Hey, Mark. Glad to see there's another locksmith in the group. I
worked my way through college as a locksmith; I don't do it every day, but
I do keep on top of it.

Anyway- what Mark said. Most theft and break-ins are functions of
opportunity. It's easier to break a window next to a door and open it on
up- good reason to use double-cylinder deadbolts, although there are
safety risks if you do so. Tip: Keep a key on a hook at floor level near
the door, or at least keep a key in the lock in the event of fire.

Theft involving direct manipulation of a lock- picking or bumping-
is very rare indeed. Some locks- like Kwiksets- are easy enough to bypass
without bump keys. Have a Kwikset key-in-knob lock? A pair of vice grips
and a machine screw will do it- pop the cup and directly manipulate the
mechanism with a screwdriver. Cinch.

People want a cheap lock on the door, and they get what they pay
for. The $18 piece of pot metal won't do the same job as a $160 Medeco.
Even then, unless the strike is done correctly- anchored into a wall stud
with the 3" screws each lock comes with- it's still easy enough to kick it
in. Lots of houses just have the strike put in place without the anchor
screws thanks to lazy or cheap builders. It all looks the same once it's
finished.

Bump keys are just an extension of a long history of bypassing
locks the easy way. Maybe Mark'll remember the "ice pick" attacks from the
early 1990's when some genius figured out you could directly manipulate
the latch after piercing the door- bypassing $300 locksets almost as fast
as you could with the key. That's why all modern latches (the good ones,
anyway) come with integral shrouds.

The address in the header doesn't work. Send no email there.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ