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Comments 1 - 20 of 20 Search these comments
Tenpoundbass
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2013 Jan 11, 3:00am
People do dumb things with smart phones. They made us dumber as a nation not smarter.
Dan8267
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2013 Jan 11, 3:11am
People do dumb things with smart phones. They made us dumber as a nation not smarter.
Doesn't matter. The smart gun operates just as effectively when wielded by idiots as it does when wielded by geniuses. The smarts aren't dependent on the user, and neither are the benefits.
leo707
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2013 Jan 11, 3:26am
The primary issue with your plan is that guns are relatively simple machines. Even assuming that you are able to replace all current dumb guns with smart guns, converting current smart guns into dumb guns or hell just making dumb guns and ammo from scratch is not that difficult.
Also, you probably don't want the automatic 911 call to be triggered when the safety is off. I have never brandished a gun in my life, but in no less then 4 incidents I have had my hand on a gun in suspicious/tense situations. All situations were either diffused through pleasant conversation or other means, but there was no need for a 911 call. A better time for 911 to be alerted would be if the gun starts moving around quickly (accelerometer), or is fired.
In addition, if I had to draw and shoot, video of what lead up to the shooting would not be there and any audio recording would probably be pretty muffled.
Kingshat
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2013 Jan 12, 1:38am
This is NOT a good solution. The 2nd amendment is about citizens defending themselves against a tyrannical government. If this information is sent to said government, how can the citizens protect themselves against said government? Come on people.
Dan8267
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2013 Jan 11, 5:00am
making dumb guns and ammo from scratch is not that difficult.
Perhaps, but most people won't bother doing it, so dumb guns would still be rare and their use would be an immediate felony preventing "law bidding" citizens like George Zimmerman from killing other law bidding citizens.
Simply reducing the dumb guns to less than 1% of their current level will save many lives.
Also, you probably don't want the automatic 911 call to be triggered when the safety is off.
I should clarify what I meant. The smart guns drops an event on the network when the safety is taken off. It doesn't initiate a 911 call and tie up an operator. That was an analogy.
Computers, the public, and local enforcement can monitor and filter these events. If a safety is taken off in a house, it's probably not cause for concern, but if the safety is taken off in a school, you might want to send someone to check it out.
In addition, if I had to draw and shoot, video of what lead up to the shooting would not be there and any audio recording would probably be pretty muffled.
Even the case of a very short video is better than no video at all. Although that could be mitigated by the smart gun constantly recording and buffering in memory the video and on the safety release event uploading the past two minutes of video before the safety was taken off. Video would never be uploaded if the safety isn't taken off.
You can pretty much solve any problem with a technology if you're willing to put the time and effort into searching for a solution.
New Renter
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2013 Jan 11, 9:08am
Just how much IS that smart gun and ammo? Would this head into Chris Rock's suggestion of just making ammo $5k/round?
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/98949-you-don-t-need-no-gun-control-you-know-what-you
Dan8267
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2013 Jan 11, 4:33pm
Just how much IS that smart gun and ammo? Would this head into Chris Rock's suggestion of just making ammo $5k/round?
It is the nature of technology to get faster, better, cheaper, more reliable, smaller, and more available with time. Yes, smart ammo would cost more than dumb ammo, but it would save far more lives as well.
If I were to guess, I'd say with today's technology, smart would add about $5/round based on the idea that the microprocessor would be by far the most expensive component, and they run at and less than $5 a pop. Yes, that's a lot more than the current $0.18 per 9mm round, but why should ammo be cheap? It's not like you need to fire your gun often to defend your life. And $50 to keep yourself say is pretty damn cheap.
Of course, eventually processors will cost pennies. It's not like very fast ones would be needed.
Dan8267
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2013 Jan 11, 4:43pm
Oh, and for those who think that microprocessors in bullets isn't a practical idea, evidently DARPA is working on this very thing.
And what DARPA is trying to do involves much more expensive hardware than a smart bullet would. DARPA needs sensors and real-time physics processing. A smart bullet only has to do RSA-encrypted authentication. As a side note: a smart bullet could accept being fired only by a specific gun and/or gun user. No more scavenging other people's ammo.
Dan8267
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2013 Jan 12, 6:35am
This is NOT a good solution. The 2nd amendment is about citizens defending themselves against a tyrannical government.
The gun control debating going on now has nothing to do with the Second Amendment right to form a well-armed militia to protect citizens from the government. And this is exactly why. Direct all pro-gun as defense against tyranny from government to that thread.
The Smart Gun (tm) proposal will greatly reduce the murder of innocents by criminals and crazies.
Raw
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2013 Jan 12, 6:39am
This is NOT a good solution. The 2nd amendment is about citizens defending themselves against a tyrannical government. If this information is sent to said government, how can the citizens protect themselves against said government? Come on people.
http://www.tetrahedron.org/articles/info_schedule_battle/Anti_Government_Phobia.html
Raw
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2013 Jan 12, 6:42am
Here's the real answer to the gun problem: smart guns with smart ammo.
It's a great solution. Perfectly workable and safe for our children.
NRA won't like it because you can't kill 20 kids in 20 seconds with it.
Raw
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2013 Jan 12, 6:51am
This is NOT a good solution. The 2nd amendment is about citizens defending themselves against a tyrannical government. If this information is sent to said government, how can the citizens protect themselves against said government? Come on people.
You think your assault weapon that kills little children so efficiently can stand up to a superpower with tanks and F15's?
The disease is spreading.
You think your assault weapon that kills little children so efficiently can stand up to a superpower with tanks and F15's?
You mean like in Afghanistan and Vietnam?
Raw
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2013 Jan 12, 7:04am
You think your assault weapon that kills little children so efficiently can stand up to a superpower with tanks and F15's?
You mean like in Afghanistan and Vietnam?
All wars kill children, it's called collateral damage. It's not fair to single out our country over this.
Assault weapons in the hands of ordinary civilians is good for one purpose only....mow down innocent little children. Those who think they can use it to stand up against tanks are F**** loonies.
New Renter
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2013 Jan 12, 7:08am
This is NOT a good solution. The 2nd amendment is about citizens defending themselves against a tyrannical government. If this information is sent to said government, how can the citizens protect themselves against said government? Come on people.
Be great if the guv'mint secretly designed such chips to mass brick the guns of any resistance movement.
Bye bye militia, hello Big Brother!
Dan8267
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2013 Jan 12, 7:33am
Be great if the guv'mint secretly designed such chips to mass brick the guns of any resistance movement.
It would be easy to detect and prevent that.
New Renter
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2013 Jan 12, 2:00pm
Be great if the guv'mint secretly designed such chips to mass brick the guns of any resistance movement.
It would be easy to detect and prevent that.
You assume that the owner has access to the firmware without 1) bricking the gun or 2) violating a very stringent anti-tampering law?
Dan8267
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2013 Jan 13, 6:06am
Be great if the guv'mint secretly designed such chips to mass brick the guns of any resistance movement.
It would be easy to detect and prevent that.
You assume that the owner has access to the firmware without 1) bricking the gun or 2) violating a very stringent anti-tampering law?
No. Institutions like Electronic Frontier Foundation and independent hackers could easily inspect the processor to determine if there is any "bricking" feature in it. Even if the hacker's gun got bricked, who gives a shit? It only takes one person bricking one gun to show that such a feature existed. And if the government rolled out even 1% of the guns with such a feature, someone would discover it. Stuff like that isn't easy to keep secret. Just ask Sony corp.
As for #2, just make it explicitly legal to examine the hardware and software (which, hell, can be public domain). No security through obscurity.
New Renter
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2013 Jan 13, 9:19am
Be great if the guv'mint secretly designed such chips to mass brick the guns of any resistance movement.
It would be easy to detect and prevent that.
You assume that the owner has access to the firmware without 1) bricking the gun or 2) violating a very stringent anti-tampering law?
No. Institutions like Electronic Frontier Foundation and independent hackers could easily inspect the processor to determine if there is any "bricking" feature in it.
Even if the hacker's gun got bricked, who gives a shit? It only takes one person bricking one gun to show that such a feature existed. And if the government rolled out even 1% of the guns with such a feature, someone would discover it. Stuff like that isn't easy to keep secret. Just ask Sony corp.As for #2, just make it explicitly legal to examine the hardware and software (which, hell, can be public domain). No security through obscurity.
A bricking feature need not be a secret. If anything it could be seen as a good thing (e.g. if the gun is stolen it can be bricked).
AS for hacking such a feature I am not an expert in such things. I would imagine without a way to directly communicate with the chip a hack would be very difficult, especially if it were designed to physically destroy itself upon any indication of tampering.
Dan8267
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2013 Jan 13, 11:39am
My proposal isn't a bricking gun. Let's assume fiat that the idea as presented would be passed. No sense in debating something that no one is proposing.
Comments 1 - 20 of 20 Search these comments
Here's the real answer to the gun problem: smart guns with smart ammo.
Steps
1. Stop production of all dumb ammo (ammo that can be fired from a dumb/conventional gun). Outlaw and remove all dumb guns and dumb ammo.
2. Produce only smart ammo. Smart ammo is fired by an electrical current sent from a smart gun to the bullet. The bullet has a chip that only allows firing from a smart gun using RSA cryptography for authentication. Think Ammunition Rights Management (ARM).
3. Produce only smart guns.
4. Smart guns can only fire smart ammunition.
5. Every smart gun is registered with its owner(s) and only the owners can fire the gun. Think biometrics.
6. Whenever a smart gun's safety is turned off, the gun authenticates with law enforcement sending the current user's ID and GPS location to law enforcement. For lawful use of firearms, this is like getting a free 911 call and police backup to defend your life, your family, or your home from the bad guys. And you don't even have to risk wasting time dialing 911 yourself as it's all automatic. You can spend that essential time making sure you and your family are safe.
7. Whenever a smart gun's safety is turned off, the gun immediately starts video recording and upstreaming the video to public servers. This protects innocent, law abiding people from false accusations of breaking the law whether they are the gun user or the person the gun is being used against. The whole Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case would not be up to conjecture had this function existed. For those in favor of stand-your-ground laws, this feature protects you from accusations of murder, assuming that you are actually innocent.
8. Whenever a smart gun is fired, law enforcement is immediately notified with the gun operator's ID, GPS location, direction of fire (all three dimensions), type of gun and ammunition fired, and a picture of the current frame at time of firing. Again, for lawful use, this should not matter. Only the bad guys need fear this evidence.
9. Everyone in society gets a panic button (it can be a smart phone app). If more than five people in an area press the panic button, no smart gun user (that's right, user, not gun) can fire more than five rounds in the next 30 minutes in a 0.5 mile radius of the group of panic button users and any smart gun user who has fired a gun in the past two minutes within that radius is prevented from firing again for 30 minutes.
And, of course, law enforcement is notified of each panic button event as well as the threshold of five panics in an area in a short time period. Law enforcement cannot turn off people's guns, only the smart gun system, ran as open source and distributed, can do that. And the smart gun system can turn off law enforcement's guns as well. So people are protected from rouge cops as well.
This feature limits the number of people that crazies can kill. It doesn't stop crazies, but it limits the damage they can do.
Notes
Smart guns won't protect people against tyrannical governments, but neither do dumb guns. And the argument that arresting a thousand armed people is a hell of a lot harder than arresting a thousand unarmed people applies to a society with smart guns as much or as little as with dumb guns.
Once smart guns replace dumb guns, we can get rid of the need for background checks as well as prohibiting felons from owning and using guns. If a person is not in jail, then that person can have a gun. Any gun used in a crime will immediately notify the police and gather evidence.
Sure, crimes of passion will still occur as will nut cases, but there is nothing that can be done to prevent such things with dumb guns. At least smart guns minimize the dangers of the irrational and so are an improvement over dumb guns.
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