The Downside Of Firearm Registration By Walrus.

I am moving to a Forty acre country property shortly. I am required to advise the firearms register people of the new address for my Four firearms. The Police will then inspect my new gunsafe arrangements. From what I have been told, it appears that "someone" has unauthorised access to the registry and is providing a menu service to well organised thieves. Furthermore from what I have heard, the Police response to firearm thefts is somewhat muted. Another unintended consequence of firearm registration - becoming a target for thieves. I intend to fit a number of cell phone equipped trail cameras to protect my property, but will the Police be interested in catching someone in the act? Does anyone have any suggestions?

Comments

[BabelFish]

Dogs, no sarcasm intended. Geese work for the Europeans.

[William R. Cumming]

A ghilly suit?

[FND]

Firearm possession laws are unconstitutional. Ignore them.

[nick b]

My first thought too: Dogs.

[nick b]

You might also consider posting something like this around the property.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/186250261/caution-do-not-expect-a-warning-shot?ref=market

[SAC Brat]

Two gunsafes? One for official display and review, another for storage?

[John Minnerath]

FND
Walrus is in Australia.

[John Minnerath]

Walrus,
The onerous firearms laws you folks now have in place have had many unforeseen consequences.
A big one has been the theft of privately owned guns.
I doubt under current circumstances the police will be of much help.
They don't want you to have any guns anyway.

[Charles I]

Dogs are the way to go for sure.

[tv]

Move to Alaska

[Imagine]

1) Have a moderately secure rack by your front door, or in the guest cottage/garage, and a strong rack in the safe room. Show the inspectors the guns in the moderately secure rack, then "temporarily" relocate them.

2) Wait five years, then buy a self-recharging fleet of 24/7 intelligent quadcopters.

3) Two rings of protection, a deer fence around the outside property, and a 10' wall with electric fencing on top around the 3 acres surrounding your home, to keep the 'gators out.

4) Cameras are two kinds, color/IR for images, and B&W anti-glare for license plates. Know your usage.

5) Dogs. At least one beagle for long-distance loudness, at least two of a large/intelligent breed for force projection.

HTH.

[Fred]

Looks like the West Coast liberals are on their way to registration:
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Lewis-County-tones-down-gun-initiative-286032081.html
http://sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/initiatives/FinalText_483.pdf

[Lars]

Put a sign by the driveway that you have exotic snakes for sale.

[different clue]

Since it reads like the problem you are concerned with is thieves coming for your guns guided by inside information provided by moles and leakers within the gun registration division of law enforcement, then the solution is keeping the guns well enough passively-defended to wear a thief out.

Perhaps a gun safe-room made out of combinations of steel and other strong materials and that Iranian-style Ultra High Performance Concrete. Too strong and/or thick for thieves to
chop through or weld through or blast through. With a bank vault type door. This is assuming that the guns are worth more than the price of the guns.

[Doran in Lee County]

Move to Texas.

Dogs are effective. The suggestions for two or more gun safes is tempting, but it might require you to make a false report.

Signs can be fun: "No trespassing. Violators will be shot."

[FND]

My ignorance. Sorry.

[Fred]

Walrus,

"it appears that "someone" has unauthorised access to the registry and is providing a menu service to well organised thieves."

I think your police's priorities are not in order.

[FND]

Most guns safes marketed in the US are really just strong lockers made to look like safes. These so-called safes can be pried open quickly by experienced thieves, like within minutes. There are however true gun safes. Of course they are very pricey. Here is a true gun safe made in the US.

http://www.graffundersafes.com/

I'm sure there are comparable true gun safes available in Australia.

[phugh]

Android phones (probably I phones also) with cameras can be used for light detection, and the google play store has free apps to text, call or email when the camera detects light (as when the door of the safe is open) or the motion of the door opening. You would have keep the phone charged somehow. I don't have an answer of what to do after you get the email, text or call (I do, but it's probably not legal). Current battery operated tools with abrasive wheels make securing things pretty difficult, so like someone else posted, another location, like a concrete or steel lined hole (really big floor safe) with a recessed steel hatch and an alarm may be good. Keeping things dry in the ground could be a problem. I have dogs, but you have to teach them to not eat anything you don't give them. Also with a two or more attackers, one keeps the dogs busy while the others do the theft.

[Laura Wilson]

Walrus, Fortunately, due to our rather more lax gun laws there is no firearms theft in the USA. Oh, wait, there is….possibly it is inescapable but dogs do seem to be the best option for any kind of theft prevention. At least that is what the cops told us after my jewelry was stolen. Dogs are probably a lot more fun than most other options!

[robt willmann]

Whether or not there are a lot of trees and some elevation to part of the property can affect what you do. But here are some thoughts.

A fence around the outside boundary of the land would be good, for keeping any animals you may have in and predators out, and slowing down trespassers a little. A good one is a 20-96-6 fence, meaning 20 wires horizontally from the ground up to the top, 96 inches tall, and vertical wires 6 inches apart. The horizontal wires at the bottom are closer together to keep smaller animals out/in (about 3 inches apart) and then they get further apart higher up. The best is high tensile steel with a "fixed knot" as the weave, which keeps the wires in place. Some "deer fences" have the wires in place by a "hinged loop", but these can slide. You put "T-posts" every 20 feet to support the wire; they are galvanized metal in the shape of a T. Then, you put posts of galvanized steel pipe every 100 feet for further support.

You still have to deal with attempts to crawl under the fence. One person I know runs barbed wire about an inch and a half above the ground, and then the bottom of the fence is about an inch and a half above that.

Dogs are the other main thing. What breed(s) can depend on whether you plan to have cattle, goats, sheep, or other animals on the land, whether there will be children in the household, and so on.

A very versatile dog is the German Shorthaired Pointer. It is medium-sized and very energetic; it can track, hunt, point, and retrieve; it works in and out of the water; it can handle different types of weather; it is friendly with a family; and will still bark as a watchdog. It needs space to run and move, and you would have plenty of space for that.

http://www.akc.org/breeds/german_shorthaired_pointer/index.cfm

http://www.gspca.org/

If you are going to have goats or other livestock, the Anatolian Shepherd dogs are good to have to stay with the animals. You put them in the pasture where the animals are, feed them there, and they mingle with and stay with the goats, sheep, etc. and automatically protect them; you do not have to train them. They will fight predators and they bark in a deep, strong voice. They are a full-sized, large dog. If you have other dogs, you just keep them out of the pasture and the Anatolians in it, and they will occasionally bark at each other across the fence, but that is no problem. I have had personal experience with them in that work and they do the job. They can also handle different types of weather.

http://www.akc.org/breeds/anatolian_shepherd_dog/index.cfm

http://www.akc.org/pdfs/breeds/ClubFlierPDFs/AnatolianShepherd.pdf

An even larger dog that will stay with other animals is the Rafeiro Do Alentejo, or Alentejo Mastiff. It is from Portugal and I do not know whether it is in other parts of the world or not, and have had no experience with it. It would probably be a bit much and not appropriate if you have people coming and going; moreover, I don't know how it is with children.

http://canildepaiopires.com.sapo.pt/english/kennel.htm

http://www.akc.org/breeds/rafeiro_do_alentejo/index.cfm

If you are only going to have one breed of dog, then a Doberman Pinscher is good for watching over your territory, as they are very intelligent and trainable and good with a family, but they have a tendency to be "dog dominant" around other breeds; the Jack Russell terrier also does not mix well with other dogs.

Dogs that are not as large but are good at keeping the rodents and rabbits down and the squirrels in the trees, and will bark, are Smooth Fox terriers and Airedale terriers. I have heard that the Harrier is good, too.

For general security, there are retired U.S. Secret Service people around who do consulting. One ran in the general election in Maryland twice, for the U.S. Senate and House, and almost won this year. He did well in the Service and was on the presidential security detail for Bush jr and Obama. He needs work since he lost the election. Maybe some corporate friends will split his travel cost with you, and he can give you some advice and the companies might want a person like him to freshen up their security a little--

http://bonginoconsulting.com

Living with some space around you is great...good luck!

[dsrcwt]

Saw this recently and thought of this thread:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/hardware/page.aspx?p=72655&cat=53&ap=1

Can't steal what you can't find.