Gun Locks looking for opinions

[swedishfish]

Hello,
I am a newcomer to gunownership. When I bought my shotgun ( moss 500) new it of course came with a lock. At the time I really didnt think much of it. I have kids in the house etc so I thought it made sense. BUT... its a crappy lock. It takes some fiddlin' to get it open and the whole idea of trying to find a key in the middle of the night to shoot wouldbe robbers seemed problematic with a lock in general. I have since purchased a used .22 rifle and am considering a .45 SW.

Question: Are there better locks that will open easier?

Question: Are locks even a good idea for home protection?

Idea: What if I kept ammo in a push button (keypad) safe and the guns without trigger locks?

[Dawgus]

Exactly why I never liked trigger locks on a home defense weapon. Trying to fumble around with a keyed lock half asleep in the dark would be a nightmare, plus you have to have the key handy while trying to keep it out of kids hands. (what if it was on your keyring and you forgot it somewhere else in the house)
I can't remember the name of the company offhand, but someone makes a small (single handgun) steel lock box that has a push button lock. There are 4 buttons and a knob to turn. I had one a while back that was mounted against the underside of the bedrail. It took some practice, but when I got it down it was push 2 buttons, turn the knob, and my Colt literally fell right in my hand.
As far as kids go, education is always your best bet. Teach them what it is and that it isn't a toy and must be respected. Kids are curious, and if they know you have it and haven't been exposed to it, most are likely to go exploring for it. "Out of sight-out of mind" doesn't really work with kids as anyone knows that hides candy or xmas gifts lol. Take them shooting, let them get the curiousity out of their system. The NRA has a great kids program, look it up and see if there is anything in your area.

[ozarksnick]

That's a big problem today. Kids are taught that guns are toys instead of tools.

How many of you put locks on your power saws etc?

[RangerRick]

We never kept weapons openingly displayed but we never used locks, I taught my kids about weapons. We shot them frequently and cleaned them frequently as well. They learned em inside and out and the mystic was removed from them making them nothing more than a hammer or a butcher knife. Actually, I think teaching them about cleaning weapons did more than anything to take away the novilty that a child might attach to a weapon. Cleaning guns sucks and they learned when ya put your hands on one it had to be wipped down with an oily rag which also ment they then had to wash their hands, a task sometimes alien to children.

Rick

[Dawgus]

Locks on power tools? My neighbor has to do that because of his boys. He has to make sure everything is in a steel cabinet and locked or they WILL get into it. Last year his 5 year old decided that truck needed holes for some reason and picked up the drill that was plugged in on the garage bench. A few months ago, the same kid came over to visit (he loves the chickens), and when he left, I noticed that my hatchet was missing. His mom caught his 4 year old brother chasing the puppy with it. Now *I * have to watch whats laying around in case they wander over.

I always got the same chore Rick, cleaning guns as a kid. At the time I hated it, which as you put, made me not want to shoot or handle them. Funny how things work though.....at 43 now, the smell of Hoppes cleaner takes me back to the first days of squirrel season with my dad and cleaning my first shotgun.

[docsoos]

Welcome to gun ownership, Swedishfish, and also to the forum.

Question: Are there better locks that will open easier?


Yes. See the links below:

http://www.copsplus.com/prodnum2323.php

http://www.defensedevices.com/lifejacket-gun-locks.html

Some cop and weapons enthusiast friends of mine that have little ones use these; they keep their home defense 12 Gauges fully loaded, and put the jacket on for when they're away. At night, before going to bed, they'll unlock the weapon, and lay it next to the bed, so there are NO "encumbrances" to quick deployment, should need be. Then, next morning, just re-attach the lock. No need to unload the weapon, so long as there was no round actually chambered. One key turn frees the action completely.


Question: Are locks even a good idea for home protection?


That depends. If as Rick and others have stated, the kids are trained and don't see firearms as "toys" or "forbidden fruit", then you are probably OK. If you have toddlers or others who may handle the firearm without permission, then a safe or lock may be the only means of security against it.

My personal self-defense weapons NEVER have locks on them (12 Gauge Mossberg 500 with 8 rounds of #1 Buckshot, and a Glock 21 .45 Auto), but I have no small kids or unauthorized individuals that can get access to them. The Glock stays with me 24/7. Bad thing about any gun lock, even the FASTEST ones to open will take 3-5 seconds to access, and that's probably too much time in a pucker situation, especially at night, and you're groggy from sleep. It's a tradeoff at best.

Idea: What if I kept ammo in a push button (keypad) safe and the guns without trigger locks?


That could be good, depends again on the individual situation.

Whatever your choices, always practice great gun safety, and try to get the kids involved, when they're old enough to understand. My youngest daughter (who is now 17 going on 35!) starting shooting at 8 years old, and can now eat the bullseye out of a 20 yard target with a Colt .45 Auto with hot loads. Training means EVERYthing. She actually does enjoy going to the range occasionally these days, when she's not doing "teen stuff".

Good Luck, and BE SAFE!

DocSoos

[swedishfish]

thanks for the tips. My kids are 3 yrs and 2 months, so right now I just chase my 3 years old away from any of my things. I learned that lesson after I found a load of my expensive and rare 1950's german radio tubes in her tea set....kids...

[TheUnboundOne]

Dear SwedishFish,

Congratulations on becoming a new gun owner.

:)

I can't add much to what the others have said, except for this:

I was always taught that there is no such thing as an "unloaded" gun. You are always to automatically assume that a gun is loaded, even if all rounds are out of the cylinder, even if the magazine is out, even if the action is wide open. And for that reason...

You never point a gun at anything or anyone that you do not intend to destroy and lay to waste utterly.

I think also that Boston T. Party made a great argument against toy guns when he said that they encourage children to treat guns as trivial. Also, he said, if you teach children how to use and care for the real thing, they'll never even think of wanting a toy gun.

[walls0stone]

Someone brought one of those ****" things in my house. *I took them righ out and covered them with dirt to make a point. *I have a gunlock & a power tool lock. It's a belt aound my waste. DWs people actualy thought that my 3y/o could load a 7600 fieldmaster 30-06. *She's smart, but I don't think they could load it.

Sammy "The Bull" Gravano said he loved Gun locks..
what's that tell you???

The Second Amendment is The first Comandment in my Religion. *

Toy Guns were used as educational tools here on this farm. I walked w/ Dad, treating the toy gun as a real gun. My father just told me after all these years... he didn't even have shells on those walks.

Also, Dad knew how to create intrest in history out of play. Old friend and I still reenact after 15 years, but that started with cap guns on Sundays after church. *We Played Lewis and Clark or fought the C.W or we where Cowboys in an epic gun battle. *

(still remember the day he got the drop on me outside the dairy barn....would have been all over for our hero...had he not drawn his pistol into the electric fence *;D *)

* Out of that, we took intrest in history. We read history books not commic books... *Sure, we had to treat our capguns like real ones...put them away like Dad's deer rifle. *But out of all that, I grew to have a healthy respect for firearms and history.

[Stinger]

Sooner or later you're going to end up here. (Might as well be sooner!)

http://www.factory-express.com/STACKON_Safes-452.htm?source=google&kw=stack+on+safe *

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4244347

[cinok]

My dad was a police officer in NJ city when I was growing up. I can rememder guns in my ouse from the earlyiest days. Dad always carried and I never played or even touched them unless he was aroud. Why? Becuase i new what thay were and what they could do. The biggest danger of kids and guns is lack of education. I am new to gun friendly states and have only one 20 youth model shotgun in the house it is kept loaded at all times in a closet my boys 10,11 both know where it is and how to use it
When we first got it we all got some pumkins and the boys saw the damage that it could inflict we also covered gun safety.

[walls0stone]

The other thing aroung here, was every single house had a gun...atleast every house I was in.. and growing up, saying
"my daddy has a gun" was like.. yea...so????

safes are just like locks. why am I forced to get a safe? remember, in Pa they tried to impose a tax on our arms. $15 a gun. even nofireing aged rusty relics. that's $15 per year. *the people revolted..the farm burrow had a meeting that week and they didn't want to talk about anything but the gun tax..and then the VT shooting happend and the rendel (a DEM;) ) dropped the issue.

most farmers are tote'n guns and sticking to religion.. so may as well get the memo to your uncle sam that rural people/farmers won't let it go that far...this is not ENGLAND. *

See how far they get when they piss off the hand that feeds the government.