Storing of Long Arms By Officer Steve Berdrow Burbank Police Department

We have seen these long arms stored on shelves, in barrels or shopping carts, or simply stacked in a comer.  They were not well protected, and trying to find that particular item for court was not easy.  We have also seen them stored in boxes which are then stacked flat on shelves.  This isn't too bad, except when you need the one towards the bottom of the stack.

An idea that we liked and borrowed from the Ventura (CA) Police Department is a simple wooden box with the weapons stored vertically. The box is divided into sections and the guns are held in place by hard wood dowels that are glued into the dividers and the front and back panels.  See the accompanying photo and drawing. 

This box can be made with plywood or particle board, painted, covered with plastic laminate, or left natural.  The dimensions are not critical, so it can be made to fit in almost any available space.  We put ours right under our handgun shelves, keeping all firearms in one place.

We attach our Property Tag to the barrel end with a wire tie or rubber band and store them in Tag Number order.  That way everything is visible, protected, and easily retrieved.  If you get a rifle or shotgun with blood on it, put it in one of Evi-Paq's rifle boxes and store it in the same manner.  Don't forget to use those bio-hazard stickers!

A lot of agencies like the idea of using rifle boxes for all of their long arms storage because of their added protection.  If you store the boxes properly, they work well also.  Store them on edge on shelves, and adjust the shelving space to just fit the boxes.  That way you do not waste space, and because they are not stacked upon each other, you do you have to move other boxes to get to the one you want.  Also make sure that your aisle is wide enough to handle the extra length as you slide the boxes in or out of the shelves.