Thread: Response to the Law and Order Select committee

Originally Posted by Jexla

Like I already said, we do not need more legislation. Legislation is not the answer to everything. Like you said yourself, the inspectors need easy to understand guidelines that make it clear that a shitty wooden box wouldn't be okay.

I will note that I have a friend who made a safe out of wood and some brick that goes on the wall behind a fire place and I have no doubt it would have been harder to get into than some A category safes sold commercially. (He replaced this as soon as he could afford to with an E category compliant safe even though he has no endorsements).

Therefore I don't think it's okay to just outright ban the use of wood itself.

Have to agree with that. You could have a safe/gun room built into the house with reinforced concrete on 3 sides and a wooden door but a "metal safes only" rule would make it fail, sure you could hack through the door with an axe but it wouldn't be any quicker or easier than opening many commercial A-cat safes with the same axe.

Maybe AOs need clearer guidelines because you do hear of some strange interpretations of what is acceptable or not, but every time I've had gun security examined the AO has been practical and interested in it being fit for purpose rather than just ticking off a checklist of 'features'.

Had a good chat with one of them about racks/chains etc, his attitude to that was that they're ok for occasional use but he doesn't like the idea of people using them for permanent long-term storage, especially with multiple guns. Mind you I knew someone who used a chain around a rafter to secure an old shotgun that only got used about once a year, it was probably safer than most safes because any would-be thief would have to climb into the ceiling cavity to find it!