How NOT to use your Gun Safe

[mom of 3 angels]

ksl.com - 3 boys rescued after being locked inside gun safe at store

August 14th, 2008 @ 11:24pm
By Sarah Dallof

There were some tense moments inside a local sporting goods store when three boys playing around climbed inside a gun vault and their friend shut the door.

The vault had a fail-safe, a common combination that should open every lock in the store, but it didn't work.

Firefighters say the safe was 4 feet high, 4 feet wide and 2 feet deep, good for holding up to 45 guns, but not so good for three children. Fourteen-year-old Myan was all smiles as he left Dick's Sporting Goods, but earlier this evening he and two friends were in the tight spot, running out of oxygen.


"We went into the safe and we kinda closed the door, and it locked," Myan said.

His friends ran over to the clerks and told them they'd locked their friends in the safe. Store employees tried the safe's combination, one that was designed to open any vault in the store. It didn't work, so they called 911. Firefighters drilled holes in the safe while they decided how to proceed.

Scott Freitag, with the Salt Lake City Fire Department, said, "They took the pressurized air they use on their air packs and attached that and put that on the side of the safe so air was going through."

Myan says his mind was full of thoughts like, "What were you thinking? Are we gonna die? Stuff like that."

Firefighters weren't sure how thick the vault's steel was, so they were hesitant to use a saw. "They ended up using pneumatic air tools and actually cut the back of the safe off," Freitag said.

Tonight, Myan says he's grateful to those who rescued him and his friends, and he has this advice for anyone who thinks about climbing in a gun vault: "Don't do it. It's a bad idea, really bad."

Calls to Dick's Sporting Goods' corporate offices were not returned. No one locally would comment on why the combination didn't work.

Investigators will determine whether the children will get into any trouble.

Looks like some parents just bought a slightlly used safe!

[HK4U]

Who was watching those three?

[{TEX}Hawaii((]

Not so smart. All the safes I recently saw that were open had the bolts out where they could not be locked.

[Sheldon]

Same thing happened at Dunham's here about 2 years ago, kid locked his sibling in the gun safe, difference is that they know all the combinations, so the kid was only locked if for about 15 minutes. Had a repeat at the local Sam's club too but that was almost a year later.

[tattedupboy]

Where were these kids' parents?

[Glock Fan]

All of the stores here that sell gun safes have them disabled so that they either don't close (tumblers removed or locked in the "closed" position) or don't open.

All of the gun shops requrie parental supervison for children under the age of 16.


gf

[DrLewall]

those darn kids! They do the darndest things, don't they?

[tattedupboy]

Originally Posted by DrLewall

those darn kids! They do the darndest things, don't they?

Actually, isn't it more like parents do the darndest things?

[sambo42xa]

GlockF mentioned {and TEX} all the stores in His area has them disassembled (tumblers,etc.) which I think is a great idea. I'm not sure about the stores in my area (NH), but I know the local WallyWorld stores do not. The owner/s of the store should have noticed these "youngsters" to see IF they had any business in the store when they walked in. What a tragic scene IF it took a turn for the worse. KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR KID'S!
Thankful no one was killed.

[murph50]

Parents don't really keep an eye on or dicsipline their kids much anymore. Many times when I'm in a store there are kids running around screaming and bumping into people and the parents don't seem to care.
Or the parent says stop or you'll get a "time out" and the kids just ignore it and keep on being brats.
I like this idea. I'm gonna talk to my grocery store and see if I can get them to start selling some nice big safes.
Set up a nice display in the corner somewhere and leave the doors open--LOL