Lock Pick Laws, Rules and Regulations: Is the Hobby a Crime in Your State? | Hacker News Reader

Lock Pick Laws, Rules and Regulations: Is the Hobby a Crime in Your State?

united-locksmith.net

86 pointsleephillips26 comments

Lock picking is what lead me to learn to code. I had randomly ended up watching a YouTube video on bumping locks one day(YouTube can take you on some wild rides lol). Naturally, I tried it right away on my own door, low and behold it worked! After gorging myself on lock-picking tutorials for a while I came across this DEFCON 19 presentation - Safe to Armed in Seconds: A Study of Epic Fails of Popular Gun Safes https://youtu.be/vIJFQO4DIxw Of course after watching several hours worth of DEFCON presentations, and my first taste of what the fuck computer code even was, I was hooked.

You might like these two vids I made a while back:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3I6lbpF68Q

and a shorter version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwD54DiYprw

Also -- im sure you already know, but /r/lockpicking is a fun... but slow place.

I make my own custom picks from street sweeper blades and scrap leather, which is also a fun hobby.

http://i.imgur.com/uLbdJ63.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/b1SRJBI.jpg

Those picks show a great deal of both care and pride in your handiwork, very impressive and beautiful from a tooling point of view.

Back when I was a lock-smith, we would have a contest sometimes to see who could get into a house first (legally), the security system tech usually won, not the very skilled lock-smith. There is always another way into the house, like exposed hinges, poorly constructed double-doors, unlocked windows, etc.

Locks only stop opportunists, or something like that.

I admit it doesn't always apply, but my favorite line on this type of thing is "A door lock is only as strong as the glass window next to it."

Locks only stop honest people.

Destructive entry is by far the most common with simple burglary and such - not lock picking.

Oh you have a $200 high security lock? Too bad it's on a $20 plank that breaks very easily.

The BBC in the UK had a show about this. It was supposedly by an ex convicted burglar and he would break into people's homes to show them issues and how to protect themselves (reality TV style, but BBC so very subdued).

The alarmist nature of the show not withstanding, it was very interesting to see him at work. Very rarely did he do anything technical, complex, or time consuming.

MOST of his entries: Press the doorbell to make sure nobody was home. Walk around, hop the back garden fence. Walk up to a door, turn away from it, bend his foot back, and kick the bottom of the door with his foot until the frame gave in (1-2 minute entry).

Rarely he'd break windows, screens, utilise a small crowbar, or utilise a ladder left laying down in people's back gardens to break into upper floors.

The most complicated break-in I witnessed on the show was via a motorised garage (essentially just used a crowbar, and then leverage to force it up, then slide under).

Never once did he use a lockpick, or do anything that a teenage couldn't have done. A screwdriver and or tiny crowbar are his only tools.

You might really find this AMA interesting:

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/eewou/iama_retired_ca...

He says the best thing is to laminate accessible windows such that they cant be shattered easily. (obviously laminating the inside of the window)

You're correct, but lock picking is useful for criminals who are looking to break into a building without leaving a trace (for whatever nefarious purpose).

Do you have a real life example of such a criminal, or is this just speculation?

Watergate is the first example that popped into my head.

I.e. the range from "very sophisticated criminals" to Mossad. An average person isn't even a potential target for this group.

That said, locks serve a different purpose - they're to stop random people from just coming by, taking your stuff and leaving. The kind of people who are not 100% commited to burglary, so they won't be destroying your property in order to get in, but who'd nevertheless take your stuff if they found it unprotected.

That, and also the important social signal: "strangers not welcome without announcing themselves and being allowed to enter".

ProTip: Don't carry a set of lock picks in your carry on luggage. Having attended a lecture where, as part of the experience, people got a simple set of lock picks and practiced on various locks. At least one of those people reported having their lock picks seized at the airport (San Francisco) on their way home.

That said, its a really good way to practice fine motor skills. And practicing can be kind of therapeutic as it gives your hands something to focus on.

I always carry lock picks in my wallet, and I've been stopped numerous times at airports with them, including SFO. I usually just explain what they are and they send me on my way. I imagine they can't legally seize them in CA.

See Kevin Mitnick's business card:

https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/shopping/kevin-mitnick-lock-...

Yep, my disability affects my fine motor skills especially. At RuxCon this year I was able to pick a lock with assistance (a very patient person + a vice on a desk). It's amazing, once you start figuring out what you're feeling via vibrations.

No, but they do have a law about "burglary tools" that can include bolt cutters. That's pretty ridiculous if you ask me.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8867538

Criminals (in this case bike thieves) just change their tactics:

"He used a limited tool set—generally just wirecutters, a wrench, and a screwdriver—and didn’t like bolt cutters. “You caught with bolt cutters, they charge you with burglary,” he claimed."

That linked tread is surreal. Some things thieves use:

"Cops found shattered pieces from my U-lock and told me the thief used liquid nitrogen."

"The thief used a portable plasma cutter in broad daylight."

And a comment that's hard to disagree with:

"We used to hang horse theives no reason not to hang bike theives."

> And a comment that's hard to disagree with: > "We used to hang horse theives no reason not to hang bike theives."

Really? You find it hard to disagree with killing a man who steals a bike?... metal and rubber?

Not to agree with killing someone but a bike is more than metal and rubber. Sometimes it is your method of transport to and from work or other more important things.

And sometimes it's a gift from your father, a thing you really enjoy using. Sometimes it is your method of spending time with friends.

Sometimes it is the last gift your father ever gave to you.

(No, I'm not injecting any personal bias here at all.)

No, of course I don't. It was a poorly executed hyperbole on my part.

That said, I believe as a society we should be cracking down much harder on bike thieves.

I searched for lock picks on taobao.com, but found no results. It turns out that only locksmiths are allowed to buy/own lock picks in China :(

Have a look at banggood they have a huge selection shipped from China.

Thanks. But I live in China, and Banggood doesn't ship to China (it's not in the 'Ship to' drop down on their site). I presume this is because they would then have to deal with domestic taxes like sales tax or VAT, whereas goods which are exported aren't subject to domestic taxes, and may even be eligible for export subsidies.

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