The difference is that shooting up campuses is always illegal, but picking locks is mostly legal and legitimate.
Questions like << I lost my keys, and called a locksmith who came and picked the lock, please tell me how he did that >> ought to be allowed, in my opinion. The mods don’t like it, though. I feel it is overly paranoid when they close down such threads.
But asking << what’s the best way to massacre my classmates>> is definitely not something that should be discussed, even in jest.
Well answered, sir.
Legality of carrying a pickset most likely varies by area.
I was a bit of an amateur lock picker years ago, mostly due to being a maintenance guy at a facility that had something like 1200 office workers that often lost keys to desks and file cabinets and the like.
I had a set of lock picks and a torque that I made myself and I asked my dad (a cop) about the legality of keeping them in my car and he said that they were not specifically illegal, but I should expect to answer a LOT of questions about why I had them if they were found.
I decided it was more prudent just to keep them at work.
Picking locks is good for legitimate purposes…solving an innocent problem without breaking things.
Thieves aren’t generally concerned about the amount of damage they cause, and in many cases this damage is often more costly than the goods taken. The missing goods betray the fact of the crime, so there is little point in minimizing damage. So the fastest, simplest method of defeating the security is the one of choice, and that will typically involve brute force rather than finess. Even car thieves rarely intend to sell the car,intact, to a buyer who is prepared to believe it is ligitimate…so a broken out window is no big deal.
Picking locks is good for nefarious purposes only if it is important that the fact of the security breech be concealed…mostly that would be “espionage” type activity, as information is one of the few things that can be stolen while still being left behind.
In California you need to be able to show a locksmithing license from the State of California. I don’t know that the tools are illegal for the unlicensed, most auto towing trucks have a Slim Jim for opening car doors, but as you say, you need some good answers if you aren’t.
There is a type of lock that I have seen used in New York that I was led to believe was illegal simply because it was too effective. I don’t recall the name of it (police lock?), but it consisted of a steel bar that was anchored in the floor and was propped up against the middle of the door. It made it very difficult to break the door down (many New York apartments have steel doors in steel frames). The reason it was illegal (or so it was explained to me) was that it could delay firemen should they need access to the apartment to fight a fire.
I think it depends where you are and how much the police care. I used to carry a Slim Jim in the car, as did my father. While I’ve never been questioned about it, my father slim jimmed a car of a stranded motorist open in the presence of police once, and he wasn’t exactly hassled by the cops. In fact, they thanked him. 'Course, this is back in the late 80s, so my memory may be faulty, but I don’t recall any sort of trouble.
[Bolding added.] Quite a few states have similar statutes. It’s important to read the statutes carefully, though. This one doesn’t, if I’m interpreting it correctly, prohibit mere possession of a lockpick; that’s only one of the necessary elements of the crime. What’s illegal is possession of one with the intent of using it to break in. Similarly, even common tools like screwdrivers and crowbars fall under this statute if they are owned with that purpose.
That’s a fairly common form of the law. There are sometimes more specific laws aimed against mere possession of particular types of lockpicks or master keys, however.
Right. I do believe my post specified California and I see you are in Illinois.
I saw that–I meant that I’m fairly certain Slim Jims are illegal in Illinois and/or Chicago, but that Chicago cops have probably got better things to do than hassle somebody who looks like a normal, hardworking guy about why he’s got a Slim Jim (as in the case of my father).