Yeah, keeping the kids safe is #1. Dh bought a new shotgun a short time ago. Ds, age 7, was just fascinated with it. Kept going in the closet and bringing it out to show me. Well, we took him to the range. He fired it twice and now wants nothing more to do with it! LOL That wicked recoil scared him to death.
7 eh? Hope you didn’t scare him off permanently!!! LOL What caliber was it? Cause I know it will be a while before I let my little have a go on my .44 Ruger Redhawk...that thing kicks my butt after 20 rnds. LOL
My soon to be 7yr old has his own .410
Even some older “kids” aren’t used to the recoil. Brought my nephew (age 29 from Brazil) and another uncle (age 58 from Indonesia) of his to the sporting clays range with my Beretta 12 Ga. Over/Under. Neither has been around guns much. I kept showing them the proper way to hold the gun but they kept on letting the gun fall away from their shoulders and cheeks, thereby resulting in some good-sized black and blue marks (and a lot of misses).
if you just want to keep the kids out of them, a couple sheets of 3/4” plywood work well. slap ‘em together to make a cabinet. secure enough to keep out kids and 90% of burglars.
if you want truly inexpensive, a cable lock running thru the trigger guards of the guns and securely anchored to the wall will work. if nothing else, this method will keep them safe from the kids until you get a safe.