locksmithing license

[poppasmurfenfold]

ok there are alot of posts on this but none of them were any help to me so to all licensed locksmiths how did you get licensed and how can i get licensed when there isnt a school in my state...... if i took an online course would i actually be licensed or is that a rip off...if anyone has gotten a real locksmithing license online then did it turn out real and if so would you email me or post the website you got certified on

please.......

[poppasmurfenfold]

i accidently posted this twice please remove this one
sorry and thank you

[jimb]

ok there are alot of posts on this but none of them were any help to me so to all licensed locksmiths how did you get licensed and how can i get licensed when there isnt a school in my state...... if i took an online course would i actually be licensed or is that a rip off...if anyone has gotten a real locksmithing license online then did it turn out real and if so would you email me or post the website you got certified on

please.......

You won't get a license online. you can get certified, but that's not a license. Check you local and state laws. Most only require a business license others require you to have a locksmith license.

[ComTech]

It depends on your state. In North Carolina, the state has a license board, which administers the locksmith test. The test is written for someone who has at least one year apprenticeship training. They also sell a study guide with general guidelines for the test. It would be hard to study the book and pass the test. They don't have specific test questions in the study guide, just general areas that you should know. You also have to pass background checks before you can take the test.

[Shrub]

i accidently posted this twice please remove this one
sorry and thank you

I cant find your first one so leave this also it has some good answers so its a waste to remove it,

[Eyes_Only]

Are you planning to open your own locksmith business?

[New-York-Locksmith]

It depends on your state. In North Carolina, the state has a license board, which administers the locksmith test. The test is written for someone who has at least one year apprenticeship training. They also sell a study guide with general guidelines for the test. It would be hard to study the book and pass the test. They don't have specific test questions in the study guide, just general areas that you should know. You also have to pass background checks before you can take the test.

Yeah I agree that you have to pass the locksmith test from the state licence board

[Eyes_Only]

So there really is such a thing as a test for a locksmith license? I don't think they have one here in California.

[Raccoon]

North Carolina is really ahead of the game when it comes to educating and licensing. Though I don't fully agree with how it's set up, it has some pros and some cons.

California, Illinois, and New York NY also have a licensing board, but the criteria is primarily money, and not based as much on education or background. This is why I am fervently against licensing in general-- license boards are unregulated (how funny is that-- someone should start a licensing license).

As answered above, in most states, you simply walk down to Village Hall and apply for a business license and tax forms. Speak to your local bank's business banker, and a certified public accountant for more information.

[globallockytoo]

Unfortunatley Raccoon's synopses is generally correct. Texas has the tightest licensing laws for locksmiths in the US and also the most enforcement.

There are currently 9 licensed states in the US with another 16 that are planning to enact legislation.

As far as I am aware MS has no requirement, but if there is any intention of doing work in surrounding states, you need to be licensed in LA, TN, ARK i think.

The other problem that exists is that the licensed operators from other states can work unencumbered in non-licensed states pilfering work from local locksmiths while their own back-yard is protected.

This, in my opinion is why national licensing is so important.

Example....If I lived in East St Louis, IL, I would require a locksmith license to work in any part of St Louis, IL but I could cross the Mississippi and work unlicensed in St Louis, Missouri.

[lockpick1968]

I think alot of changes will be made for the different states for the locksmithing industry but not for the good benefits to help us out and the ones wanting to become a locksmith.

Always have that gut feeling they are going to drop something that is gonna be totally rediculous to even have or keep a locksmith license at all.

If and when they do this, then we they get locked out, then let them figure out how to get back in...LOL

[Raccoon]

I don't see any benefits in National licensing either; nay, they'd be even further removed from any realistic need.

Sorry, but I'm not paying anyone $900 a year to operate as a locksmith. You realize that many of the nation's best locksmiths are men in their 60's who remember when pin-tumbler locks were new fangal contraptions and cut bit keys by hand. They would be lost to us if any such crapola were enforced-- leaving only the rich crooks who can afford it.

[globallockytoo]

I sympathise with your opinion, Raccoon. However, I dont believe national licensing would be anywhere near the amount you aniticipate. Whereas, you say, the majority of locksmiths may be 60+, is probably the biggest disadvantage in fostering growth of the locksmith industry in the United States. Also the fact remains that the locksmith business tends to draw it's new businessmen from the ranks of the recently retired. This does not bode too well for the future of advancement of the industry in the United States.

Yes, the "retirees" may not want to pay for licensing...but at the same time this might open the industry to true professionals who care more about providing locksmith services that truly benefit society than just as a business that supports some retirees or "wannabe" locksmiths.

Many other countries including Australia, UK, Germany, Finland, Norway, NZ and others...tend to look upon locksmiths as legitimate companies rather than a spent force of misfits from other professions, in my opinion.

The trouble is that locksmithing is far too easy a trade to get into...unlike computers or chemistry...where indepth study may be required to become proficient to enable practise. Licensing will help to encourage "true" professionals to earn a quid from the training they take, unlike the lack of training that is currently required to call yourself a locksmith virtually anywhere, in the USA.

My point is, that there are a number of "so called" locksmiths who realistically should not be practising the trade. There is nothing wrong with hobbyists. They in fact, help the trader in some ways, by generally requesting and requiring explicit information that may perhaps help the trade in many and varied ways. (this is a major step away from my previous thinking and attitude to hobbyists).

National Licensing might help to increase business for you, the locksmith, who would benefit from the regulation of tools and equipment designed to help the marketplace become more secure in their own homes and businesses.

[acestor]

Physicians took well over a hundred years to get licensing in place. Anyone could call themselves a physician in the 19th century, a few graduated from the medical schools of the time (most were diploma mills), most learned as apprentices, some didn't even do that much. The change came in the early 20th century as many medical schools were found to be inadequate (after publishing of a national report) and were closed, physicians gathered together to drive out the fakes, and lobbied in the states for licensing. One by one, each state enacted licensing.

Today, medical licensing is regulated by the states. The only national licensing if for the license to dispense controlled substances (narcotics) as these are controlled by federal law. Licensing in each of the states requires completion of approved schooling, passing of a state test, and when the license is renewed, proof that the applicant has kept up on continuing medical education. If a physician is licensed in one state, he or she cannot practice in another without first applying to that states licensing board. Most of the time this is a mere formality (and payment of a fee) but a few states (for example Florida) are more fussy (they don't want semi-retiring physicians coming to Florida and taking business away from the natives). CPA's, I believe nursing, and others follow a similar pattern. The point is, as far as I know, none of the professions have a national license. Once a majority of the states license a profession then, with inducement, the other will follow.
For locksmithing, it needs to become a profession or at least a trade such as plumbers and electricians - defined as one that requires an approved education or approved apprenticeship, has regulatory boards and organizations that are politically active, possibly adding postnominals to the name, i.e. John Smith, CL (certified locksmith) with the postnominals granted after completion of a test, education requirements etc.

Considering the security concerns today in this country, I would suspect that defining locksmithing as a profession would be possible, but they would first need to organize.

[Raccoon]

Don't forget, that today it's so hard to find an honest doctor who doesn't charge, literally, an arm and a leg.

BTW, I'm sure everyone here is aware that I became a locksmith almost purely off of knowledge from this forum (and help from people on this forum). I never attended a classroom setting or training seminar. All the information is out there, and I have decades of construction and mechanical knowledge under my belt, so picking up the trade was no biggie to me. What's more, because everything is so readily available on the internet, I've even taught a thing or two to the 60+ locksmiths in my local circles. Just the bumpkey heads-up was enough to earn me recognition-- people say locksmiths knew about this for years, but most really didn't-- I demonstrated it 8 months before the first news article went to print, and now it's a house hold phrase.

I consider myself one of the few, truly honest, and community oriented locksmiths that the state of New Mexico (and perhaps anywhere) really has. Almost 2 years into the game, and my reputation has spread to cities I've never even visited, because I know who to refer to and who not. I even busted open the identities of "local locksmiths" that belong to that New York scam group-- "Dependable Locksmiths". The other night, I helped a woman at around 3am who was 250 miles away, because she couldn't find anyone awake. Just the simple act of answering the phone and logging onto Google Maps saved her life. I don't even know how the Police in that town found my number to give to her.


Going back-- if I had to make a conscious decision to get into locksmithing via training and licensing before being able to get access to locksmithing tools, knowledge, and work... I would never have made that investment. I suggest someone first regulate the regulators before worrying about how I got into play.