Do you use the internal lock?

Do you use the internal lock?

  • I have guns with a lock, and don't use the lock

    Votes: 128 68.1%

  • I have guns with a lock, and use the lock occasionally

    Votes: 3 1.6%

  • I have guns with a lock, and use the lock frequently

    Votes: 2 1.1%

  • I have no guns with an internal lock

    Votes: 55 29.3%
  • Total voters
    188
  • Poll closed .
Here is my take.... if I leave a gun anywhere, home ,car, and I use the lock mechanism, I still have left a real looking firearm (because it is) that may be disabled, but no one else may know.
I feel a responsibility for that. Kid steals it, doesn't know better, holds up a gas station, they don't know its locked, and so on.
At home I use my safe when needed I feel confident will do it's job for the time needed. If I need to take my firearm off me when in the car, I have an older 5" shackle American lock that never fails to work. Happens to be yellow. It looks locked. If someone gets it, its not going to be usable unless they broke in with bolt cutters, and good ones at that. It may be overkill, but its as fast to unlock as any factory mechanism I've seen, and its what i feel is good enough.
 
I don't personally need or use the lock, but I can think of certain situations where it could be useful or at least convenient. For example, if you are out with someone else (friend, family member, etc.) and you/your companion stops somewhere where firearms are not allowed (government building, posted business), it would certainly seem preferable to be able to lock the gun rather than simply leaving it hidden in the glove box or something of that nature. Now, I know that a small safe or other such means of security could accomplish the same thing and probably better, but the small key on your key ring is much more convenient and more likely to be with you should you need to secure your gun for some unforeseen reason.

What I've always failed to understand is why guns equipped with internal lock still come with cable or trigger locks. It seems to me that one should make the other superfluous.
 
Never. Lose the key, your gun is useless.

I have a PILE of keys that are unidentifiable, and a pile of locks whose keys are long lost ...

Keys and locks often get separated.
 
The 1911 had one and it locked up on the range with me
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Just curious, was it a taurus 1911? Mine locked up on me and I had to send it back. What hammer did you use to replace, I would feel better replacing mine if I knew which one would work.
 
I've only got two handguns with locks, a J frame Smith and Ruger 22/45.

Have never used them, honestly couldn't tell you where the "keys" are at...........I have them.........somewhere.

Edit: I forgot that my .45/.45 convertable Blackhawk has a lock as well...........never used that one either.
 
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Just curious, was it a taurus 1911? Mine locked up on me and I had to send it back. What hammer did you use to replace, I would feel better replacing mine if I knew which one would work.
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Yep, Changed it with a Wilson combat, dropped right in. Most all 1911 parts interchange.


Doug
 
I have a Taurus revolver that has an internal lock on its hammer. I remember putting the key into it and locking it for a few seconds to see how it worked. It locked the gun. Then I unlocked the gun, put the key in the box and forgot about it. I have no use for it.
 
I have two with locks and have never touched the keys that came with them. I don't feel concerned that the mechanism may some day fail and lock up the gun. I have dozens of cable locks too, all unused. I keep three guns ready throughout the house and the others locked away. There is no minors here and on the rare occasion that there is the ready guns are secured for the time being.
 
Never had a gun with a lock. I'm not saying I wouldn't own one, but if I did the lock wouldn't be used. I have secure storage, which is how I choose to keep my guns safe.

The only purpose I would ever see in the lock is a guy that gets a nightstand gun just to have as a nightstand gun. Not an enthusiast, probably hasn't been to the range in forever... he just has it for protection. That same guy, not being as anal as we are about our guns, does not have a safe or any other form of secure storage (this is how my parents were... revolver was kept in a cabinet above the desk. I knew it was there, and I also knew to not touch it). So... I could see that guy locking his gun so it can't be used to kill someone if it's stolen in a B&E. Or, it's left locked during the day when the kiddies are running around. I would still recommend an alternative besides the firearm lock, but the type of gun owner described above may not be willing to get a safe like most enthusiasts on this forum have.
 
personally, under extreme stress (and needing a gun "right now" is in that category for me) I think I would be able to load an empty gun faster and more surely than finding a key, and getting it in that little hole...especially in the dark...
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I honestly couldn't agree more. People don't realize what stress can really do to you, specially when woken up with it. Now I work in a gun shop, I handle them 8-10 hours a day, shooting often. I build AR's, shoot them the most often. I love in the country where I DO keep an AR-15 as a HD weapon because police response time can be an hour.

I have had two break in's in my life. Once I had a crack head kick my door in when I was going to college outside of Philly, luckily I fell asleep watching a movie on the couch after driving back from vacation and had my Kahr still IWB. Thankfully that ended peacefully when I drew the gun the guy ran and I called the police.

The second time I was asleep upstairs and heard someone break in downstairs. I keep an AR in a drag bag under my bed, I slid it out, grabbed the rifle, at the time it had a Trijicon reflex on it, so no need to turn on a sight, grabbed the magazine, SEATED it, which was a Magpul Pmag 30round. Went to rack the weapon, and it felt like my world just crumbled away. In my panic and haste I didn't properly seat the fully loaded magazine. I didn't lightly put it in their either, and I have loaded the AR platform 10,000 times on the range before. The magazine hit the floor, and kicked under my desk, while my heart was racing. I grabbed for my carry gun that was on the desk, at the time a HK P7, and my cell phone. Thankfully everything again ended peacefully. Moral of the story is it can happen to anyone. I generally have no issues seating fully stacked mags, but ever since then, I download them by 1 round, which makes it slightly easier.

Under stress you loose fine motor control. Last thing I want to do is fumble for a key. Invest the money... you already have on the firearm, ammo, and hopefully some training... and buy a Biometric quick open safe if you have kids in the home. $200 is a small price to pay for your & your family's safety.
 
I do not like them. I don't think they make anyone safer. I would never use it. There are plenty of ways to store your firearms safely. I don't have children around the house so that is not a concern for me. The only firearms not locked in a room or in a vault are on me.
 
As far as I have been able to determine, in my direct family line, every child for at least the past four generations has grown up in a home with at least one unsecured and usually loaded firearm.

I know this isn't "data", and means little other than my family was safe, but it is the bedrock of my personal belief that guns in a house with children is not an automatic formula for disaster.

If children are educated properly, you simply do not have a problem. Sadly, too few people today do, or even can, educate their children properly, particularly about firearms. (my idea of properly includes ensuring that they know what firearms really are, and what they really do, not just what they see on a video screen)

Certainly, if you have people (of any age) that you don't KNOW are fully trustworthy and responsible in your house, then guns should be secured.
 
I have one in a J frame smith and have once locked and unlocked it to do a functions check.

I use gun safes, one in the bedroom and one in the car so if the gun in not on my hip it is locked. I am looking at taking an RV trip with my daughter and a friend's young one into a less gun friendly state. I and am thinking about taking a shotgun and using a trigger lock as it is just impractical to get a portable safe for a long gun. Even in this situation I couldn't see myself using an internal lock. I'm the kind of guy that looks at the front door to make sure t is locked before going to bed every night. A nervous gun check is easier to do with a highly visible cable or trigger lock than an IL which can only be checked from a short distance on one side of the weapon. The higher visibility of a cable or trigger lock is good to reassure me that the weapon is open and safe, and should it be needed, remind me to disable such safety device before pressing the weapon into service. That last one is a biggie to me, I could see myself hearing a "bump in the night" grabbing a weapon with an internal lock and taking it to go look around forgetting the IL is activated. That mistake would be harder to make with a big obtrusive cable or trigger lock.
 
I hate them. I have a hard time with stupid things done solely to prevent future lawsuits.

The internal lock is a feature I view as a con when choosing a pistol. Another potential complication/breakdown. I have only purchased one pistol with a lock (SW 642) and that was because I couldn't find another option that gave me exactly what I wanted that gun for. When I had an M&P for a while, I waited until I found one without the lock.
 
your poll failed to give the option of having a locked gun but not using it for self defense.

I own three locked guns.

a .22lr cricket

a .22lr LCR

a .22lr P22

all three have locks, are only used as training guns or plinking for the kids.

the only reason I have these is because I couldn't find a non-locked gun with the same features, at the same cost, and at the same time I had the money to buy one.
 
I owned a S&W Model 60 for a while that had the ILS, so I put one of the keys on my keyring. I never did use the lock on that revolver for any reason, as I'm sure nearly everyone on a forum full of hardcore enthusiasts also never does.

But it sure was funny to lock up a buddy's revolver when he wasn't looking. :eek::D
 
I own one gun with an internal lock.

It has been locked exactly one time, right after I bought it on the initial breakdown and clean to make sure it worked. After that, it has never been locked, and I do not see a situation where I would ever lock it again.
 
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