What’s New Industry News, ALOA News, New Products and More Letter to the Editor A few days ago, I received one of my favorite catalogs in the mail. This is one of only a few that I read cover to cover. In fact, my wife recently bought me a birthday present from this company. They sell gardening and woodworking tools, oil and candle lamps and so on. I was a few pages into this issue when I came upon the two lock-picking related items in Figures 1 and 2. The second is “has everything tinkerers and budding lock- smiths need to learn their way around the internals of a lock.” Then “should open virtually any pin tumbler lock with practice.” I’m sure you’ve seen stuff like this before. If not, look at eBay — where picks are supposedly banned — and see what they’re selling. Oſten, you’ll see that these things are for “hobbyists.” What burns me up about this type of stuff is the idea that this is how you become a locksmith, as if it’s all you need to know. We all know, sometimes from bitter experience, that there’s a lot to learn, and it never ends. I wrote in the past about being young and ignorant and believing I was going to start a thriving business based on an entry-level correspondence course. The course was a “foot in the door,” and I’m glad I did it, but it was no gold mine back then. I realize the general public harbors a fascination with lock-picking and safe crack- ing, if they think about it at all. Think about the times you’ve opened something in front of a customer and they’re utterly impressed, as though you’re a magician with strange powers. That’s because they don’t understand what we’re doing, and we’re making it look easy. To me, in the last few years, we’ve crossed an ethical line with this, and I don’t mean us as locksmiths. Why is it suddenly okay to sell burglar’s tools and call it a hobby? In many states, it’s a crime to possess these tools and/or sell and mail them. Here’s a final thought on this: There’s a book by Tom Nichols called The Death of Expertise. You might want to give it a read. He writes about how the internet has caused people to rely on what they read there rather than believe those who are tra- ditionally the experts in their field, and then argue with them. I’ll distill it into one sentence: “I looked it up on the internet, so I know as much about Figures 1 and 2. The author recently came across lock-picking items in a non- security-related catalog. it as the, doctor/lawyer/teacher/locksmith (insert profession here). I’m an expert, too.” —Tony Wiersielis, CPL, CFDI Run for the ALOA Board! A 8 KEYNOTES DECEMBER 2020 LOA Board elections are coming up in the spring, so now’s the time to get started on your materials. A nomination form is included on pages 11 and 12 of this issue of Keynotes, and they are also available from the Membership department. Nomination forms are due March 1, 2021. For more in- formation on running for the ALOA Board, please contact [email protected]. WWW.ALOA.ORG
