Security comes in layers. Make your home as difficult to break into as possible
- Don’t leave the gun outside of the safe
- Don’t put your gun safe in a garage.
- The garage is one of the most vulnerable points of entry into a house.
- Garage doors are vulnerable to a variety of hacks
- Radio Frequency Cloning
- Guessing the password combination to a garage door is often woefully easy.
- It is usually “1234” or “0000”, which are the factory defaults.
- Garage windows are not reinforced.
- Keep records of the guns you own in a secure location.
- Reinforce the glass on the windows of the garage.
Printed from the Charlotte Observer – http://www.CharlotteObserver.comPosted: Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013Unsecured AR-15 rifle reported stolen from U.S. Rep. Ellmer’s home
By Andrew KenneyPublished in: PoliticsRALEIGH U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers’ husband reported an AR-15 rifle stolen from the family’s home in Dunn last week, according to a police report.
The weapon had been left leaning against a gun locker in an unlocked garage on Kingsway Drive, the report said.
The rifle, a gun case and a GPS, with a cumulative value of $1,100, were reported stolen, according to Chief J.D. Pope. Police think the theft happened on the night of Oct. 15.
“According to the report, they had been out target shooting and brought the gun back and leaned it against the gun safe,” Pope said. “ … The garage door was left unsecured, according to the report.”
The case remains under investigation and likely will be treated as a burglary, he said. Ellmers’ husband, Brent Ellmers, was listed as the victim, Pope said.
The family was unharmed but shaken, said Thomas Doheny, communications director for Ellmers. Doheny confirmed that “several items were stolen” from the congresswoman’s home but said in an email that he couldn’t disclose further information yet.
The weapon belonged to Ellmers’ college-aged son, he confirmed. Ellmers was in Washington, D.C., at the time of the theft.
“Gun safety is of the utmost importance in their household, which is exactly why she’s so upset and doesn’t understand how this happened,” Doheny said.
The police report did not indicate whether there was any ammunition in or near the gun or whether there was a lock on it. And unless the gun has been stolen by a minor, it appears unlikely that the reportedly unsecured status of the gun would open its owners to any charge under state or federal gun laws.
“Our investigator has probably looked into that, but we’ve not discussed that yet,” Pope said.
North Carolina’s gun-storage laws apply only when a minor gains unlawful access to a gun and discharges it, according to Charlotte attorney Thomas Faulk. There are no federal laws requiring gun owners to lock or to prevent minors access to their weapons, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which advocates for gun-control measures.
“A lot of people think there should be a particular statute on the subject, simply saying failure to secure a weapon is in itself a crime, regardless of whether anything bad happens,” said Faulk, who wrote the book Firearms Law of North Carolina.
“Having a firearm is a right, but it comes with a responsibility,” he said, speaking of the law in general. However, Mitch Hyatt, a manager of Hyatt Gun Shop in Charlotte, noted that there was room for interpretation.
“Maybe there was a gun lock (typically a steel cable) on it that locked the gun from use but didn’t prevent it from being stolen,” he said. “If someone had it, they wouldn’t be able to operate it without cutting the lock off.”
Ellmers is a political conservative aligned with the tea party. In the 2012 election, she was endorsed by the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun groups.
The police report says there had been no other break-ins in the residential subdivision where Ellmers and her family live, according to The Associated Press. The serial number of the stolen rifle has been added to a national database used by law enforcement to track firearms.
Dunn police have named no suspects, Pope said.
Kenney: 919-829-4870; Twitter: @KenneyNC
Related articles
- Unsecured AR-15 rifle reported stolen from U.S. Rep. Ellmers home (charlotteobserver.com)
- Unsecured AR-15 reported stolen from US Rep. Ellmers’ home (newsobserver.com)
- AR-15, other items stolen from Ellmers’ home (wral.com)
- AR-15 assault rifle stolen from U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers’ home (myfox8.com)
- AR-15 assault rifle stolen from U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers’ home – ABC 11 (curmilus.wordpress.com)
- Unsecured AR-15 Stolen from Pro-Gun Congresswoman’s Home (gawker.com)
- Compiling a Firearms Record (gunsafetyblog.com)
- GOP representative demands positive Obamacare results but recoils when confronted with some (rawstory.com)
- Ellmers draws potential 2014 rivals (wral.com)
RealDefense 
I only have one gun, a 9mm smith and wesson, I keep it in a drawer by my bed. I thought of buying a handgun safe, but then I will have 2 stolen items instead of one if someone ever breaks in. What do you recommend I do? This is how I think, if they had stolen a machete, samurai sword, etc, nobody would be talking about the responsability of owning that item. I don’t think she’s responsible for the actions of criminals and not everyone can afford one of those heavy safes crooks can’t carry.
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Things like making your house appear occupied during the day with automatic TV and light timers, scotch guard on the window glass near the basement and putting the gun in a floor safe when you are not home go a very long way.
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It is a matter of context. A hidden floor safe for the gun during the daytime is a good way to go.
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Gun safety is incredibly important and guns should not be left completely unattended and not locked up.
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Bingo! The 3 rules are your building blocks.
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[…] PROTIP: Store Your Firearms Securely!. […]
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Still the most likely thing to have happen if you have a firearm in your home is not this but that you or a loved one is injured by that gun. First estimates (Kellerman) were 43 to 1 but who cares if it is only 20 to 1? Having a gun in your home is way more likely to have unpleasant results than the heroics pictured here.
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Which homes? The homes of dirty gang bangers? Screw them! They deserve to die. As for the homes of NORMAL PEOPLE, why don’t you google “guns save lives” and see how many folks are alive today because they had a gun. As for the Kellerman study, correlation does not involve causation, I’m sure more drownings occur in homes with swimming pools or next to lakes, yet we don’t ban neither lakes nor swimming pools .
Besides, America is about FREEDOM, not safety, even if the numbers were against me (which they aren’t according to the CDC’s studies of guns and self-defense) I would still support our RIGHT to keep and bear arms.
http://sellingthesecondamendment.com
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