Gun safety is something that every gun owner and family should keep in mind at all times. You can teach your children to avoid them or how to hand them, but that may not be enough. During certain situations you may not be able to keep your gun locked in a safe.
Despite that you may still want to know that the gun cannot be used be someone else. Regardless of what your reasons are for wanting to ensure your gun is out of the hands of others, gun safety locks and cables could make you feel safer and keep your guns out of a gun safe.
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What Are Gun Safety Locks and Cables?
Both of these devices are supposed to effectively stop a gun from being able to fire. The thing to keep in mind is that neither of them will prevent a gun from being stolen. If you ask around, some people feel that one is more effective than the other. The safety lock is preferred by some because it stops the trigger from being pulled. It is also quick to take off in the event that you are in an emergency situation.
Others like the cable because it can be used to prevent the gun from being loaded. The downside is it takes longer to go from cable in place to ready to fire. Many people say this means it should be used on guns that you will not need quick access to, such as a hunting or target shooting gun. They both serve a purpose and they are both recommended to keep guns from being accidentally fired by a child.
Why Use a Gun Lock?
Keeping guns out of the hands of people, especially children who do not need to touch them. Many people feel that to do this, you must keep guns locked away in a gun safe. The downside to this is that in the event that you need to protect your family from harm, you have to go to your gun safe and unlock it, pull it out, and load it.
When you are up against an attacker or something, you do not want to waste time getting your firearm out of a safe. Gun trigger locks and cables enable you to store your gun out of a gun safe and keep it within reach. They also allow you to save money while keeping your weapon safe. They are a much more cost effective way to keep children safe if you do not have the money for a true gun safe.
Below are some of our recommended guns safety locks and cables. Many of their owners are happy with these devices.
Master Lock Keyed-Alike Gun Locks
This three pack of gun locks will all use the same key and the 4-pin cylinder prevents people from being able to pick the lock. They are made of steel and zinc to ensure durability, but it has protective rubber pads to protect your gun from scratches. This lock will not allow trigger movements, but it is still recommended you store your gun unloaded and keep ammunition separate from where you store the gun.
Etronic Gun Lock G7K Keyed Gun Trigger Lock
This is a high-performance lock that features a tumbler cylinder to resist picking. It has an adjustable ratchet mechanism so that it is easy to attach and lock securely. The body is made of steel and zinc. It has cushioned rubber pads to protect the gun from damage and works well on many handguns, rifles, and shotguns.
Remington Safety Cable Lock
The safety cable is a Ball-Lock cable retaining system to allow you to lock the body easily. The wire cable is protected by hardened steel beads so that it can resist attempts to cut or saw it. The cable is covered with vinyl to prevent damage to your gun’s body. It meets all California standards for cable locks.
Cable Gun Lock with Key
This is a universal safety device that can secure all pistols, rifles, shotguns, revolvers, and more. This means that is longer than some cables at 15”. It has a protective coating on it to protect your weapon from damage. All locks for this model have the same key so that you will only need one key to access all of your guns.
How Robbers Unlock A Gun Safe: A Guide to Gun Thieves
If you are ever worried that you’ll lock yourself out of your gun safe, or curious how a robber might go about it, we have answers for both. Here we’ll list some of the mistakes that gun owners make in regards to proper firearm storage when it isn’t in use, and how to combat any robbery should it ever occur.
Mistakes That Gun Owners Often Make
One of the most common reasons for gun robberies is that there were measures that could have been taken to avoid it, that were overlooked. This can include the assumption that your safe is too heavy to steal, gun safes are intimidating to robbers, or even that your valuables are hidden too well to find.
Safes are most often taken completely by gun thieves and pried open later once the robbery has succeeded. One way to keep this from happening is to anchor your gun safe to a surface so that it’s either harder or impossible for a robber to steal the entire safe. While they may still be able to pry it open on the spot, it’s likely that they will not get away with the robbery if you make it at least a little bit harder for them.
This being said, gun safes are not intimidating to robbers. More often than not, robbers are looking for things such as gun safes, because they hold more monetary value. when you include whats inside.
How to Unlock Gun Safe
Just like with doors, and cars, and safes, a number of different materials can be used to break into a gun safe, even if it’s locked, and only you have the key or code. It’s been found that burglars can use simple tools such as straws, paper clips, or even just shake the safe a little bit.
In many gun burglary videos, robbers are seen taking the entire safe with them and fleeing, and in many cases jumping on the top of the safe or shaking it open. By taking preventative measures like anchoring your safe, or sealing it, stopping a gun thieve could be a little bit easier.
Gun thieves can use picks, remove the rubber plates or the fingerprint reader, then insert a wire to pry the safe open, or even insert a metal shank into the safe to reach the reset button. The list goes on and on.
Keeping Your Gun Safe Safe
Consider the size of your safe, and where it would fit best to not be found easily by others. When it comes to choosing your locks, using more than a basic combination lock can be helpful and potentially stop a burglar from successfully stealing your firearms.
Utilizing biometric or digital locks instead might save you from a robbery. Consider the doors of the safe. Safes with hinges located on the outside make it easier to remove them and break in. Considering bolts for the door could also add an extra measure of safety from burglars.
What to Do If Your Gun Is Stolen
For you to legally own a gun, you must register it. This ensures that if you have to use it to protect yourself or your family, you can say that you legally own it and that it was used in a self-defense situation. Therefore, in a situation where you sell your gun, you should transfer the ownership of it to ensure that if the gun is to be used in a crime or by someone else, it does not trace back to you.
It is all a part of being a responsible gun owner. What do you do, though, if you do not know who has your gun because it was stolen? Do you know how to trace it down to ensure it was not pawned or do you know how to protect your good name? In short, “Do you know what to do if your gun is stolen?” If not, you should take a look below and become familiar with the proper steps to take to protect yourself.
Report Theft to Your Local Sheriff’sOffice
Anytime that you realize your home has been broken into or you realize that something has been stolen, you most likely think about your local law offices, first. The same should be true if you realize that your gun has been stolen, even if you suspect that you may already know who took it from your home. By law, in some states, if you have a firearm and it is stolen, you should immediately report it to your local law enforcement center, otherwise, you could be breaking the law as well.
This is to help them to stop illegal gun trafficking in your area. In order to purchase a gun, you are required to register. If you have a lot of guns registered and fail to report them stolen, you could be seen as a trafficker. It also ensures that in the event that there is a crime in your area and it is linked to a gun that has your name on it, law officials already know that the gun was not in your possession at the time because it was reported as stolen from you.
Report to the ATF
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) should be the people you contact next. They would like for you to let them know of the theft within 48 hours of you noticing that your gun(s) have been taken and state that otherwise, you could be facing a felony for not reporting it. Therefore, you should contact them and file any necessary forms immediately.
This form will take note of your name, your federal firearms license number, and telephone number when you noticed that the gun was no longer in your possession, who you have reported the theft to in your local area, and more. You will need to know when you purchased the firearm, the type of firearm it is, the manufacturer, model, caliber/gauge, and its serial number.
With this information, the ATF can ensure that the description of your stolen gun(s) can be reported as stolen on a larger scale. It ensures that pawn shops can trace it to a stolen gun’s serial number so that they do not accept or resell it. It also lets law officials know that in the event that it turns up at a crime scene, you were not the one that they should come looking for in their investigation of the crime.
Conclusion
Each year there are many firearms stolen from homes, despite most people’s efforts to prevent it from happening. Keep in mind; the ATF does not keep an inventory of all firearms that are sold. If you do not have your gun’s serial number on hand when you submit the required forms, the ATF will not be able to search for your gun’s serial number, even if it is fully registered to you.
Therefore, even if you have your guns stored in a gun safe that promises no one will ever be able to break in, you should still keep all of your gun’s information in a safe or safe area that is separate from where you store your firearms. This includes your gun serial numbers, make and model names or numbers, and photos and information about identifying marks, as well as any other photos or information that you feel may be of value to your local law enforcement agencies and the ATF.
This ensures that if your gun(s) are stolen, you have easy access to all the valuable information regarding it. Without this information, tracking down the particular gun that you have lost may be impossible and it could be sold from pawn shops repeatedly and you may still never find it. It is also helpful when reporting your gun stolen to the ATF.
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