In this article I wish to cover some small but quite startling things that may mean our homes are not quite as secure as we think they are.
As firearms owners we obviously take issues such as security very seriously, generally we store our firearms in a metal safe certified to British Standards, strongly secured to the structure of our buildings which then has to meet police approval. Although firearms theft is extremely rare we are perhaps a target for some nefarious people and whilst I don’t believe that we should be faced with more regulation or restrictions because of this rather small threat (rather we should likely be granted more freedom in certain areas because of it but that’s another argument) we should none the less take every precaution.
Although brief I think the advice present will be informative and useful to every member of the public who could well use the advice here to make their homes that little bit more secure too.
What is this advice?
Simple
Let us start with looking at the locks and hinges on your front & back doors.
What are they? 5 Lever sash locks & mortice deadbolts from a reputable manufacturer conforming to British Standards and solidly constructed? Heavy duty hinges with at least 4 screws?
Most likely but now look a little deeper, remove the screws from your locks and hinges.
Chances are they are around 1”-1 ½” in length. You have quality metal work barely secured into the door frame. Something that can quite easily be kicked in.
(A high quality heavy duty hinge supplied with screws around 1 ¼” perfectely adequate for fitting the hinge but not so for making it really secure)
The solution is simple remove these pathetic little screws from your locks, hinges and strike plates and install as long and as large diameter screws as possible. This allows the screws to penetrate deeper into the door framework and studs and will make your door much stronger. Typically 3” is a standard size however you may be unable to do this so make them as long as possible.
(an example of screw lengths, it is more than likely the bottom size screw present in your locks when it should be something closer to the top screw)
In addition to this I also removed the face plates and reinforced them with additional welding, obviously this may not be an option for everyone but stronger plates should also be considered.
It is something that can be done in half an hour but increases your homes resistance to break in dramatically. The more effort or noise it takes someone to break into your home the more likely they will give up or avoid due to fear of being caught.
