Trigger Lock Warning

[langly]

Keloland News http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail4514.cfm?ID=22,36439
is reporting new (and some old) vulnerabilities associated with many major manufacturers of Trigger Locks.

[walrus]

A better option Tobias says, are cable locks. The kind often given away by law enforcement agencies. Better yet Tobias recommends keeping guns locked in a gun case or cabinet.

This is very true, I keep a cable lock on all of my guns (the guns they will fit on anyway), not only does it prevent the trigger from being pulled, but it disables the entire action from firing. they can scratch some of the finer finishes if you are not creful though. I do not trust the simple trigger locks as much as cable locks. Even if you have a trigger lock on the action can still be engaged if you drop it hard enough. That is if you keep them loaded of course, but this is very unsafe. I only keep one of mine loaded. but there are ways of keeping firearms loaded without them being able to fire. Safes and cases are nice if you have many guns, but most people even do this wrong and long term storage can cause rust, mold, etc. and what if you need to grab a gun in a hurry? you dont have time to open a safe.
Cable locks keep your firearms safe from children, but not from thieves and guys like us. You can fairly easily cut the cable with some bolt cutters, and I can pick most of mine open 30 seconds. I have even raked them open with a small master padlock key. ahh, the good ol' second ammendment.

[Exodus5000]

Don't lock manufacturers test their products for flaws like physical attacks? It seems to me that the Master company really dropped the ball on this one.

[Romstar]

Firearm trigger locks were designed and intended to protect children from the possibility of discharging a loaded firearm.

They are not now, nor were they EVER intended to defeat theives, or to be pick proof.

They are purely a safety measure, and anyone who says differently is simply trying to make an inherently weak product look better.

As a result, all of these locks are made in relatively inexpensive fashion. The results are locks which are easily broken or picked.

Romstar

[SFGOON]

Trigger locks Whatever happened to the safe?

[GA_LockIt]

Firearm trigger locks were designed and intended to protect children from the possibility of discharging a loaded firearm.

...stepping up onto my soapbox
As a shooting sports instructor for the Boy Scouts, I can tell you that the "locks" supplied for the air rifles that I have from one manufactor are plastic jokes. Another air rifle has "dual safeties" - which are worthless because it can fire without touching the trigger. It makes a great example that you can't trust a mechanical safety on a rifle.

Powder burners are a little bit better because we only let them load one cartridge at a time.

I constantly push safety first. Don't load it until you need to, always keep it pointed in a safe direction, keep your finger off the trigger until you are pointed at the target.
.... I'm finished now - you can go back to your regular scheduled programming.

Ben

[Grudge]

Mark Tobias sells ($3) a complete report on these gun lock vulnerabilities on security.org (not affiliated, just a satisfied customer).

[Varjeal]

I was just going to say, screw gun locks, how about being responsible and instead spend the money on educating people (especially children) on the SAFE use of firearms?

[langly]

Clearly education is critical! As is awareness. Tobias' report details one lock, The DAC Trigger Lock, that is merely a screw locking mechanism, nothing more. Bypass was accomplished with a drinking straw! These are the locks that most consumers come across at Walmart, K-Mart, etc.

[hung82000]

Agreed. If you're going to keep weapons in your house, and I'm not just limiting that to guns, you should teach any children that live there to respect the weapons, and how to handle them safely. Ammo for guns should be kept somewhere a child can't access. And if you're going to use any kind of lock, then I would suggest not teaching your child how to pick locks!

[Pickey]

Don't lock manufacturers test their products for flaws like physical attacks? It seems to me that the Master company really dropped the ball on this one.

When has Master ever been reliable?
lol just kidding

[CaptHook]

And bear in mind also, alot of the firearms manufacturers are supplying the lock as a "compliance" deal with some states laws and regulations. So they are not going to get American, or Medeco to put up a bid for their cable locks, they will go with the cheapest piece of crap they can find until someone calls it to their attention that they can be rapped against a table and opened...... its happened several times.
Chuck

[hzatorsk]

I was just going to say, screw gun locks, how about being responsible and instead spend the money on educating people (especially children) on the SAFE use of firearms?

I could not agree more.

Trigger locks also create a false sense of security and prevent ready access to a firearm when needed. I discourage their use and rigorously fight legislation mandating them.

A young child holding a firearm (with or without a trigger lock) shows an incredible lack of responsibility on the part of the adult/owner. It is too late should a child get this far.

[Pickey]

Educating children on safe use of firearms wouldnt always get through to them. Most kids are too young right or wrong, good or bad, etc. So when you tell a kid "guns are bad, you should always be very careful with them or you might hurt somebody", they wouldnt exactly get it into their minds right away.
And you also have to keep in mind that just about every kid watches cartoons and they see characters shooting each other with huge cannons and the only result is that the character turns black (from the gun powder or something?) and this could create a false sense of realism about what happens in these situations.

Im not saying your wrong or anything, i do agree that gun locks are pointless and it probably would be better to educate people on safe gun use, but how would they go about doing that?
I can guarantee that they wouldn't implement a gun safety class in public schools
They may be able to create gun safety classes that you can attend elsewhere, but i highly doubt that all parents are going to want to send their kids to these classes.

[jfreaksho]

I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who wanted to teach marksmanship in schools. Elementary schools, that is.
Trigger locks are unnecessary with good training of children.
J.