By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
If you need to expertly secure one firearm or a group of firearms, GunLox can really help.
For around $150, the new firm offers a secure mobile lock and a multitude of steel cables and shackles, which are capable of securely locking one firearm or a bunch of firearms.
The lock is the key to the new GunLox system. It uses your cell phone’s facial recognition system to allow access. It is perfect for gun owners who are traveling, or those who have not yet bought a gun safe. The lock can stay active for more than six months without recharging.
“I think it’s the highest quality gun lock that you can use on any gun, anywhere. Safes were made for the home or retail. There’s not one locking mechanism that works for any firearm, anywhere and is completely universal, until now,” said GunLox founder Jeremy Van Winkle, a 35-year-old gun owner living in Dallas, Texas.
As of Thursday, Van Winkle said he hasn’t yet sold a single lock. They’re that new. “We’re just getting them out into the market,” he said. “I just got the inventory in last week.”
Getting started proved to be relatively easy. I went to their website and read the instructions, which are also packaged with the products. The key was charging the lock, which comes with a USB charging cable. This took only a couple hours for the lock to fully charge.
While the lock was charging, I downloaded the GunLox app on my cell phone and created an account, which took around five minutes.
After the lock had charged, it was ready to test. I turned on the Bluetooth on my cell phone and pushed the unlock button on the app. It popped right open. Van Winkle said the lock will go into sleep mode to save power when it’s not being used. To wake the lock there’s a small button on the bottom.
Van Winkle has been building the entire locking system for the past 14 months. We have spoken several times before.
“We’ve been through a few iterations,” he said. “We have not sold any yet. I just got the inventory this past week. I’ve put my heart and soul into this. It’s all I do.”
There are more ideas coming soon, Van Winkle said. If you have the app open on your phone and you’re driving from one state to another, it will soon alert you to state laws regarding firearm carry, travel and storage.
“I think it’s the highest quality system that you can use on a gun anywhere,” Van Winkle said. “Safes were made for the home or retail. There was not one locking mechanism for any firearm that was completely universal.”
Van Winkle said he grew up without gun safes in his home. His family stored weapons in closets and other closed spaces.
“I wanted a simple and affordable solution,” he said. “Now that I’m the father of four, I don’t have a big safe, so I created a solution for the public that can securely lock up any firearm, anywhere.”
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