Is a thumbprint-ID locking safe for you?
One of the most pressing concerns for responsible gun owners is how to safely store their firearms when they’re not in use. What makes this complicated is that the relevant phrase in that previous sentence is “when they’re not in use.” But how does this apply to your self- and home-defense firearm? The quandary is that you need to be able to access your defensive gun quickly in the case of a home invasion—but you also need to keep it inaccessible to unauthorized users. There are now a number of gun safes on the market that allow owners to lock them with biometric information (usually a thumbprint). What are the pros and cons of safeguarding your self-defense guns with a biometric lock?
Pros
Let’s start by acknowledging the reality of the problem for gun-owning households. Our goal when it comes to our defensive guns is to prevent what is euphemistically called “unauthorized access” to them. I say “euphemistically” because although that phrase could certainly apply to a home invader, for most of us, what we’re most worried about is our own family members—specifically, the kids and their friends.
What makes this particularly tough for parents is that when kids are younger than what child-development experts call “the age of reason,” trying to explain why they shouldn’t do a certain thing is almost a guarantee that they’ll try to do exactly that—and that they’ll bring a MacGyver-like level of innovation that could make an engineer weep. (In fact, should you ever want to test the integrity of any lock, just hand it to a six-year-old and tell them they can stay up an hour later if they can crack it.) So for families in that situation, the best compromise that allows Mom and Dad access to their defensive guns while preventing Junior’s might just be a biometric lock.
Cons
The problem with the biometric locks on the market right now is that most of them use the same technology that unlocks your smartphone. And if you’ve got your phone set up to unlock with your thumbprint, you may have noticed something: It fails about one out of every 25-30 attempts. Frequently there isn’t any particular reason why, but the most common culprit is moisture. So if your thumb is sweaty—which is almost a guarantee in a sudden, middle-of-the-night emergency—the biometric lock might fail at the worst possible time.
The better biometric safes on the market do usually have a fallback entry method, such as a key or a numeric passcode. However, the concern would be that in an emergency the homeowner might be wasting valuable seconds trying to engage the biometric lock before they go to the more traditional unlocking methods. What’s more, there are some eventualities in which you might need to let another adult who isn’t “keyed in” to your gun safe with a thumbprint have access to the gun. (An example would be a trusted adult childminder watching your kids overnight.)
What do you think? Would you use a biometric gun safe? Tell us in the comments!
Trace, a proud Special Farces who goes commando, is dedicated to pubic service. Although he’s a legend among YouTube commenters, he actually began life as a humble dingleberry farmer. Now, no subject is too moist or sensitive for his incisive odor and scintillating lymph nodes.
Willi Sell says
What you need it fast for an personal attack or home invasion
And it doesn’t work. ?
Then what personal inju to you or a loved one
Then what
Randal Hauck says
For many people who use their hands a lot (my wife washing dishes for many years, for example) have almost worn out fingerprints. My wife needed to be fingerprinted by the local police for her work, and it took them a long time (not under pressure) to get accepatable prints. Therefore, we would never use fingerprint technology to open a safe in an emergency.
Neal Christensen says
I tried a couple of them some years ago and was so unimpressed by their unreliability that I decided not to trust my life to them.
OnTheFrontier says
I wouldn’t trust a biometric fingerprint lock on a gun safe meant for emergency-opening situations. If it failed (as phone fingerprint locks often do), it would waste valuable seconds and perhaps family lives.
I use a Velocity Vault VV500 (also called GunVault SV500), which uses fingerpad clicks, and it works EVERY TIME. I keep my handgun in it for 2 reasons: 1) to be safe with kids around and 2) because my state law requires it, if there are children under 18 in the house (and that is the only legal option at night).
However, for *any* device like that, it’s important to open it regularly (at least once per week) to retain the muscle memory to be able to unlock it quickly in an emergency situation. I also change its internal 9v battery every year, even though it could probably go much longer w/o changing. I do NOT want it to fail at a critical time, just because I forgot to change a stupid battery. (it also has a backup key lock, but that’s way too slow for an urgent situation)
Dlae Smit says
I have one of the name brands.
When it works correctly it is just alright.
HOWEVER! As a person who works with my hands, sometimes my finger tips get abraded or chapped.
And then the thing doesn’t work at all.
I keep imagining the worse case scenario where there’s someone advancing on my position and I am trying desperately to get it to open.
Not good!
And it’s so inconsistent as to being operable, needing the key nearby is a requirement!
And at my advanced age with so many different passwords and PIN’s sometimes I become forgetful in times of stress.
I am replacing it with something else.
Paul says
Way i see it clear the weapon, release the slide, pull trigger, keep full mags on your person at all times, lock up extra ammo, and learn to slam a mag in and rack it when needed! Or live alone and shoot anybody that is in your house uninvited!!!
Rusty Baillie says
KISS Works every time!
Michael Wynne says
Nay, I say. If you are serious about home defense and worry about unauthorized access, your only option is to carry your defensive firearm on your person at all times. In an emergency, your firearm must be readily (immediately) accessible. Do you really think that having to run through your house to find and open your biometrically protected (portable or stationary) gun safe meets the “readily” and “immediately” accessible requirement? I, for one, do not!!!
I have had my i-phone’s finger print reader fail when pressed 10 times in a row….I no longer use the reader.
TANSTAAFL2 says
I could have written your comment myself. Whenever I’m not going someplace where it’s banned (the office), I’m carrying a compact pistol in a Sneaky Pete belt holster (looks like a cell phone holster), so it’s right there and instantly accessible. I’ve been remote working since March, so I’m wearing it all the time I’m not asleep or in the shower.
I purchased a Hornady fingerprint pistol box to bolt to my bed frame to have a pistol handy in bed, but haven’t gotten around to installing it yet.
Jim Morrell says
IN -applying for a concealed carry permit, I found that my fingerprints are unreadable due to excessive wear. The bio system won’t work for me.
Keith Clark says
Suicide.
hank says
My iphone fails to unlock with prints about 97% of the time, I would never trust my famiys life on bio-metrics.
David Bradford says
Totally disregarding all the various ways an electronic lock can fail to open when you need them to open fast, the problem with every electrical locking mechanism is that they use an electromagnetic solenoid to keep the lock locked. Most every electronic lock, be it key pad or biometric can be overcome with a powerful magnet manipulated over the solenoid from outside the locked door. And even without a magnet, if jarred in the right direction the solenoid locking pin can be moved enough to disengage the lock. (think about your kid banging the lock box on the floor a couple dozen times)
Mike says
Do not trust your life to any type of computer technology……,, they are as unreliable as your laptop.
Ronald Clapper says
Definitely not. If my wife needed to use the gun to protect herself, it wouldn’t go bang. Leaving her defenseless..
Jim says
No!, would not use.
Bemused Berserker says
Any device powered by electricity, whether battery or line voltage operation system, has the potential to fail. The more complex the system, the higher the probability for failure. Best bet, is a simple unpowered mechanical system. The potential for failure is almost null.
Woody Powell says
It’s better than nothing if you have the responsibility of children in the house. The owner of the weapon is responsible for keeping it secured from ALL unauthorized people by any safe means.
William Sullivan says
I bought a Liberty HDX-150 for my wife. My only complaint was that a plug in the wall adapter didn’t come with it. When the battery got low, reliability went down. Other than that, very reliable.