The Lockdown: Gun locks - unsafe at any caliber

Engaget ^ | 13 June 2007 | Marc Weber Tobias

[RKV]

Two years ago I published an alert on my site regarding the inherent insecurity of gun trigger locks in the hope that manufacturers would remove them from the market or modify their design to make them more child-proof. Although some manufacturers now produce a more secure model to meet statutory requirements in California, even some of these can be easily compromised. Essentially nothing has changed: many manufacturers continue to sell products that are poorly designed, the consequences of which can be fatal -- literally. Even the cable locks that are provided under a US Justice Department grant to law enforcement agencies through Project ChildSafe for free dissemination to gun owners are inadequate.

I hope that this article will once again place all gun owners on notice of the dangers stemming from any form of trigger or cable lock to protect a weapon from unauthorized use by anyone -- but most importantly children. Have you ever seen an untrained eleven year old demonstrate the removal of three of the most popular trigger locks on the market from a rifle in just a few seconds? You will today. Read on.

Video link at the original source shows how to defeat common gun locks with simple tools available to elementary students.

[RKV]

For discussion. Personally, I am against laws requiring the use of locks or other storage requirements for guns. Fortunately, the kids here at Casa RKV are old enough and gun safe (having been taught to shoot at age 8) to not require gun locks. Eddie Eagle made a video visit to our house even before that.

[Logophile]

Even if the locks were not so easily removed, they would still be unsafe. All of the locks shown in the video appear to pass through the trigger guard. Anyone attaching or removing such a lock would come perilously close to touching the trigger. I was taught never to touch the trigger except to fire the weapon.

[untrained skeptic]

I remember buying trigger locks at a gun store when I first started shooting. The guy at the store told me before he sold them to me that any teenager could get one off of a gun in a matter of minutes, and many younger kids could as well.

He said it might be better than nothing if the concern was small children, but suggested that some kind of gun safe was a much more secure way of storing them.

I was mainly concerned about my two young nieces getting their hands on my guns while visiting, so the trigger locks suited my purposes well enough.

No that they are older, I lock my guns up in a small gun safe any time they are over and running around my house.

[Poser]

A cable lock that goes through the barrel works quite nicely.

[Billthedrill]

Yes, that's been my experience as well. If they're of the press-it-together variety and you don't get them on very firmly they can move enough to pull the trigger. Of course, you should never use them on a loaded firearm at all, but if you do so inadvertently you've got a real potential problem on your hands.

I use a lockbox. It's quicker to get to the firearm than with a trigger lock and it's even more secure. And, you can keep the piece loaded. Much safer IMHO.

[LaineyDee]

having been taught to shoot at age 8

This is the way we were raised. There were no locks or gun cabinets. We had shotguns and rifles in the coat closet. I have no idea if they were loaded or not because we were never to touch them or handle them without adult supervision. It was just "understood".

Our family members have taught the grandkids how to shoot at 8yrs old(magic number)as well. They take great pride in telling you all the safety rules as they walk through the whole process. Parental involvement and education. Amazing how well some children adapt to that concept.

[SWO]

Let’s see, we mandate the sale of gun locks with the gun.
Mandate it even though we know they don’t work very well.
Eventually someone young gets hurt because of the false sense of safety the gun lock provides the adults
We help them sue the gun lock maker and the store.
That manufacturer quits making the locks, after all Master Lock has plenty of business without their gun lock side line.
Eventually the store quits selling guns too, because they can’t get insurance.
Next we mandate testing for the rest of the lock makers, and surprise they don’t work, those cheap Saturday night special locks you just read about. So now the newer model gun locks cost more and more.
Some portion of the population decides it is too much trouble to deal with all this and decides not to buy guns.



Daddy frog says, “Do you feel warm?’
Mrs. Frog replies, “No dear it’s just your imagination. I think the water is just fine today.”

And the beat goes on.
None of this is an issue if your children have been taught how to handle guns and shoot safely.

[untrained skeptic]

A cable lock that goes through the barrel works quite nicely.

Until they go down into my garage and grab the bolt cutter off of the wall.

A good education about not handling guns is the best defense. However, since these aren't my children, I can't dictate such an education to them.

A cable lock through the action is better than a trigger lock, but not really a lot better in my opinion.

I'm sure that if left unattended long enough, they could also get into my rather simple gun "safe" as well with tools from my garage. Nothing is perfect, but my little safe with a quick keypad for entry suits my needs well enough.

[Copernicus]

It is simply amazing how NOTHING, I mean NOTHING ever changes!

(From 2002)Link:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/646813/posts

Best regards,

[Jack Hammer]

The only effective trigger lock is the one between one’s ears.

[Poser]

I’ve got a safe from a bankrupt trucking company and I’m the only one who knows the combination. No problems yet.

[supercat]

A padlock sized to fit behind the trigger would seem a good solution on many guns. In some cases, MUCH better than a normal trigger lock.

On a New England Firearms single-shot shotgun, with a conventional trigger lock installed, someone could chamber a round and cock the hammer. It would not be possible to get the firearm out of Condition Zero without removing the trigger lock first. Flinch while doing that and KABOOM. By contrast, install a suitable padlock behind the trigger and the shotgun can’t be cocked.

[RKV]

Yep.

[RKV]

Yep. If my old man had caught me with my hands on any of our guns without his permission, I’d still be unable to sit on my backside from the whipping I’d have gotten. It just was not done.

[RKV]

Smart move accommodating little children visiting your house.

[ßuddaßudd]

Here in CA I had to prove ownership of a gunsafe and also purchase a cable lock when I bought my handguns. The folder-shotgun, no problemo..

[RKV]

Yep. I live in the PRK myself.

[ßuddaßudd]

I have a sign above my safe, "Beware of Gun Not in Safe"

[RKV]

Dude, that is FUNNY.

[andy58-in-nh]

Daddy frog says, “Do you feel warm?’ Mrs. Frog replies, “No dear it’s just your imagination. I think the water is just fine today.”

You've got that just right. No more than ten years ago, I would have thought you and I were being too cynical. No more. Increasingly, the Government exists to serve the interests of the Ignorant and the Lazy (and, might I add, the Illegal). What is the modern use of independent citizens who take responsibility for their own actions and their own primary defense? We demand little, and yet are held responsible for the random choices of others. So I guess the answer is that our political representation is now to be purchased at the price of our freedom, and we're supposed to sit back and accept it, regardless of that annoying little document upon whose face John Hancock's prominent signature yet rests.