Outward, but I "fixed" the pins. Mostly for child proofing, I have a 1 year old grandaughter. If someone was going to steal them if my house got broken into it probably wouldn't slow the thief down much except the fact he would have to make noise to get it open. The lock on the closet serves the same prurpase as a kiddie lock on the cupboard under the kitchen sink, safety.
My point was the woman in question shold have been resposibile enough to keep her guns out of the hands of someone in the houeshold that shouldn't have access to them. She was getting $200K plus a year in alimony so I think she could have bougt a decent safe, if for no other reason than to protect her son from himself.