FOX reran the episode of Family Guy last Sunday. The gist of it is that Brian and Stewie gets trapped in a bank vault.
When I rewatched it, I noticed that it was odd that Brian had a guy in his safety deposite box. Would banks let you do that? Or am I to assume he brought the gun into the bank without telling anyone and put it in his deposite box?
AFAIK the bank doesn’t know or necessarily care what you put in your SDB. YMMV, but in my experience you buy/ask to get into your box, then are escorted back to the vault so you and the bank employee can use the keys to retrieve the box, then either the employee leaves or you are escorted to a small private room. Unless you open the box in a bank employee’s presence, they shouldn’t ever know what’s in it.
I think the presumption is that he brought the gun into the bank without notifying anyone and put it in the safety deposit box. The bank does not look to see what you are putting in your box as that is a private matter. Is it illegal? I would say that depends on the gun and the state law. Let’s assume it is registered to him, it is legal to own in Rhode Island, or that he has a curio and relic license for it (if it applies), or that it is an antique (1899 or before - it was a revolver as I recall). That eliminates the ownership issue. If we assume he has a concealed carry permit, that probably even gets you around the issue of bringing the loaded gun into the bank as the cop, security guard, private investigator, soldiers, and others could do in some circumstances. Even without the permit, he could still probably bring the gun in empty with ammo and store both in the safety deposit box.
I would be curious if anyone does store guns in their safety deposit box on this board.
I think that is very unlikely indeed.
There is generally not a reason to do it, but I can’t see what law would be broken. Admittedly, if the bank employees saw the gun when you brought it in, you might get in trouble for carrying the gun into the bank, but not for putting it into the box. The bank has no interest in what’s in your box and the law would only be interested if they thought the contents had something to do with a crime, when they can get a search warrant.
A gun in the box is harmless. It’s also pointless to use it as a weapon in some sort of bank robbery scheme, since they now have your name and address.
In my State there is no law preventing having a gun in a safe deposit box, and the agreement I signed with the bank does not mention firearms (although it does have a blanket statement of not storing “hazardous” items, which I suppose they are free to interpret as anything from an antique hatpin to TNT). Given the fact I can and do legally carry my concealed handgun into banks, and the fact that criminals don’t obey anti-gun laws or business regulations in the first place, there’s no real tangible advantage to a bank trying to ban storing a gun in a safe deposit box.
And as people have posted, no one from the bank witnesses what goes into or out of your safe deposit box.
I think the bigger issue is whether dogs are typically allowed to carry guns.
It doesnt look like a “guy” to me… it looks more like a “gub” or a “gun”.
As far as guns in safety deposit boxes, it is quite common to keep expensive handguns in bank vaults if you have really expensive collector handguns.
I think you should keep them unloaded when stored in the box.
Nobody is going to know about a gun in a box unless somebody else opens it up, e.t., if you die, or if they government issues an order to not let anyone open their boxers unless a government official is present to see what you have in there( e.g. like they did back in 1933 when gold was outlawed)
Wait, now the government is my underwear? When did that happen?
Bananas (1971)
I kept a valuable firearm in a safe deposit box for a time. Not loaded of course. I carefully looked at the rental agreement and found nothing that prohibited it. And there are no laws against it in this state either.
I keep a Colt SAA in mine wrapped in a special wrap. There is nothing illegal about it.
It’s badass to have a gun in your safe deposit box. If someone is making you open it under duress, you now have a weapon they didn’t know about.
In my experience some banks request that certain items not be stored in their deposit boxes (cash for example - they’d rather have that in your account) but they know that everyone does it and they turn a blind eye.
Some new banks are being built with a metal detector being built into the entrance way. (Generally concealed; they don’t want to alarm the customers by making them think of guns & robbery in connection with their bank.)
So when you carried the gun into the bank to put it into the safe deposit box, you might set off an alarm, and suddenly have people pointing guns (real, working types, not antique or collector ones) at you.
My bank (well, credit union) has an ‘airlock’ type metal detector built into the entrance way. The second door doesn’t unlock until you ‘pass’, at which time the first door is locked. Another double set of doors lets you out. (I assume you get stuck between the two if you have just robbed them… 
If this is true it’s an incredibly stupid idea. First off, the amount of metal objects carried in the average purse might be close to, or in some cases easily greater than, enough to the metal in my CC handgun (let alone the level of jewelry some women wear). Second, anyone carrying in more than a few rolls of pennies would be about as likely to set it off as anyone else. Third, uniformed security guards very often enter banks to make deposits and transact business. Fourth, better not have a steel hip, or a walker, or a cane, or a stroller…I mean, are they doing a full airport security portal thing? Are they actually wanding customers and treating them like the TSA does?
So you describe a bank which likely has an alarm going off every 5 minutes or so throughout the entire day. I would reckon a bank branch like that wouldn’t stay in business too long.
I believe current ‘metal detectors’ are designed to reduce such false alarms. The metal used in jewelery (or in coins) is different than gunmetal. Some of the modern detectors can actually identify the shape of the metal, making it pretty easy to pick out a gun.
And the only time I have seen an armed security guard coming into my local bank branch, he was standing out in the parking lot talking to someone inside on a cell phone – then the bank guard met him at the door and escorted him inside and into a back room. Armed guards don’t seem to just walk in unexpected. (That would seem to make it real easy for bank robbers – just rent a security guard uniform, and walk into the bank wearing your gun.)
Where you live must be a very different place from anyplace I’ve ever lived. Do you live in the United States?
I have doubts about the reliability of a metal detector to reliably work in the way you say.
My sister worked at a bank for several years. Armed guards came into her bank scores of times per day. This also doesn’t answer the issue of what happens with lawful, legal CCW holders, or police detectives. Finally, it really doesn’t answer the question of why a criminal gives a shit about a metal detector or a uniform. Most bank robberies are fast, cheap, and out of control. The person walks in the front door, strides up to the counter, says “give me money” while maybe or maybe not showing any weapon, the teller gives a bag which may or may not have a dye pack in it, and off they go. I see the video every week on the news of just that scenario.
The average person is too stupid to realize this.
Also, the average person just can not comprehend that criminals/bank robbers also do not pay any attention to your silly little gun control laws either.