Safe Storage Tips for Handguns: A Texas CCW Instructor’s Guide
As a Texas and Utah Concealed Carry firearms instructor, I meet many students who come to my Texas CCW classes eager to learn about carrying responsibly; I can often read the discomfort on some faces at the thought of bringing a firearm into the home for the first time. This is especially true when they have children in the home and for good reason. Carrying a firearm is more than just passing a shooting handgun proficiency qualification or applying for a Concealed Carry Permit Texas; it’s about understanding your responsibility to keep your handgun secure when it’s not on your body. Safe storage is one of the most important topics we cover in any Texas CCW training, because how you secure your firearm directly affects the safety of your household, your community, and your legal liability.
Why Safe Storage Matters
Owning a handgun comes with serious responsibilities. When you complete your Concealed Carry Permit Texas course, you’re taught that safe handling and storage prevent tragic accidents, theft, and unauthorized access from usually children but also restricted persons living in the home with us. Firearms falling into the wrong hands—whether it’s children, guests, or criminals—can have tragic consequences. A few years back, two Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies were shot in the face by a homeless man that had a stolen gun on him. Investigators learned after the shooting that the Glock 19 used by the suspect had been stolen from a car burglary days before the shooting. Let me ask you a question; How old does a child need to be, to be able to successfully pull the trigger on a handgun? How about 18 months, yes, that is the youngest documented case I have heard of. That’s why in every Texas CCW class, I stress that responsible ownership continues after you leave the range. Not only is it prudent to do so for the above reasons; there can be criminal liability, if a child obtains access to your handgun and harms a person with it.
Practical Safe Storage Tips
Here are key tips every Concealed Carry Permit Texas holder and every Texas CCW student should practice:
1. Use a Quality Gun Safe
Investing in a durable gun safe ensures your handgun is locked away when not carried. Safes range from small quick-access models for bedside security to larger safes for multiple firearms. Every Texas CCW owner should have at least one. These safes can be costly, usually well over 1000.00 for a good one, with inside hinges, and some degree of fire rating on them.
2. Consider Quick-Access Lock Boxes
If you keep a defensive handgun at home, you need speed and safety. Quick-access lock boxes allow you to retrieve your firearm quickly while still securing it from children and unauthorized hands. As I remind students in a Concealed Carry Permit Texas class, speed without safety isn’t responsible gun ownership. My favorite lock boxes have both a keypad entry option AND a biometric print option, with ALWAYS, a backup key, in the event batteries give out. There is no perfect option, for example, biometric access can fail if there is moisture on the hands, sometimes others can try long enough and get a box to open with prints that were not programmed in it. Keypad batteries can die, which results in needing a key, and KEYS can easily be found by determined children, keys are hard to use in an adrenaline response, find motor skills would be diminished in a stressful situation like a break in. Just choose what’s right for your family situation. As a Concealed Carry Instructor, I always tell students, that IF they have ANY children in their home, whether they are theirs or someone elses, they MUST have a a gun safe of some kind.
3. Trigger and Cable locks-
This is my least favorite, but gun makers will include one with the purchase of your handgun, and police often will give them out for free. Again, KEYS can be lost, and these cables can easily be cut, BUT they are better than nothing if this is all you have on hand. This is a point we cover in detail in Texas CCW training, since traveling improperly with a firearm can lead to serious legal trouble.
4. Store Ammunition Separately
Although not always required by law, storing ammunition separately is another smart habit. For Concealed Carry Permit Texas holders, this practice reduces the risk of accidental discharge if unauthorized access occurs but again, discretion here, depending on your living situation, KIDS. Also, NEVER practice loading your handgun at home with live ammunition! I receive too many phone calls from gun owners that have accidental discharges in their homes, resulting from a visit by the cops! You can buy a 10 pack of dummy rounds on Amazon for 15.00!
A true story from a High School Teacher that had an accidental discharge in his gun and was arrested
In 2025, I received a phone call from a high school teacher, he said he was ordered by a Judge to attend a gun safely class. I replied, (as I often do) Tell me what happened.
The teacher brought his first handgun home, read his owner’s manual, (great, most people don’t read them) and wanted to practice loading the handgun. After loading the handgun, and without any training, he took out the magazine, and wanted to dry-fire it, pulled the trigger and a round went into the apartment wall and landed into the neighbor’s apartment! The teacher did the right thing and immediately notified the office, (after unsuccessfully finding anyone answering the door at the neighbors apartment. The police later arrested him and the Judge sentenced the man to pay a 500.00 fine and to take a 250.00 8-hour gun safety and shooting course!
5. Educate Your Family
Storage is not just about devices—it’s about education. Every Texas CCW class encourages gun owners to have honest conversations with their families about firearm safety. A well-informed household is a safer household.
Final Thoughts- I am seeing a trend in recent years for Judges to send untrained gun owners to gun safety classes and pay hefty fines at minimum. GET training on your handgun.
Whether you are pursuing your Concealed Carry Permit Texas or already licensed under Texas CCW, safe storage is non-negotiable. Firearms ownership is a right, but it also carries immense responsibility. By practicing smart storage—using safes, locks, and proper education—you not only protect your loved ones, you also demonstrate the discipline expected of every responsible gun owner.
If you’re considering applying for a Concealed Carry Permit Texas or want to learn more about safe firearm practices, enroll in a Texas CCW class near you. As instructors, we’re here to help you become not just a gun owner, but a safe and responsible protector of your community.
Take our Texas LTC online course today by going here https://gunclassutah.com/
You can take our online course, or request an in-person class to your home or office.
The author of this blog Phil Snyder is a Texas and Utah Certified Concealed Carry Instructor, and is a retired Unified Police Officer.