“Tamper resistant” door lock

Barb LeeContributor - September 28, 2021

Gear

Oregon has just passed (without a public vote) a law requiring guns to be stored with trigger locks, in a locked container or room.  In order to comply with the letter of the law, we decided to put a lock on the linen closet door and store the guns in there.  A closet qualifies, but it’s the tamper resistant part that needs to be addressed. I’m not coming up with a good solution for a tamper resistant lock.  Or hasp/lock, doorknob, whatever.  Not so much concerned about security as complying with the new law. 

Any suggestions?  Thanks.

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Do you have a picture of said linen closet and door?? That would help me greatly to think of ideas for you. 

Is this law to keep guns out of the hands of children?? Hope that it does some good and saves lives and not just make it harder for people to defend their homes.

 

Yes to both.  Suicide deterrent, etc.  Owner liability if the firearm is stolen and used in a crime has escalated, I think there are additional liabilities involved when selling a firearm, etc.  Supposed to be one of the country’s strictest laws, but an analysis of the bill by an attorney for an Oregon gun owner’s organization says the wording is pretty vague. I’ll get a picture of the closet door.  It’s just an ordinary door.  Hinges need to be replaced too.  Thanks for your help.

My next question ought to be what does one use to fend off intruders when you can’t access your weapons quickly enough.  I have a large can of pepper gel…

 

I admire you keeping to the law. Even if you didn’t, there is such a slim slim chance you would ever get in trouble. They aren’t going around and doing inspections. But you are a good citizen and doing what society has agreed upon.

Pepper gel would be a good option, maybe one in every room. Baseball bat next to the bed is a common tool as well.

If I was in your shoes, I would carry a pistol on my person at all times inside of the house since you can’t strategically place them for convenience any more. 

But most of all, I would increase your overall security of your house. Lowering your chances of having to fend off intruders by hardening your house as much as possible. 

 

I will take your advice Sir Henry!  It’ will take a lot for me to get comfortable packing a weapon, but in truth?  With shortening daylight hours, I actually get uncomfortable walking out to the barn after dark, mostly for fear of cougars.  When we were raising lambs, we had the entire property surrounded with electric fence, top and bottom.  I went down to the barn one day when we had little lambs, and I saw a cougar sitting on the far side of the fence, gazing longingly at them!  Shiver me timbers!  They’re sighted with fair regularity in the neighborhood. Oregon also has a law against hunting cougars with dogs, and the numbers have increased exponentially.  Reintroduced wolves are on the horizon.

On my radar – taking a gun safety course.  Husband can probably teach me all I need to know.

Our security can be increased by all means. We’ve been burdened with infrastructure and truck failures and property taxes so that “real” prepping can only be done at a sail’s pace.

 

And I meant to write “without a public vote” not with!  I’ve edited my comment.

 

I am not sure if this is related to the law that was passed, but here’s an email between some Oregon law makers titled What In The World Is A Tamper-Resistant Lock?

They say that there is no definition of “tamper-resistant” in the regulation. But the unofficial answer is “at a minimum, locks with deadbolts containing a hardened steel core, and key-in-knob locks that cannot be easily opened by slipping a credit card between the bolt and the door jamb.”

So I would venture to say you are safe to get any ol’ lock from your home improvement store. If anything were to ever happen, you can show that you at least had a locking door knob and did your best with your understanding of what “tamper-resistant” means.

 

That’s fantastic Bradical! We actually considered replacing the doorknob with a deadbolt, so there’s nothing to grab hold of and yank on.  Somebody could easily kick the door in, but there’s no mention of a “hardened” door.  I just want to be able to prove forced entry if necessary, will take pics of locks etc for our records, and also send to insurance company.

Thank you so much for your help!

 

Good evening Bradical,

Universally, from the US prepective, locks are not “tamper resistant”.

ASIS – American Society for Industral Security – teaches that locks are only to hinder and delay. Otherwise they must be guarded 24/7.

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Recommend Dogpatch add her homeowner’s insurance company into the equation. The underwriter folks will provide the “seal of approval” if/when doing what they require for compliance.

 

You are correct, a cheap lock will only delay for a few seconds, and a very expensive and well built lock will delay for possibly minutes.

For Dogpatch’s use case of just having something on the door to comply with the law, I wouldn’t put too much into it. Especially if they do not have young children or those with mental health issues (this can change at any time however), and if their home is properly hardened. 

Good recommendation there at the end to get the insurance company’s seal of approval. Best to do that by email so you can get it in writing, store that email with your policy.