Quick access bedside gun safes allow you to keep your personal defense weapon close for when you need it most. Because when someone’s breaking into your home, you don’t ask them to kindly wait while you open your gun safe. You need to take care of business and you need to take care of business quickly.
Top Criteria for a Bedroom Gun Safe
There are hundreds of small safes that could be installed in your bedroom. While any safe is better than no safe, not all safes are built equally. Use the following criteria to identify the best quick access gun safe for your home and protection:
Quick Access: How fast can you open your safe?
This safe is for storing your home defense pistol or handgun. It’s not for your hunting rifles and collectors shotguns. You want to be able to open it in 1-2 seconds, which means you want a safe with a keypad or biometric reader.
Does that mean we don’t like dial locks? Absolutely not. They can be a great choice in many circumstances. But when it comes to quick access gun safes, a dial lock simply takes longer to open, even for those who are extremely familiar with them.
Reliability: Is your safe built by a reliable manufacturer?
Not all safes are built equally — whether you’re dealing with a large gun safe or a small bedroom safe. Buying a cheaply made safe can result in a myriad of issues, ranging from the lock malfunctioning to the hinges warping and breaking.
Adequate Protection: Will your safe deter both small children with curious fingers and smash and grab burglars?
Nosey guests. Curious children. Burglars and thieves. The point of your quick access gun safe is to keep your personal defense firearm from unwanted individuals.
Space: Is it big enough to hold your personal defense firearm?
Generally speaking, it’s best to buy a bedside safe that can at least fit a full-sized handgun. While you may have a compact handgun at the moment, if you ever want to upgrade, this gives you more flexibility.
Mountable: Can your safe be secured to the bedside table, wall or floor to keep someone from walking away with it?
Bedside safes are small and light by nature, making them relatively easy to carry even when they are loaded with items. To prevent someone from simply walking away with your bedside safe, it’s important to secure it to a larger, heavier structure. Mounting your safe to the wall, bedside table or floor is ideal.
Published 9.27.2021 | Updated 1.5.2023
If mounting your safe is not an option, consider purchasing a safe with a security cable that can be locked onto a heavy piece of furniture.
Our Top 4 Best Quick Access Bedside Gun Safes
Vaultek DS2i Smart Station Safe
A revolutionary new home safe, Vaultek's Ds2i Smart Station is a multi-functional, high-tech gun safe that can discretely store a full size handgun (up to 9 inches). It looks like a digital clock and can be opened with a biometric fingerprint reader. Plus, the drawer slides out with nearly no noise, allowing you to access your personal defense handgun with no one hearing.
Vaultek SL20i
This sleek design mounts to your bedside table and can be opened using a 5-digit keypad or a biometric fingerprint reader. It quickly opens using a three-point precision rail system that presents your firearm in the ready position. Furthermore, the slim verticle design makes discrete installation easy.
Vaultek NMXi
The NMXi is a generously sized bedside safe. The adjustable interior can hold up to 8 handguns, with 6 in pistol racks on the bottom and 2 on the top shelf. Plus, it is a bit heftier than most bedside gun safes, with a base weight of 32 pounds. In addition to being Wi-Fi enabled to connect to a smartphone app, it comes equipped with two, pre-drilled mounting holes on the backside of the safe, allowing you to mount it to the wall.
Vaultek Pro-VTi
Vaultek’s Pro-VTi handgun safe offers a portable solution to your bedside gun storage. While it doesn’t mount to the floor, wall, or beside, it comes equipped with a security cable that can be locked to a heavy piece of furniture. It can hold up to two, full-size handguns and features 5 different options for entry, including an 8-digit keypad and a biometric fingerprint reader.
Bonus Options for Quick Access Gun Safes
While generally bedside gun safes hold smaller guns, we’d be remiss not to mention these two unique and popular long gun options. For those who are utilizing a shotgun or AR15 as their home defense weapon, these are an excellent choice.
ShotLock Shotgun 200M Solo-Vault
The ultimate, quick access shotgun safe, the ShotLock Shotgun Solo-Vault can be discretely mounted behind your drapery, in a closet, or behind a door jam. It allows you to quickly and reliably access your shotgun in the event of a home invasion, while still keeping triggers from little hands. This is hands down the best quick access shotgun safe.
ShotLock AR 200M Solo-Vault
Predicated on the success of the ShotLock Shotgun Solo-Vault, this single-gun gun safe is specifically designed to hold an AR15. It can easily be mounted to the wall to allow for your gun to be secured, while still having fast access.
Additional Insights
The Best Way to Store an AR-15
The AR-15 is arguably one of the most popular guns right now. Whether you just bought or built a new one, you’re likely thinking — how do I store it? How do I care for it? Ripping through a few boxes at the gun range and then sliding it into the closet isn’t going to cut it.
Bulk Ammo Storage Solutions
Whether you’re a “serious shooter” or a first-time gun owner, you will likely want to keep some extra ammunition on hand. This can be a great way to not only be prepared for the unexpected but to take advantage of deals. Just be sure it’s stored properly so it doesn’t become damaged.
Get Discrete Protection with a Wall Safe
Wall safes can be an excellent solution for protecting valuables within your home and office because they can be discretely mounted within the cavity of your wall.