How to start

[ARCTICSTORM]

Im 14 but want to get a summer apprentice ship fo either gun smithing or locksmithing. Im more twards locksmithing but need to know the age requirements for maryland i cant find them anywhere on google.

[fsdhy]

Since no one else is replying, I'll do my best.

Fourteen is WAY too young. I would NOT trust a 14 year old with most of the keys that a locksmith has acess to. Let alone firearms...

Try going into your local locksmith shop 4 years down the road. As far as "gunsmithing", join the army if thats your thing.

[keysman]

The best thing to keep in mind is how to make yourself an asset to your employer.

Your potential employer will be asking himself “ What do you bring to my business”

Be prepared to answer these questions:

Do you have mechanical skills ?
Do you have any experience at all ?
Have you shown an interest in Locksmithing on your own ? Like taking the Foley Belsaw or similar course .
Do you have the basic hand tools to start work today.?

Are you willing to do the “crap work “ like sweeping the shop , washing the Vans, or digging the holes ( busting out concrete) to install safes ?


You may want to see if someone here or maybe e-bay will sell you a locksmith course.. New or used .. this is the best way to at least have an Idea of what is involved in the job.
You will need to complete the basic course before you can even THINK of asking for work or an apprenticeship.


Visit your local locksmith and ask questions . he may have some basic tools he will be willing to sell you . He may even have a big job working that needs some “ grunt labor”

Most people will be willing to help someone who is showing some effort to help them selves.
I don’t know Maryland laws , but there is a national child labor law, that restricts the hours you can work and the types of work you can do, how this applies to locksmithing , I don’t know .

[ARCTICSTORM]

for gunsmithing im going to get in touch with my local free masons. joining the army does not teach how to gun smith but to maintain a rifle that is widely produced which i already know.

Anyway im going to go to my local locksmith though and see if he would give me some grunt work thanks Keysman

[ARCTICSTORM]

o and you don’t trust 14 year olds with fire arms tell yah now ive got a 12 ga in my name and a .22 cal rifle im not a moron that sits on my couch and plays with it. i hate liberal jerks that want to take away my rights. i know how to handle a fire arm and how to treat it im getting my apprentice license to teach basic shotgun courses

[fsdhy]

o and you don’t trust 14 year olds with fire arms tell yah now ive got a 12 ga in my name and a .22 cal rifle im not a moron that sits on my couch and plays with it. i hate liberal jerks that want to take away my rights. i know how to handle a fire arm and how to treat it im getting my apprentice license to teach basic shotgun courses

calm down son. you can't go around flipping out at everything you hear if you are going to be dealing with the public like a locksmith/gunsmith does. you have some maturing to do.

you ASSumed I was a liberal. actually, I spent 4 years in the reserves and I'm a gun nut. I own a Remington 700P in .380 Win w/ 4200 Bushnell. An Arms East Stag-15 (aka AR-15) with a 20" barrel and detachable carry handle, iron sights (for now). I've also got a Sig CQB pre-ordered that should be here within 10 days. I also own an HK USP Expert in .45 for IPSC shooting (with which I have taken part in several competitions) and I still have the first gun I ever owned, a Berreta 92FS.

Just because I wouldn't let MY 14yr old handle a lethal weapon doesn't mean everyone out there will feel the same. If I had a sun, he wouldn't be shooting at 14. When he's old enough to join the reserves, then he's old enough to shoot. My father is a retired cop with a 12(6) license. He loved shooting, but he never let me handle a gun until I joined the reserves and proved I was mature enough to do so. Just because its legal for you americans to handle guns at 5 years old, doesn't mean its right (as far as I'm concerned).

Calm down guy.

[ARCTICSTORM]

I believe that as long as the person takes a firearm safety course and passes with a 90% or higher should be able to use a firearm. Which I did. I am a smart person I’m enrolled in all the highest classes at my school. My school is the only school in the U.S. that is starting a homeland security project that consists of all three programs I am enrolled in the law enforcement category I will be an intern with the FBI or ATF when I’m 17 provided I pass. I've never pointed a gun at something I did not intend to shoot.

[ARCTICSTORM]

Im sorry for my reaction but when ever someone dislikes something i like to do I'm ready to debate. Thats why im passing government with flying colors. I like to give a good argument.

[Dooms_day]

im also 14 and interested in locksmithing, and crazily, also in maryland. montgomery county, where are you? all my other friends work at grocery stores and pizza parlors...i thought it would be cool to have a job as a locksmith. i can get a locksmith course and i have all the tools that a normal american has in his garage, (hammer, nails, file, screwdriver...) i have a small lockpicking set with tools i made on my own like a snap gun and some padlock shims.

i would be willing to do gruntwork if i was learning something about locks or discounts on tools because 80 bucks for a tubular lockpick is insane for my broke age.

do you need money to start out? because i have none, all i can get is a locksmith course and use my room's lock whic is just a kwick 5 pin tumbler.

i dont exactly have a specialized locksmith, but i know two hardware stores that offer that service so is that where i ask for a job?

thats all the questions i have exept how muc i would be paid, maybe like minumum wage or a little higher to start out?

thanks,

[Dooms_day]

sorry for the double post but there is no edit button

i read the list of tools on the sticky and i actualy have all of them in my garage, just none of the locksmith stuff like pin kits, electric picks and the expensive key cutters...

i also have alot of mechanical and even electrical expirience and can fix/build alot of the things around you, (obviously not computers, unless i buy all the parts) i know alot about physics and can figure out how most things work. i am a good problem solver because as a freshman in a programming class that has seniors, i can finish before all of them. so i have been interested in stuff like this for a while and would make a good employee.

this is all stuff i would put in my resume i guess?

as for maryland i found out the minimum age is 14 as long as the place of empoyment allows that age...

hope that helps arcticstorm and im welcome for any comments

[ARCTICSTORM]

im in harford. im going to go by a gun shop today and see if i can get an apprenticeship any where if not i just got the address for my local locksmith and im going to see if i can a job there.