Observe your environment and notice how many electronic devices you depend on. The television, the wi-fi router, the device through which you’re reading this article, and many other appliances make our convenient modern lives possible. What piece of technology do you rely on most, and what would happen if it stopped working?
What is an EMP and what does it have to do with gun safes? An EMP is an electromagnetic pulse that disrupts electronics in a certain radius around its detonation. Electronic devices such as the one used in your gun safe’s lock can be disrupted or destroyed by an EMP, locking you out of your own safe.
Today, we will discuss how an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) can jeopardize the security of your home by turning your trusted gun safe into an impermeable lockbox preventing your self-defense.
We will also talk about the causes of EMPs, the countermeasures against electromagnetic interference, and how you can keep your firearms, and yourself, safe.
What Does EMP Have To Do With Gun Safes?
EMP technology is a weaponized burst of electromagnetic energy that can disable all electronic devices in a given area. Major David Stuckenburg of the United States Air Force released a report titled Electromagnetic Defense Task Force (2018), informing the public of how devastating an EMP blast would be.
The report claims that “an electromagnetic spectrum attack may be a threat to the United States, democracy, and the world order”.
If a nation-wide EMP attack were to take place, the Union of Concerned Scientists report that:
- 99 nuclear reactors would likely melt down with no electronic equipment to cool them. Also, no emergency services would be able to reach the affected areas and the authorities wouldn’t be able to send a warning message.
- 4.1 million Americans would be displaced around areas with nuclear plants as radioactive clouds spread.
- Military bases would go dark and be unable to communicate or make counter-attacks impossible.
- Power and GPS would go dark. Airplanes would be flying blind without any communication service. Battery-operated vehicles and devices would shut down.
- Sewage systems, water pumps, electronic banking, landlines, cellular service, and vehicles would fail. The water supply would not be able to reach the population
- Food refrigeration systems would fail, spoiling perishable food items.
- 18 months or more are required to replace key elements of the electric grid. An EMP attack is not just a power-outage, it can destroy electronic equipment
- Transportation and communication systems would shut down.
- Civil Unrest would start in hours.
If an EMP attack ever comes to the Unites States, chaos would ensue. Without electricity vast portions of the nation’s infrastructure will no longer work. People would panic and some will begin looting when their supplies run thin.
The police and military would have no way to communicate with the population, and you would have to fend for yourself.
If you own an electronically locked gun safe, you should take this real possibility into consideration.
Ponder the fact that if the electronic lock malfunctions, or gets disabled, you instantly lose access to your firearms. Imagine how devastating that could be in an emergency.
What Exactly Is an EMP?
An Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) is a brief burst of electromagnetic energy disrupts all nearby electronic equipment. The source of an EMP can either be man-made or naturally occurring.
The EMP is the new nuclear bomb, it’s a weapon of mass disruption. The amount of devastation an EMP causes to a population is immeasurable. No large-scale EMP attack has happened yet, however there are some historical cases of EMPs disrupting technology.
In 1962, the Unites States military tested the Starfish Prime, a 1.44 megaton warhead detonated 250 miles into space.
The resultant pulse shut down streetlights and disrupted telecommunications throughout Hawaii. This event is a brief glimpse of what EMPs can do to our electronics.
The Electromagnetic Defense Task Force claims that should EMP weapons “be equipped with a nuclear warhead and launched from a ship adjacent to the United States or its allies, the prospect of attaining an altitude sufficient to achieve near nationwide EMS impact is realistic” (16).
EMP bursts act according to the Inverse Square Law, meaning that energy released from the blast will radiate outward from the source, losing strength the further it travels.
Depending on the strength of the EMP and your proximity to it, your equipment can be disabled, damaged, or in some cases, destroyed.
There are several types of EMPs, each with different effects and characteristics. While weaponized EMPs are a constant looming threat, there’s also naturally occurring EMPs that are just as devastating. EMPs can come out of nowhere and without electricity for communication, it could take weeks before you know the source of the pulse.
These are the different types of EMPs:
- Electrostatic Discharge (ESD): caused by lightning strikes.
- Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse (NEMP): an abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation from a nuclear blast with three distinct degrees of severity.
- Geomagnetic Disturbance (GMD): Also known as solar storm or GMD. This occurs when the magnetosphere of the Earth is disturbed by a solar wind shock wave or a cloud of magnetic field on a temporary basis.
- Coronal Mass Ejection (CME): A significant release of plasma and accompanying magnetic field released from the solar corona.
- Directed Energy (DE): A ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy including lasers, microwaves, or particle beams. Russia, China, India, and the United Kingdom are developing directed-energy weapons.
- High-Power Microwaves (HPM): High strength microwave weapon emitted from a controlled source. Five degrees of severity from slight interference from which electronics recover with time, and damage that requires hardware, software, or firmware replacement.
- Faulty wiring in your local power grid can also cause minor EMPs. No matter how small the pulse is, however, it still has a chance of disabling your equipment.
With all of these potential sources of EMPs, it’s reasonable to say that we cannot predict when, where, or from what source and EMP originates. Now that you know all of the devastation implied by the threat of an EMP, take this moment to ask yourself, am I prepared for an EMP?
If your gun safe uses an electronic locking mechanism with no electromagnetic countermeasures, the safety of your home is vulnerable to an EMP burst.
In an emergency, there’s no time to be wasted struggling to access your firearms. Without EMP resistance, the safe you trusted to protect your firearms could prevent you from protecting your family and yourself.
Everything You Need to Know about EMPs and Gun Safes
Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) is a branch of electrical engineering focused on the study of causes, classifications, and prevention of Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). This field of study is expanding rapidly as the threat of EMPs is becoming more widely known.
How to Prevent EMI from Disabling Your Safe:
- Grounding
- Electrical Earthing
- Surge Suppressors
- Electromagnetic Shielding
- Electro-mechanical Lock
A ground is a return path for electric current which diverts EMI. Grounding has a variety of applications and types but is most effective against lightning strikes. Electrical Earthing is a grounding method that diverts electromagnetic interference from your equipment directly to the surface of the Earth.
Earthing disperses the electromagnetic energy over a much larger surface area and diverts it away from your equipment.
While Earthing isn’t the most effective weaponized EMP countermeasure, it’s an effective method for dispersing natural sources of EMP and prevents your appliances from becoming electrically charged in the event of faulty wiring or cable insulation failure.
Surge suppressors are designed to protect your electronics from voltage spikes. They’re only effective against EMPs if their response time is fast enough. Some suppressors have an input delay of a few nanoseconds, while EMPs travel at the speed of light.
Heavy surge suppressors could protect your entire home from EMPs detonated from a few hundred miles but become less effective the closer your home is to the blast.
Electromagnetic shields reduce the electromagnetic field in an area with barriers of conductive magnetic materials. Most commonly used to isolate wires from the environment through which they run. This can be installed in the wiring within your safe to ensure that the wires aren’t interfered with.
Electromagnetic shielding technology is being researched and invested into heavily by the military because of its importance in EMI protection.
An electro-mechanical lock is by far the most effective solution against EMPs for your gun vault. An electro-mechanical lock is a hybrid lock with an electronic keypad and a mechanical combination lock built in.
If the measures you took to protect your electronic lock fail, you can always rely on the mechanical lock to work.
In some safes, an Electro-mechanical lock can be installed to replace the previous lock. There is also an EMP safe with an EM lock built in. If you’re looking to purchase the most secure safe on the market, look into EMP safes.
Each of these solutions require expertise to implement. If you have no experience with electrical engineering, consult a professional to safely and properly install an electronic safeguard.
EMP and Gun Safes: The Pros and Cons
The threat of EMPs adds another dimension in the debate between electrical and mechanical safe locks.
Which is the better alternative, electronic or mechanical locks? If you’re looking to buy your first gun safe, this is a very important question to ask yourself. Take a look at this list of pros and cons of both types of locks before making your decision.
Mechanical Lock Pros:
- EMP Invulnerability
- Cheaper Replacement/Repair
- Longer Lifespan
- Durability
With old-fashioned mechanical locks, you need not worry about electromagnetic interference. No electronic devices are involved with mechanical locks, so you can have peace of mind knowing your lock will always function properly. EMI immunity is the biggest advantage to having a mechanical lock on your gun safe.
Mechanical locks can be repaired for less than electronic ones. The material involved with repairing or replacing a mechanical lock is only the metal used which can be very inexpensive.
The wiring, circuitry, and battery of an electronic lock will eventually break down and stop working. There’s no concern with the lifespan of a well-built mechanical lock.
Mechanical locks are very sturdy and durable. They can withstand more damage than a fragile electronic lock.
Mechanical Lock Cons:
- Harder to open
- Difficult to use in the dark
- Manual re-locking
- Combination change Security
Mechanical locks are more complicated than electronics. This can be very inconvenient or even dangerous in stressful emergency situations. This is the primary burden that mechanical lock owners must endure.
In poor lighting conditions, it’s difficult to see what you’re doing with a mechanical lock.
This can make nighttime usage of your safe a hassle. Considering that you’ll have no electricity whatsoever in the event of an EMP, this characteristic of a mechanical lock could be a fatal flaw.
Each time you use a mechanical lock, you have to manually re-lock the safe in order to maintain security. This can become very inconvenient or even a security hazard in some cases.
A locksmith or technician is required if you wish to change a mechanical lock’s combination. Mechanical locks are complicated pieces of equipment and require expertise to be manipulated beyond intended use.
It is possible for experienced burglars to break into mechanical locks with enough time and expertise. The mechanical combination lock has existed since the 1870s, meaning that there are well-developed techniques for breaking into them.
Electronic Lock Pros:
- Quick Access
- Visibility
- Code Changes
- Security
Electronic locks are very easy to operate and can be opened quickly. This could make a monumental difference in an emergency situation. Convenience is the primary advantage electronic locks bear over mechanical locks. Not only are they easy to open, they lock themselves automatically after usage.
Most electronic locks have a backlit keypad that makes the digits clearly visible for nighttime usage. This feature could save you a few precious seconds in an emergency situation.
Changing the code for an electronic keypad is much more efficient than doing so with a mechanical lock. The owner’s manual for an electronic safe will instruct you on how to change the combination with ease. No experts are required which means you can perform this operation for free.
Electronic lock codes are nearly impossible for thieves to guess. A four-digit combination has ten-thousand possible combinations making it mathematically implausible for thieves to figure your code out.
Additionally, most electronic locks have a timed lockout system that triggers after a certain number of failed entry attempts.
Electronic Lock Cons:
- Electromagnetic Vulnerability
- Limited Lifespan
- Possibility of Malfunction
- Price
Electronics locks can be disabled by EMPs if proper countermeasures aren’t taken in advance. These countermeasures can be expensive and inconvenient, and depending on the strength of the EMP, might not work. This is the greatest threat that electronic lock users must endure.
With time, an electronic lock will break down and become unusable. It’s difficult to predict when this happens, so you could get locked out of your own safe one day. This requires you to continually check on the condition of your electronic lock.
There is a slight chance that an electronic lock may malfunction. Faulty wiring or coding errors could result in a permanent lockout. If an EMP doesn’t.
Electronic locks and their maintenance tend to cost more. The materials used to manufacture them are more complicated and expensive than that of mechanical locks
Should You Purchase an EMP Safe?
If you’re an experienced gun owner, or a first-time buyer, having a safe in which to keep your firearms is a paramount security concern.
Having a safe prevents thieves from stealing your guns and keeps them out of the hands of children. In the event of an EMP, however, the safe that kept thieves away from your guns will revoke your access as well.
When You Should Purchase an EMP Safe:
- If the pros outweigh the cons
- You want security of your firearms
- You are prepared for the worst
If you wish to enjoy the advantages of both modern electronic locks and reliable mechanical locks without either of the disadvantages, the EMP safe is the product for you. With an EMP safe you’ll never have to worry about the safety of your firearms or losing your access to them.
Any homeowner with firearms knows how critical they can be in the event of an emergency. Losing access to your firearms due to an EMP is a life-threatening reality that we must face. If you’re a long-time gun owner or just buying your first firearm, ensuring your access to your safe is of paramount importance.
Know that EMPs could strike at any moment, either man-made or natural. Don’t be a victim and prepare accordingly.
If you have an electronic safe, make sure to implement one of the methods discussed earlier. Remember to consult a professional if need be. The threat of an EMP is too devastating to ignore.
If you’re a first-time gun safe buyer, consider purchasing and Electro-Mechanical Lock.
This product is by far the best solution to all of the problems discussed in this article. An electro-mechanical lock has the best features from both types of safe locks and none of the disadvantages.
Think of the chaos that would ensue after an EMP blast. No communication with the authorities to inform the public on what happened. Electronic means of transportation are wiped out.
Nights are complete blackouts and home security systems fail. In this situation, the protection of your family, your home, and yourself are in your hands.