Benjamin Franklin, my favorite Founding Father, famously said “Three May Keep a Secret if Two are Dead”. Sadly, its a brutal truth: if someone other than you knows your secret, it ain’t a secret.
And now, apparently, your gun safe isn’t a safe but rather a heavy storage locker when the manufacturer will roll over and hand the backdoor entry code over to someone with a badge.
I’ve had two emails so far about this:
Liberty Safe Gave FBI Access Code to January 6 Protester’s Safe
The first thing I want to say is that whether the evidence in the safe was regarding the January 6 incident, or if it was regarding the Lindbergh kidnapping, makes no difference. The key issue is that the manufacturer of the safe retained the ability to override your personal privacy. I have no doubt that this wasnt some plan on Liberty’s part for anything more sinister than helping people who locked themselves out of their safe….BUT….even the most benign feature, with the best of intentions, will be abused by .gov.
You could say the lesson here is that you should trust a mechanical combination over an electronic one that could be compromised by the manufacturer. And, there’s some merit to that although whether its the manufacturer giving up the secret pass or a local locksmith hired to bypass the combo, the fact remains that a safe screams “Cool stuff in here! Come get it!”
This is the real message from this event: If you’ve got a USB drive of who really killed JFK, or a stained dress from the Oval Office, don’t put it in a big metal box that is, literally, the first place people will look. Put it under the safe, or in the insulation in the attic, or in the oil pan of that dead car in your backyard, or anywhere else than a safe that will be Target Number One of any search warrant.
And I recognize that, if they were handed a court order, Liberty’s hands were tied but I’m not sure there should have been that backdoor there to begin with…thats the part I have a problem with. If there wasn’t a court order and they turned over the data…..well, Its A Bold Strategy Cotton, Lets See If It Pays Off For Em.
So, not that youre doing anything wrong, but if you absolutely, positively gotta keep something away from people with badges, putting it in your high-profile safe might not be the best method.
This is why electronic locks suck. Universally. They suck. And good luck finding an old-school S&G mechanical tumbler lock.
Anything electronic will eventually fail you. Anything with a ‘chip’ in it can be hacked.
Don’t buy that crap.
At best, a safe will only slow down a determined person. The FBI could have (within their warrant) taken the entire safe, torched it open, etc…
But you’re right: E-locks are a hazard. Two of my safes have all-mechanical locks (S&G) and the third, ready safe has a ROTOBOLT – a hybrid mechanical/electronic lock so if the e-lock fails, I can still get in.
S&G mechanical locks are still available.
Think this will impact Libertys sales?
Not materially.
Not sales but they’ve pretty much “Zumbo-ed” themselves and even if they don’t take a financial hit, they’ll take a PR hit.
Depends. Will Sean (Do you know he practices martial arts) Hannity keep shilling them?
If I had a Liberty Safe, I’d put a real lock on it.
The single best way to keep something private from thieving thieves of all stripes is for NOBODY but you to know it exists. Yeah, a safe is nice to keep kids and the occasional burglar out of your goodies. On the other hand, you are correct in that it’s the very first place a badge will want to ‘search’, warrant or not.
1) Liberty is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Woketarded, Inc.
https://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2023/09/wave-goodbye-to-liberty-safe.html
2) They were sent a copy of the search warrant. It had no power over them.
That would have required a subpoena on their records, which they neither asked for, nor received.
3) They had their noses so far up the FBIs butt on this, they’re working three shifts/day on Damage Control.
Too little, too late.
Ladies and gentlemen, we now have the newest contestant in the “I Want To Be The Next Bud Light” Sweepstakes.
It would be morally wrong to grant them the payback they’ve earned for “just following orders“.
But yes, keeping anything out of other people’s hands probably starts with not putting it inside the big, obvious steel boxy thing in your bedroom closet.
That simply highlights the inexorable expanding douchebaggery of TPTB.
It subtracts from Liberty’s lickspittle rush to toadie up to them not a whit.
The FBI, per usual, is the Gestapo in this morality play. Perhaps Hugo Boss can design them some new, spiffy uniforms this time too.
Liberty Safe is merely a cousin of the Krupp family, with the NSDAP pin in their lapel.
FWIW, Liberty Safe is HQ’ed in Utah.
Their address is easily found on the ‘net.
I plan on sending them a square of toilet paper, and suggesting they use it to get the FBI’s excrement off their noses.
YMMV.
The funniest part is Liberty Safes’ second response: “If you want us to stop keeping records of your access codes, just fill out this form and we’ll take you off the list.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw35XbSLpUn/?img_index=2
At least they claim going forward they’ll require a subpoena before they give the police access.
It requires the user to believe that Liberty will actually do what it says they will do and delete your info. I wouldn’t believe it. It might make more sense to remove the serial numbers from the safe instead.
Great points
That might only work if you purchase it under a different name and address.
Happy Paratus!
I have a Liberty Safe with a mechanical lock. The mechanical combination is not changeable so theoretically, with the serial number from my safe, you could get the combination from Liberty. So, that won’t solve it…
Return the defective merchandise and demand a full refund
Find a competent bonded locksmith (the bonded part is important) and have him change the lock for a Sargent & Greenleaf mechanical combination lock. The Group 2 mechanical locks are stronger than the Group 1 and not that much more expensive (and, some of S&G’s Group 2 locks come with 4 wheels, meaning one more number in the combo. Which isn’t really that important, but some people like them).
The bonded locksmith, under penalty of seeing his business evaporate, will not divulge whatever combination he sets on your mechanical lock. If you’re still concerned, have him show you how to set the combination, write down the instructions, and have him supervise while you re-set the combination, so you can re-set it again after he leaves.
Pro Tip: Set and test the combination WITH THE SAFE DOOR OPEN. Better safes will not allow that, there’s a tab on the hinge side that gets pressed in when the door is closed, duct tape will hold it in while you set and test the combination with the door open. TEST IT SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE CLOSING THE SAFE AND SPINNING THE DIAL. If you mess up the combo, it’s easy to correct with the door open. With the door closed and locked, not so much.
Liberty Safe Co is definitely on the Do Not Patronize list. Bet their fall will be quicker then Abevs Bud Light.
And to think I was getting ready to pull the trigger on a purchase of a Liberty Safe. Guess I’ll find another option.
What have we learned kidzzzz??
What?
If it’s electronic…99.99% of America USES it, but has NO CLUE, beyond that. Exactly how and what it is doing.
That same percentage seems to forget that the Fidelity, Bravery and INTEGRITY GANG do as they damn please. And if it makes it to court….they will tie it up for Decades.
This is Alot of nothing.
If This Surprised/Shocked you…
…You have Not Been Paying Attention…
At All.
Sorry for being that prick.
the other side of the coin is given enough time and angle grinder blades most any safe can be opened. Liberty gave them an easier route by being lapdogs to the .gov.
So, what safe company would not do that?
How did the FBI know to ask for that info?
Most all safes (except the bottom tier) have changeable combinations. Otherwise 20-10-30 would open them all.
The backdoor for Liberty’s electronic locks was to allow the morons that bought those POS’s in the first place to get in, when they pooched the reset procedure or forgot their own combo.
Any safe, Any vault can be breeched. The FBI could have simply (and at least within the terms of their warrant) torched the safe open. Of course, someone may store things that don’t do well to high temps inside…. I know I keep my Tannerite elsewhere.
Some years back a couple of thieves tried using an acetylene torch to open a safe about a half hour away from me. The owner happened to store industrial strength fireworks in it along with other things. Both died.
With any safe and even with other types of built into the house “hidey-hole” situations (“hidden” room, etc.), you still need to trust a number of people not to reveal the existence of the safe or the location of the hidden area to others that want your possessions. When you buy a safe, you have to trust the guy that sold you the safe, the delivery crew, the neighbors that see the safe getting moved into the house, any guests or workmen that come into the house, the cleaning lady, etc. – I completely trust only a few people.
Safes should only be used as a decoy. Buy a cheap safe from Costco and fill it with a few disposable items and maybe 100 fiat notes, while the real valuables are hidden away and maybe buried.
^That, right there.
Commander:
Deleting the serial no will ensure that they destroy your safe.
Heads they win – Tails you lose…
Hide your valuables and only leave a well-wrapped turd in the safe!
Ceejay
True, but they have to decide if it’s worth the effort to destroy your safe potentially destroying your property in the process.
As the old saying goes, if they can see you, they can hit you, and if they can hit you they can kill you.
Anybody: fed, state, burglar, etc can only get what they can find – a safe is useful for certain items you want secured but need ready access to; things you don’t need quick access to should be better hidden.
Nothing is 100% yours in this situation. However, making things a bit more difficult is always a plus, I think.
I liked these guys.
https://www.securityproducts1.com/non-drillable-locks
Say you have a group of friends but far apart – you can get them keyed the same so that, in the After, you might be able to acquire stuff and things eventually. You can see that as a plus or minus feature, depending on your risk tolerance.
Well here is an update to this story. A follow-up article at the Gateway Pundit confirms the parent company of Liberty Safe is a huge donor to anti gun organizations run by Marxocrats. These bastards have no morales at all.
Dirtbag move by Liberty. If they really believed in their name they wouldn’t even have a back door access. As an aside to all of this safe talk, I highly recommend the book “Safecracker” by Dave McOmie. Absolutely fascinating if you have any interest in locks and safes.