Sheriff's office: Safe with 23 guns stolen out of Palmetto home By BRENT CONKLIN bconklinbradenton.com
PALMETTO -- A 700-pound safe containing 23 guns valued at $15,000 and a 50-pound safe with approximately $7,000 in cash, $3,000 in jewelry and coins and $3,000 in savings bonds were stolen Tuesday out of a Palmetto home, the Manatee County Sheriff�s Office reports.
The resident of the home in the 3000 block of 105th Street East went to work at around 7:30 a.m. and returned at approximately 4:30 p.m. to find a front window smashed and an office and two bedrooms ransacked, a report stated.
There are no known suspects or witnesses at this time.
The victim, 56, is a member of the Manatee gun club. He told deputies that he has no idea who might have committed the crime.
"I was a deerhunter long before I was a man." ~Gene Wensel's Come November (2000) "A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user." ~Theodore Roosevelt
did they pop the safes open or just haul them away?
the article didn't say?
if times get tough, I'd expect criminals to be better prepared to enter home gun and security safes or prepared to haul them off and open at their leisure.
the old saw "don't keep all your eggs in one basket comes to mind"
I'm pretty certain when we sing our anthem and mention the land of the free, the original intent didn't mean cell phones, food stamps and birth control.
When I lived in East Texas they had a rash of safe break ins. Guys in a work truck would back up the house and start the generator and compressor on the back of the truck and people assuemd they were working on something. They then used a plasma cutter to cut the top off and were gone in minutes.
I had a big, heavy Liberty safe bolted into the concrete floor of my garage.
During my divorce, my wife got into it with a 16 ounce standard claw hammer and 10 minutes of fury. She knocked the dial right off. Fortunately I had already removed everything.
I would not have believed this if I had not seen the results. I guess these safes are safe from burglars, fire, natural disasters and acts of God, but a really pissed off woman cancels all bets.
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery. Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
Like locks on a door they are only a deterence. I'm sure you can get a safe that nobody can get into even given time, but I'm going to guess and say it probably cost more than any firearms you would be putting into it.
I have a sheet metal box with a cheep combo lock. It is just to keep the kids out. A determined man using one of my crowbars could peal in in less that two minutes. It is in the back of an unlocked basement. The guns are in the house and there is no lock on the front door of my house. I have no illusions of security.
I had a big, heavy Liberty safe bolted into the concrete floor of my garage.
During my divorce, my wife got into it with a 16 ounce standard claw hammer and 10 minutes of fury. She knocked the dial right off. Fortunately I had already removed everything.
I would not have believed this if I had not seen the results. I guess these safes are safe from burglars, fire, natural disasters and acts of God, but a really pissed off woman cancels all bets.
Didn't you get that memo about "hell hath no fury"???
I keep guns 'n stuff in 5 different safes. Not all are in one location. The safes are much heavier than the one in the article, probably cost more, and are bolted to the wall and slab.
That being said, someone that knows what they are doing could take or open them all. Fire is a concern of mine, more so than burglary. These safes are top rated for fire. Like Scott said, my biggest concern is kids breaking in. They won't get anything.
.... and a 50-pound safe with approximately $7,000 in cash, $3,000 in jewelry and coins .... He told deputies that he has no idea who might have committed the crime.
This is a guy who buys and sells around town with lots of cash.
Likely, a surprising number of people know exactly who he is and what his vehicle looks like and where he lives.
How did she do that? I mean if you knock off the dial that doesn't mean she can open the door>
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
Safes are either fire resistant (note that is NOT fireproof) ore theft resistant but not both. An ideal gun safe is theft resistant and correctly installed. That would mean set into a basement foundation so that it can not be removed. It would be set such that only the door could be reached making it harder to peal the door. This would be covered up by some sort of paneling or hidden door so as to be harder to find. Even with these precautions it would still only be fire resistant and theft resistant. I can open any lock but the newer locks like the G&S MP. The hardest padlock can be shattered in a minute with just a small hammer and a flask of liquid nitrogen. Alarms can be deactivated. If it can mbe built it can be broken into.
I bought my safe from a police auction. they made a couple measurements and drilled the safe.....voila! they were in. I rebuilt the locking mechanism and changed all the internal dims as well as added concrete and glass to the areas I could. is it thief proof....no. will it take a lot more work to get rid of it with out moe knowing.....yes. I have given thought to adding a cinder block room to keep it and some other stuff in, not so much for theft, but fire protection.
Originally Posted by BrentD
I would not buy something that runs on any kind of primer given the possibility of primer shortages and even regulations. In fact, why not buy a flintlock? Really. Rocks aren't going away anytime soon.
In my own case, "How safe is the idiot messing with my safe" would be more the point,.....
"messing with my safe" is an ESCALATION of threat, that might entail any number of unforeseen developments.
It's not like my furniture isn't insured, or that holes in the roof can't be repaired, blown out windows replaced.
...though I'll grant that washing off all the gore and parts might just call out scrapping the old place entirely, and moving the safe (intact) into newer quarters.
Just kidding,.....but I'll tell ya' what ,...that "De-Terminator" is nothing to azz around with, on one's best day.
GTC
Member, Clan of the Border Rats -- “Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.”- Mark Twain
bradenton.com
