Lock Re-Keying Kits Illegal in Florida?!

SMS · 2009-11-24T17:00:57+00:00

I was in Florida this past week and a half for an unhappy event, and we needed to re-key the locks in my late-mother's house. My sister was calling a locksmith and I said that I could do it for about 1/10th the cost, and it would only take me an hour or so to do eight cylinders. I went to Home Depot to buy lock re-keying kits like I've done many times in California. I couldn't find them on the shelf and when I asked someone they told me that they could only sell me one if I was "licensed." It was too late to have someone send me some kits from another state so we had to have a locksmith re-key the locks.Is this very common? Was it even true? Is the locksmith lobby so strong that they are able to prevent the sale of re-keying kits? What is the risk in selling such a kit?