I hope this is in the right forum.  If not, mea culpa.

Is there a difference between a regular safe and a gun safe other than shape and shelving.  Is there some magic w/ the gun safe that will keep the guns from rusting (I heard a horror story about someone keeping their guns in a regular safe and them rusting).

thanks

I'm not trying to make you feel dumb so dont flame me. A gun safe is generally tall enough to hold rifles and shotguns. The racks have cut out's to hold the stocks or barrels. Most are nicely carpeted to protect the finish of the weapons. Good ones are fireproof. They also generally have adjustable shelves for ammo and accesories.Safes can draw or trap humidity. A golden rod which is an electric device that dehumidifies or a large bag of silica dessicant will stop that. Regular safes are almost always smaller and are for documents etc. although one would be perfectly servicable for pistol use. The interior finish wouldn't matter if the pistols were cased. Most safes for common valuables can also be purchased with fireproofing. In any type of safe fireproofing costs extra.A good safe for common items would also have a good locking system such as that found on high quality gunsafes if a good enough model is purchased. The major drawback in my opinion for a common safe is that they are usually snall and though they may be heavy could easily be stolen and opened at a later date. Gun safes are usually very heavy and have the ability to be bolted to the floor. Hope that clears things up. I'm not trying to offend just was going from the standpoint of you having no idea of the differences.

No offense taken.  I know remarkably little about gun safes.

So how does your typical gun safe handle humidity?  Is there something to dry it out or does it breathe somehow?

You typically have to add moisture contol to a safe.  The two easiest ways are to add containers of silica gel or a small heater known as a goldenrod.  You can buy both at gun shops, Cabelas, etc.  I hope this helps.....