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A friend recently emailed me an article from ‘Wired,’ an online magazine that claimed “kids can open gun safes with a straw or paper clip“. Me being the anti gun person that I am was definitely interested in reading more. The safes that were tested in the article were made by Stack-On, Bulldog, Gun Vault and Amsec. All of these safes failed the child proof test. Go ahead and watch this video for yourself if you don’t believe me.
(three more videos at this link)
I had no idea that safes were so poorly made, but then again a lot of things we buy these days is crap, so why not gun safes? After reading the article I wondered exactly how many households with kids have guns in America ? So I snooped around the net to see if I could find out. I found the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia website that gave me some numbers. The stats are from 2005 but it t least gave me some idea and since it is now 7 years later I am willing to bet the numbers are higher.
As many as 75 percent of first and second graders know where their parents’ gun is kept.
I find those stats staggering. I wonder how many parents are prosecuted for child endangerment when their kid shoots themself or someone else? I searched the web for answers but came up empty. I did, however, find story after story about people shooting guns like they were in some western movie. One Florida woman was recently sentenced to 20 years after firing a ‘warning shot’ meant for her abusive husband, but instead she came close to hitting her kids standing in the same room. What was this woman thinking? Then I found another story about an 8 year old girl shot and critically wounded in her classroom! The shooter was another 8 year old boy! Is anyone supervising these kids? This incident happened last February in Seattle. Nothing was mentioned if the parents of the young gun slinger were arrested. I think they should be, and the charge should be criminal negligence.
I also found a blog from Oregon that is anti-guns. I know its biased but I looked through the pro-gun sites and it seemed like they were all one big ad for gun sales to me. The latest entry from New Trajectory Blog was written early this year. It claimed there were 167 shootings that involved children ages 17 and under in just one month. Ok, it included 37 staes and D.C. but seriously 167 in one month?
I wonder what the author of this blog would think after watching the video showing kids opening gun safes with such ease. I know that pro gun people will come back with it’s their Constitutional right to own as many guns as they want, but I am curious to hear what they have to say after watching the videos.
Guns just like any other dangerous tools need to be kept secured and safe from kids.
The small pistol safes in those video’s that ARE NOT secured in place (bolted in trunk of car or bolted to wood frame of closet) offer about the same protection that a mothers pursue does for a set of car keys.
I agree with you on both points. So, what do you think should happen to the manufacturers and vendors of such safes?
if there is a product defect, I guess a recall would be in order.
If it is the consumer not reading and following the instuctions of use. I don’t know.
So is the idea to keep the loaded weapon in trunk of car? I thought guns are for protection. Do I ask the intruder to wait while I get something from my car?
I’ve been told that Police men keep their weapon in the trunk when off duty.
And the ones that they plant.
I don’t think I saw any kids opening the safes with straws and paperclips, but certainly saw someone who knows the flaws of the safe and how to access them…sort of like how pretty much every house and car has some security flaw also. Obviously, the results of accessing a gun safe can be much more drastic than a house or car. I really did not understand the kid who was dropping the safe as I could not tell if it was locked to begin with but that is the scariest of them obviously. Gun owners should take as many precautions as possible to save the lives of the kids in their house and those who may visit.
Hopefully the manufacturers of those safes take immediate action…even changing the cover seems to take most of the access away from what I saw. Hopefully other manufacturers also take notice and try to make them as safe as possible. Scary stuff…
BTW, I love stats such as “as much as 75%…”- that means it could be zero or it could be 75% or anywhere in between, just not more than 75%. Kind of up like the sale down the street saying “up to 80% off”.
*Everyone has a great idea…for a better mousetrap! Good grief….Gun Safes which
hold six long guns and 15 handguns are not only fire proof but couldn’t be opened without dynamite. These gun safes are in any Gun Magazine…..you probably can’t get one at Big Lots. If you buy junk, junk is what you are going to get.
*Sentry, Liberty and Browning are just a few of the major brands which work ….just fine.
Gun safes are important. But what’s more important is that we find something that’s very durable and offer utmost protection. It’s scary to think about what could happen if our guns are easily accessible to kids and just about anyone.