The Ban the Bump Key campaign aims to outlaw the sale of specialist locksmith equipment to the general public. Our belief is that tools capable of opening doors to our homes and businesses should only be available to recognised locksmiths and security professionals.

For those of you that don’t know, a bump key is a specially cut key, that along with a small hammer and a small amount of skill, can be used to open practically all pin-tumbler locks (that’s Yale locks to most people in the UK) in under 30 seconds.

They’ve gained notoriety over the last 5 years, probably due to how little practice and skill you need to use them successfully. There’s at least 5 online shops in the UK where you can pick up bump key sets for not very much money.

So it’s interesting that some people have set up a campaign to try and ban these keys. There’s a number of problems with banning bump keys:

• They are just specially cut keys. They really aren’t that difficult to make by hand. 
• You’d still be able to buy them from non-legal sources. 
• Nearly everyone in the UK has a lever lock on their front door, which is not susceptible to bumping. Use both locks together.

Image by pt at Flickr, CC license