Fingerprint safe

[DoxaPar]

Of course. It always does. However, all security is a slide [Edit: For clarification, with accessibility on one end and security on the other]. 100% security can be achieved in this situation. But that will come at the cost of accessibility (removing the firearm from the home completely).

If the handgun also exists for self-defense against a home invasion security needs to be weighed against accessibility.

Thus, a finger print scanner is not a bad choice in the middle of the night while your hands are shaking in fear and you're fumbling for a key while the guy who wants to kill you and rape your wife is coming up the stairs.

Would his "security" be greater or less in that situation?

[LarryFlew]

As the OP was clearly pointing out he wants quick access but secure from young children. Much simpler than you are trying to make it. Would think simple biometric would be perfect for that application rather than you guys building a safe room in his house.

Had a Barska finger print lock on our house for years that never missed a finger print. Only reason it was replaced was because it didn't fit on the new door.

[CJB]

I bought a biometric fingerprint safe with the 'quick access' idea in mind. Turns out that if my finger isn't in just the right spot, it will deny access.

It is now used for ammo storage.

[goalie]

I use very expensive fingerprint technology at work accessing a medication machine. The error rate is much too high to make me think a low-end type would be good.

I have a lock-bock (using the word safe to describe these little handgun boxes makes me giggle) that has a simplex lock on it. Like all of the 'boxes" it is "easy" to break into, but it is also more reliable than fingerprint and just as good at keeping a child/toddler from having access.

[codilly]

I don't think a 2 year old is going to make fake finger prints to open the safe, this is not for theft protection.

Thanks for the link on the safe I will check it out.

So you want "security theater" vs real security. Got it. It will make you feel better and probably provide the minimal security, but for me, I'd rather do the real deal. To each their own.

Hey buddy I already have a Liberty safe that does the trick I need, I will never need advice from you and I thought you blocked me awhile ago? Did you miss the whole point of what the safe is for? simply to keep it out of a 2 year old child's hands.

[xd ED]

I use very expensive fingerprint technology at work accessing a medication machine. The error rate is much too high to make me think a low-end type would be good.

I have a lock-bock (using the word safe to describe these little handgun boxes makes me giggle) that has a simplex lock on it. Like all of the 'boxes" it is "easy" to break into, but it is also more reliable than fingerprint and just as good at keeping a child/toddler from having access.

Just curious:
When you state the error rate is too high on the equipment you work with, Does it fail to allow access, fail to stay secure. or both?

[Nalez]

I worked in biometric security and am in fact going back into it. Fingerprint readers can easily be fooled. I can take some gel, lift your print off a glass you drank from, then use that to fool the fingerprint reader.

If his children are using gel to lift prints off of drinking glasses; I think he has larger issues at hand....

[XDM45]

I worked in biometric security and am in fact going back into it. Fingerprint readers can easily be fooled. I can take some gel, lift your print off a glass you drank from, then use that to fool the fingerprint reader.

If his children are using gel to lift prints off of drinking glasses; I think he has larger issues at hand....

Would a 2 year old lift prints? I doubt it... but kids today are pretty tech savvy.

[XDM45]

I don't think a 2 year old is going to make fake finger prints to open the safe, this is not for theft protection.

Thanks for the link on the safe I will check it out.

So you want "security theater" vs real security. Got it. It will make you feel better and probably provide the minimal security, but for me, I'd rather do the real deal. To each their own.

Hey buddy I already have a Liberty safe that does the trick I need, I will never need advice from you and I thought you blocked me awhile ago? Did you miss the whole point of what the safe is for? simply to keep it out of a 2 year old child's hands.

Welcome the the Internet, the virtual land of unasked for opinions.

[rugersol]

I've got no issues with these!

I also had a fingerprint safe ... 'bout $300 ... it worked purdy well ... but, once in a while, it'd take a few seconds fer it to open!

[goalie]

I use very expensive fingerprint technology at work accessing a medication machine. The error rate is much too high to make me think a low-end type would be good.

I have a lock-bock (using the word safe to describe these little handgun boxes makes me giggle) that has a simplex lock on it. Like all of the 'boxes" it is "easy" to break into, but it is also more reliable than fingerprint and just as good at keeping a child/toddler from having access.

Just curious:
When you state the error rate is too high on the equipment you work with, Does it fail to allow access, fail to stay secure. or both?

It fails to read your print correctly roughly 20-25% of the time.

[connsolo]

I recently got a gun vault safe with the keypad vs the fingerprint scan. Too many false entries and it locks you out for a set amount of time and a light tells you if someone's tampered with it. Good for keeping the gun safe from curious kids.

[Thunder71]

I have issues with electronic devices used for securing something I may need quickly, which is why I went with this:

http://www.amazon.com/V-Line-Draw-Secur ... -line+safe

[gbono23]

Again keep in mind the originators need on this thread. It was to keep guns out of the hands of his kids. Will a fingerprint safe do that? I would think that it would. Will it keep a bad guy from getting the gun if he really wants it, probably not. But keep this in mind as well, a friend in Law Enforcement told me that the average time a burglar wants to be in a house is less that 5 minutes. If they can't get what they want in that time, its not worth it. Are they going to go to the trouble of lifting a print and faking out a finger print scanner, highly unlikely. At that point a bad guy will use either a crowbar or bolt cutter and remove the whole safe from the wall. It is unlikely that they will try to get into a large multigun floor safe, they may try, but unless they are sure of your schedule, they don't want to stay in the house that long.

[XDM45]

Again keep in mind the originators need on this thread. It was to keep guns out of the hands of his kids. Will a fingerprint safe do that? I would think that it would. Will it keep a bad guy from getting the gun if he really wants it, probably not. But keep this in mind as well, a friend in Law Enforcement told me that the average time a burglar wants to be in a house is less that 5 minutes. If they can't get what they want in that time, its not worth it. Are they going to go to the trouble of lifting a print and faking out a finger print scanner, highly unlikely. At that point a bad guy will use either a crowbar or bolt cutter and remove the whole safe from the wall. It is unlikely that they will try to get into a large multigun floor safe, they may try, but unless they are sure of your schedule, they don't want to stay in the house that long.

All very true. Nothing is 100% secure, and anyone that wants in bad enough will be able to do so. Your security doesn't need to be like it is at Fort Mead, thought if you're like me, you wish it was, but then I tend to be overkill, but I've never had issues either. I think that my security preferences just comes from my personal likes and dislikes, as well as having worked in IT Security awhile. For example, I can SSH into my home machine, but you need to use port knocking along with an alternative port since using port 22 isn't advisable. I also have connection throttling setup in iptables and ip6tables, as well as fail2ban and denyhosts running and configured certain ways. (I would go one step further and lock it down to certain IPs or ranges, but I'm not always remoting into it from the same location with the same IP / IP range.) Of course I could really tweak it further like switching from TCP/IP to IPX/SPX and then back to TCP/IP to help mitigate any hackers since most wouldn't know how to deal with such an old and little-used protocol such as IPX/SPX, which like TCP/IP, is routable. I could also subnet and use VLANs to add in layers, but I don't. I know it's a computer and not a gun, but it shows layer of security, which I like. I also don't do everything I could, so again, middle of the road is key, for me at least. The hard drive is encrypted, and it's in somewhat secure room. Physical security is the weakest link in that chain. I like security, but not everyone does.

Yes, the fingerprint safe will probably work to keep his kids out, but it seems to me (in my opinion), that he wants to do the minimal vs. a bit more. Security is largely about balance between totally locked down and unusable to wide open. Again, those fingerprint readers aren't the best quality, so you get what you pay for.