay them out. Its an arrangement they have. Its a far lower than normal payment and some pay up front.

If you put them in a storage unit make sure it’s an indoor one with some security. The plain outdoor ones are too easy to break into.

Handguns don’t take up much space, so I’d probably keep those with me. If you don’t have one already, put a monitored alarm on the new place, even if it’s temporary. Personally I think an alarm is more important than a safe, as safes can all be opened with enough time.

For the long guns, if you don’t have room, see if you can pay a reputable gun store to clean them and hold them for a while, or you could literally just pay for cleaning and it might take them a couple of months to be done.

As for ammo, and maybe some guns, I’d strongly consider selling at current market rates and buying back later. No guarantees, but I’d wager prices will be lower in a year or two- maybe sooner.

We moved and had a three month gap before the new house would be done. I rented a storage place and stowed all my ammo (in ammo cans) against the wall as you entered the door. They never told me I couldn’t store ammo and I didn’t ask.

The guns and safe went with us into the temp house. Parked it right in the living room for three months.

Maybe buy a safe and have it moved once you get established in a new home?

quote:

Originally posted by cooger:
If you put them in a storage unit make sure it’s an indoor one with some security. The plain outdoor ones are too easy to break into.

I agree. We rented a space inside a building. they said it was temperature controlled.

As the OP already knows, self-storage facilities do NOT allow storage of firearms and ammo. I have no advice as to where he can store those. But self-storage places are great places to store personal belongings such as clothes, tools, hardware, and hobby stuff like model airplanes and knitting implements. To help orgarnize, I use the bank boxes available at Costco and label them with indelible ink over Blue Tape. For delicate model airplanes that I don't want the container being opened accidentally, I use a shipping box and tape it all around. Another pro-tip is I found nails to be quite heavy, so you have to use shorter flat boxes so as not to load them too heavy and also tape those all around. I found it helpful to label them on the outside using code like N for Nine inch nails and FF for 4.5 inch nails.

We keep a safe, inside a gun shop. The ATF had some kind of reg about just storing them with the general inventory.

The pawn shop is a good idea. I know some shops in Houston used to offer a store service.

I can't tell you how many safes full of guns I set up in self storage facilities. Policy or not, nobody has ever been out there verifying what is going inside.

We even had a local class 3 holder that passed leaving thousands of guns in his estate. Guess where they all went....fully automatics and all.

A bunch of units, including mine, at the self-storage facility near me were broken into and a lot of stuff stolen.

Fortunately, I did not have any firearms there.

A friend, now deceased, had his guns in a "safe" in a storage facility. He then called it his garage sale after all the family guns walked. Little choice but to accept the insurance money, but it was an unhappy time.

In my situation, I had 2 safes in the basement. We had them demo the old house and build the new one. Lucky for me it was 11 years ago and no one was building. The guns and the safes each went to a son. The younger son stored the ammo. We moved the guns and ammo to the new house upon completion. It was an advantage because back then, no one was building. I left the safes where they were. Son's needed them more than me. Younger son had a back problem and managed to move the ammo up to his garage. I backed up to the ammo and put it in the jeep. Drove it home and around back to the burglars entrance.

I built a "cart" out of a 4 wheel dolly and a piece of plywood. From the jeep to the dolly to the new safe. Good luck breaking into it. The guard (me) lives upstairs. When they were pouring the foundation, the boss guy asked what it was for, so I told him. He did me a favor and put in triple ribar. Good luck getting through the concrete and the steel. I'm not saying it can't be done, but most crooks just don't want to work that hard. I know I don't.

I know an easy way to get into it, but I'm not telling.

quote:

Originally posted by JD DRIVER:
Can't help with the ammo but look at a reputable pawn shop. My nephew runs one and they have people that have high end firearms and will come in and "pawn" them and make the payments every month. Then when hunting season comes around they pay them out. Its an arrangement they have. Its a far lower than normal payment and some pay up front.

My question now would be if you have to pass a background check to claim your guns. In this state that would be a yes. And that's like $20 now.

I had a work friend going through divorce. I stored his guns for almost two years, as a bonus I cleaned & oiled them.

When all was done he got them back.

Theres a lady who is setting up a network of FFLs to safely store firearms for people temporarily struggling with their mental health. I dont remember the name off hand but it seems safe storage for a set period is within a FFLs wheelhouse.

You may try Wayne Berquist on Shirley St in Naples. If he doesn’t store them he can get you pointed in the right direction

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
If you can put it in self storage, look into some large, nondescript, rolling totes. I used these from Lowes: https://www.lowes.com/pd/COMMA...ching-Lid/1000421927

Were those long enough for longer milsurps? And how did they hold up to the weight of rifles?

Thanks for the replies and info. I don't have any family close by and no friends that I could ask to take the quantity of stuff I have. I'll look into the pawn shop option and I'll also call Mr. Berquist for his thoughts.