PLEASE READ ! Gun Security - Gun Theft on the rise.

rambo87

We had a meeting with a Garda Seargent recently as they were concerned about the increases in peoples homes being targetted for Gun theft by organised crime in our area.

In 2010, there were 15 incidents of gun theft in our county, many of them with multiple stolen guns.

in 2011, there were 24 such incidents.

Most incidents took place on Saturday or Friday evening.

The sad news is lads.. theyre using the internet - boards, facebook, done deal and other sites to hunt down possible targets.

Houses with stuffed pheasants and gundogs were targetted, jeeps and wellies in the porch... landrovers in the drive etc.

(Jesus one look at my house/ garden and they'd know! )

People have been setting up fake accounts on social media websites and placing false wanted ads in magazines and online.

He told us to Use common sense...
NEVER link youre address to your shooting posts and be areful with for sale ads.
We're being targetted lads and we have to be careful..
Ive seen a few lads on here (including myself) give away their faces on photos, types of guns they have, part of the county - down to the townland where they live.. ive given my phone number and address out in a few PMs and now im worried.
I cant afford to replace my guns ive spent a years wages on gear ffs!!

rambo87

PS - Can you get house insurance cover for guns and gear??

Cass

Good advice, and the reason why we say on the forum charter that "Anonymity is a social construct".

Whether you outright say who you are or in some cases, like myself, are known to many, you are nowhere near as anonymous as you think. By simply piecing together info from posts people can get a rough idea of you, your location, routine, etc.

• Be vigilante.
• Be cautious.
• Don't draw attention to yourself.
• Do not put up stickers in your vehicles about shooting/shooting organisations, etc.
• Change your route when traveling to the range.
• Leave lights so on in the house.
• USE your gunsafes security measures. Its amazing how many have the security, but become complacent about using it.
• Don't go "bragging/shouting" about what you have to all.
• Be aware of strang cars that constantly pass you area/house. They usually check out an area before doing anything.
• When posting photos blank all faces, and try not leave identifiable landmarks.
• Block out car regs, serial numbers on guns.
• Do not post your phone number, e-mail, any contact details.

Thats why we always urge caution, and frown upon anyone asking for another's details.

At the end of the day using Boards or any forum for that matter carries withit certain "risks". However it does not mean you have to make it easier. Nor does it mean you need to shut out the world, and start stocking up on tinned goods.

As above - Use common sense.

rambo87 wrote: »

PS - Can you get house insurance cover for guns and gear??

Yes.

lb1981

Yeah i have a shot gun up for sale here and have got a few ropey looking posters wanting to see it , i didnt reply to them.
I did give out my address in a pm a few weeks ago for the free cocker training dvds that were up for grabs.They havnt arrived so im starting to get worried now.:(

deeksofdoom

Be careful of using cameras or smart phones with GPS tagging when posting pictures on websites.

When GPS tagging is enabled, the camera tags your photos with your GPS location at the time the photo is taken. When you upload the photo onto boards even if you are using something like photobucket the tags are still there and can be found on the properties of the photo.

All a prospective burglar need do is copy the tags/coordinates into google and within a couple of seconds he's looking at a picture of your house on google maps.

So if your going to be taking pictures of your firearm/dogs at home and then posting on boards ensure that GPS tagging is turned off, if not you can open the photo in MS paint and 'save as' a new file, this will remove the tags.

Sparks

I've been the subject of such a Garda chat recently. To be honest, some of it is common sense and some of it is really more scaremongering. Basic common sense is the best approach here, as Ezri spoke about above. Some technical tricks, like the GPS geotag removal deeks mentioned is useful - but that's mostly for hunters (any photo taken on a range will show you're on a range; given that ranges openly advertise their locations and have to do so for new members - and given that those locations are public domain knowledge via planning applications anyway; well a geotag there isn't going to cause harm).

Personally, I've been "decloaked", so to speak, on the net for over a decade now (I was a PRO with the NTSA originally and at the time, it was necessary - and once you're out there, that's pretty much that). But that doesn't mean you can't be secure - there's fairly few people who actually know where I live (though lots of folks think they know the address, they're out by a ways); we've always had the policy on this site of not posting exact addresses or phone numbers and trying to keep things reasonably fuzzy when you look for the fine details; and most posters here think that people who'd publish a shooter's address would be behaving reprehensibly anyway.

But there's two main things to keep in mind, at least in my opinion after a decade of doing this:

• Physical, real-world common sense should always be the first priority. Forget anonymising your facebook account, if you forget to lock your front door and turn on your house alarm when you leave, then you're basicly after fitting a steel door to a grass hut.
• Our sport will die if we all hide in a dark room and conceal ourselves from view. We need a balance between reasonable common-sense security precautions and the PR needs of our sports. Without visible people in the sport, newbies have no-one to look up to or deeds to aspire to, and without that... well, the average age in the sport when I started was listed in a parlimentary question as being in the late 40s, and it wasn't decreasing. If that never changes, we might as well give up on every court case, every FCP meeting, every dream or hope we have in sport, right here and now, and save ourselves all the time, money and grief.

And lastly, a postscript - there are no secrets in Ireland, not really. Everything comes out sooner or later. It's something to keep in mind when you think about things like this - if your security depends on secrecy, then you have no security.

zeissman

rambo87 wrote: »

PS - Can you get house insurance cover for guns and gear??

Most insurance companies will cover your gear under your contents insurance
but check with them first as you may have to specify valuable items.
I pay about 150 euro extra which covers my gear outside the home also.

knockon

Sparks wrote: »

Personally, I've been "decloaked", so to speak, on the net for over a decade now.

Not realty helped when you put yourself and Mrs Sparks up here on the wedding video clp:D Two years ago.?

Sparks

We were the first to get permission to get married in that castle in 800 years, I think we'd have had trouble keeping out of the news to be honest

LeonIRL2

Maybe this goes without saying but when I'm out I always take the bolt out of my rifle and take the barrel off my shotgun and store them in a completely different place. Takes two seconds but if someone were to break in they'd have to do a helluva lot of looking. And why steal a bolt-less or barrel-less gun... If they have the skill or inclination to manufacture either, chances are they don't need to break into my house.

Oh and hey Sparks, long time no see! Can remember my first time shooting, you were supervising me on the old .22! Seems like so long ago...:D

cavan shooter

The couple of robberies around us were opportunistic and in and out very quickly. Guns in a safe will always be a PITA as you have to spend time trying to get into the safe or get the safe of the wall. Bolts missing from the guns in the safe or a fore end missing is another.

Two security cameras one on the front door and one on the back is a good one too, they will always knock on the door first to check no one is home.

I always try to be as anonymous as possible on the internet, it can be difficult, but be careful and as said above be sensible

Sparks

LeonIRL2 wrote: »

Oh and hey Sparks, long time no see! Can remember my first time shooting, you were supervising me on the old .22! Seems like so long ago...:D

It probably was!
Good to see you're still sticking with it!