Our topic today is aimed at all gun owners with the question:

DO I HAVE TO ANCHOR MY GUN SAFE?

Due to strict legal requirements for gun ownership in Germany, there is often an opportunism among those affected that frequently prevents an objective discussion. The emotional discussion about where something can be found explicitly in the legal text, and then why someone does not want to or cannot do something, does not lead to a clear legal result, neither for the user nor for the authorities, who have recently been increasingly leaning on the friendly recommendations of the advisory brochure cited below.

A ruling, such as the one recently made by the Higher Administrative Court in Münster on the question of correct key storage, does not (yet) exist for this question, and there are also no specific regulations in legal texts, which is precisely what enables these discussions.

The result is the conclusion: you alone are responsible for your concept of secure storage of your weapons. However, the brochure from the "Police Crime Prevention of the States and the Federal Government" (police advisory centers), issue 04/2025, which is freely available as a recommendation for gun owners throughout Germany and which many local gun authorities use as a guide, contains the following wording on this question, quote:

"Safes under 1000 kg according to DIN EN 1143-1 are pre-equipped for anchoring. Therefore, the police recommend anchoring according to the manufacturer's instructions. The assembly instructions and processing instructions for the fastening material must be observed. The goal should be a fastening that can withstand a tensile load of 10 kN (equivalent to approx. 1000 kg), e.g., also with adhesive fastening using injection mortar."

For the items we offer, in consultation with the manufacturers of the gun safes, the following applies:

Our offered items are pre-equipped with mounting holes. The type and number may vary and can be found in the item description.

Our respective manufacturers supply fastening material that corresponds in type, number, and effectiveness to the tested design and its security concept, and when professionally and completely anchored with this fastening material, the certified resistance grade is guaranteed. If, for example, there are six anchoring holes in the safe and four fastening materials, it is sufficient to anchor the safe with the four fastening bolts at four anchoring points of your choice. A clear statement from our manufacturers after consultation with the respective certification bodies: anchoring is also part of the security concept, and if anchoring is not carried out, the stated resistance grade is not achieved.

If you use other fastening material due to local conditions, you are responsible for proving that this fastening material is at least equivalent to the supplied fastening material, whereby the aforementioned statement from the police advisory brochure already allows arguments regarding chemical variants.

 

FAQ Gun safe mounting:

Why anchor it? Surely no one can carry away a 200 kg gun safe?

Even if you yourself might not be able to do it, there are video surveillance documentations that prove that even safes weighing well over 500 kg have been carried away and loaded within a few minutes by just two strong men. Anchoring prevents or at least makes such an undertaking more difficult; perpetrators are more likely to give up when faced with resistance.

But I only have to anchor gun safes under 200 kg, right?

This regulation applied to gun safes of security levels A and B according to VDMA 24992, which used to be mandatory for weapon storage. Since the introduction of the amended weapons law in 2017, these models are only permitted for existing stock, and these regulations naturally continue to apply to existing stock. The often-cited general storage regulations, which many federal states still follow, were last updated in 2012. Therefore, they contain regulations that are not applicable to the safes currently required according to EN 1143-1. There is a need for legislators to catch up here.

I cannot anchor the gun safe due to underfloor heating. What should I do?

If your safe only offers floor anchoring options, these must be used. In this respect, it is important to include this aspect early in the purchase planning and, if necessary, to choose a model that is alternatively also pre-equipped with rear wall drillings and can be attached to the wall. Otherwise: a good aid is, for example, a thermal imaging camera, which can be borrowed briefly from some heating companies and which helps to determine the course of the heating pipes so that they are not drilled into. Many users swear by full-surface bonding, but there are concerns here that the bonded floor coverings can be detached from the subfloor with far less force than solid steel anchors.

I don't want to drill into the parquet/tiles to anchor the gun safe. What can I do?

Choose a suitable model with rear wall anchoring options.

Can I simply drill through the rear wall of a certified gun safe myself to add further mounting points?

No, this would be an unauthorized modification, as it is a significant deviation from the tested design. This immediately leads to the certification expiring, even if you do not remove the plaque from the safe. Such a safe would subsequently be worthless to you, as you would then be storing the weapons in a non-certified gun safe, which leads to the revocation of your firearms license.

However, in many cases, it is possible to have certified safes equipped with additional drillings in addition to the standard drillings, which can then be used equally in place of the standard drillings. These additional drillings are available for an additional charge depending on the model; please contact us if required.

I cannot anchor the gun safe in the rear wall, e.g., due to plasterboard. It won't hold. What can I do?

Light partition walls are not suitable for secure anchoring, because the wall is simply too unstable. In this case, only floor anchoring or choosing another location helps.

But I don't have another location for my gun safe! What can I do?

Please consult with your responsible firearms authority and discuss the circumstances, because only your firearms authority can, for example, agree on special solutions with you within the scope of an on-site inspection, which may also include different security devices such as the installation of an alarm system as a prerequisite.

I have a gun safe that is not from you. Do your statements also apply to such safes?

Our advice regularly applies to our products. For questions about third-party products, please contact the manufacturer/distributor of your product and ask for clear and verifiable answers to your questions.