Forbes does a report on gun safes, and shows many common, cheap gun safes are way too easy to circumvent. In some cases the child here was told by an adult how to circumvent, but there are several cases where a a kid could pretty easily do some of this stuff just being a kid.
Some of these problems could probably be solved by securing it to a floor, wall or heavy piece of furniture, but parents who own guns should be aware that not all safes are created equal. Generally speaking, good security costs some bucks.
Yet some will tell us that all we have to do is mandate safe storage and the problem of stolen guns nearly goes away.
I just did a new post on a DAC Sportsafe we have, which seems to be a bit better engineered than some of these, but it still has some serious flaws.
I’m a bit torn. This certainly seems like a problem. But, we don’t know if the kids have been trained or practiced this. And I’m still not sure what they are doing. Or that the manufactuer knew this would happen. Or that this is a safety issue they should be held liable for.
I don’t blame the safe manufacturers for not responding to this guy. He’s a shill for trial lawyers. And they of course know that. I don’t blame them for not allowing him near their facility, or refusing to respond to him. As far as they are concerned, its a drive by shooting. HIs entire worth is dependent on helping trial lawyers win big judgments against deep pockets. And in this case, well beyond safe manufacturers (and notice how interested he is in how much money they make), he’s really targeting the big evil gun sellers.
And shame shame shame on Forbes for giving this guy a forum without any input from the other side. That really takes away from his credibility in my mind.
Did I call this a drive by shooting? You bet. And jury tampering as well.
It will be interesting to see what actually happens at trial – but color my skeptical based on this over the top activist driven one sided trial lawyer produced crap.
Yeah, I agree with the motivation here. But some of these flaws are pretty serious, and consumers should be aware of them. I don’t have a problem with the fact that any of these safes are sold, but consumers should be aware of the flaws, and the manufacturers either need to address those flaws, or warn consumers of them.
I feel bad for the couple whose child was killed, but in addition to the quality of the safes, the article raises some questions about the common sense of the cop. What was he securing his weapon in before the department issued him a safe? Is there really no obvious sign that a $36 lock box has inferior materials and workmanship? And if there is, does it make any sense to leave a gun in a poorly constructed lock box where it’s easily accessible to young children?
You get what you pay for, and this guy and his employer paid as little as they possibly could to allow him to leave a loaded weapon sitting on his closet floor. I hope he and his wife find peace somehow, but they’re not going to be able to buy it with whatever that ambulance chaser can squeeze out of a jury.
I’m going to support the article. Some techniques are more locksmithing. But the videos of lifting and dropping the safe are enough for me to feel that a forced recall is required.
I have toddlers. They in fact have their own safes ($20 Sentry safes I painted and decorated). The number one activity is flipping them over. So that is IMHO unacceptable for sale as a non-mounted safe.
I will also attest that there is a problem with manufacturers. Most really do not give a damn. If they’ve sold hundred of thousand of units without a problem. Then that’s good enough for them. I addressed a holster failure to a manufacturer tag resulted in a 3 year old wielding a loaded firearm. They were extremely dismissive.
And you know what. That’s a bloody fuckingshame because if a child dies. What then? In this scenario simply keeping a safe on a shelf in a closet in which a kid climbs up. Knocks the safe down, could case a loaded gun to be made available. Sorry. That is a defect that requires as mandated recall and replacement.
But maybe I’m just touchy. After all I’m a father of small children who faced a similar situation due to a failure of a product.
Watch their other videos. This is a serious problem for a variety of these manufacturers. Toddlers, kids, teenagers, etc. like to stick things in holes so it isn’t beyond reason to think that they could discover this without training.
I pulled the rubber off my GunVault this morning and popped it open with a paperclip. Good thing I don’t actually depend on it for anything other than a dust cover.
so who makes a safe that doesn’t suck…? The odds of my niece or nephew being able to pull shit off are slim, but that’s not good enough… glad to find this out, but disappointed to find out how poorly designed these things really are.