Liberty Safe finks out on customers with the feds

[Suck My Glock]

[Suck My Glock]

[Suck My Glock]

So I just got an interesting report from a buddy who works at TRACTOR SUPPLY. They carry the Winchester line of safes. His particular store took in a returned Winchester safe. (The return had nothing to do with the function or quality apparently.) But the owners had programed their own combination,...and forgotten to provide it to Tractor Supply when they returned it. So Tractor Supply contacted Winchester to see if they had a solution.

Indeed they did.

Winchester supplied a MASTER combination number that Tractor Supply was able to use to open the safe and reset the combination!

I don't condemn Tractor Supply in any of this. But Winchester,....

While I do not have any info suggesting Winchester has ever supplied such information to the feds,...it certainly is there for them to supply if ever requested by authorities, whether officially or not.

[QuangTri]

Luckily a S&G dial lock is only around $100 and well within the capability of the average gun owner to swap out.

[musicman10_1]

Seems they don't understand the word "liberty."

[QuangTri]

Seems they don't understand the word "liberty."

Or, were made an offer they could not refuse?

[BigNate]

I don't have a problem with a safe having a back door code - IF (and only if):
1) The company is transparent with the buyer about it...
2) It can be changed / deleted by the owner...
3) The company that holds it (if the owner opts in for them to be held) does not turn the code over to anyone without a court order specifically requiring them to do so...

If Liberty had said:
"The buyer of the safe opted in and chose to have the back door code turned on, and here is the copy of the court order specifically requiring Liberty Safe to turn the code over to the FBI..."

...THEN I'd have not had a problem with it. The fact that they turned it over without a legal mandate that they do so is what makes it so offensive.

The reality is that the FBI was going to get into the safe - whether with a back door code - or by having a locksmith cut / pry / whatever into the safe. That said - how that happened should have been the choice of the owner of the safe ONLY - unless a court order specifically required Liberty to give up the backdoor code.

[QuangTri]

Liberty keeps dial lock codes for 'security" if an owner forgets his code.
Opting for a dial lock does not make you immune to them giving the code to the feds.

It is quite easy to change the code so no one but you has it.