Controlling firearms

[Adios]

I like traditional archery, bolo and atalatl.

I would have difficulty hitting the US using archery. But muzzle loaders are the most fun of all.

[Don Coyote]

Personally I think fully automatic weapons are a blast to shoot. Semi-auto military style weapons are also a lot of fun. Expensive as hell, but a lot of fun.

Agreement. Machine guns are blast to shoot.

[Kai]

I like traditional archery, bolo and atalatl.

I would have difficulty hitting the US using archery. But muzzle loaders are the most fun of all.

More seriously, people who carry less easy to fire types of weapons (like black powder, for example) seem to be far more educated about proper maintenance of firearms and far less likely to act stupid with them.

As for me, I'm 115 lbs and lithe. Anything much stronger than a 22 caliber rifle sends me far enough off balance that I might as well not carry it at all. A hand gun would probably be better, but I don't feel particularly safe wielding one. And when I say that, I mean my own safety as far as not shooting myself in the foot or something equally incompetent.


Guns kill people, but motor vehicles kill MORE people. The moral is: humans are incompetent with machinery. Not that I am advocating pre-industrial primitivism, no, not in the least. Just noting the situation.

[Adios]

I like traditional archery, bolo and atalatl.

I would have difficulty hitting the US using archery. But muzzle loaders are the most fun of all.

More seriously, people who carry less easy to fire types of weapons (like black powder, for example) seem to be far more educated about proper maintenance of firearms and far less likely to act stupid with them.

As for me, I'm 115 lbs and lithe. Anything much stronger than a 22 caliber rifle sends me far enough off balance that I might as well not carry it at all. A hand gun would probably be better, but I don't feel particularly safe wielding one. And when I say that, I mean my own safety as far as not shooting myself in the foot or something equally incompetent.


Guns kill people, but motor vehicles kill MORE people. The moral is: humans are incompetent with machinery. Not that I am advocating pre-industrial primitivism, no, not in the least. Just noting the situation.

I tend to agree with you. Deer hunting got so boring to us we all switched over to black powder season. I have seen the fear of handguns you mention and have taught several people past it. As small as you say you are if you ever do get a handgun don't go over a 9MM. Pistols can kick like hell.

[East Coast Hustle]

I'm not sure your average citizen really needs to own any kind of heavy or auto/semi-auto weaponry.  I'm perfectly fine myself with bans on assault weapons, weaponry that goes above and beyond defending yourself and are designed to inflict harm on multiple targets and in quick fashion.  But I'm not too hot and bothered by it as it seems humans are pretty good at finding a way to kill someone they want to kill whether they have a gun or not. 

That said, my concern with firearms will deal mostly with children.  That is, guns in the homes where children live.  I'm not terribly keen on what kind of laws or policies are in place for gun owners and the children in their homes, but I think there should be some kind of mandate for anyone purchasing a gun, who had kids, to receive some kind of education on proper gun storage.  Maybe just have a quick 30 minute session on site and it's part of the process to buy a gun.  We educate drivers on how to be safe to keep themselves from harming themselves and children and I think that should be a requirement of gun ownership as well. 

More or less agree on the "guns in homes with children" thing in theory, but I doubt it could be crafted as legislation without being too broadly infringing.

however...

it doesn't matter if we NEED to own assault rifles or not. Wanting to own them should be good enough. And anyway, the last time I checked, gangsters and drug dealers don't care if a submachine pistol or semi-auto shotgun is overkill, or even legal. And I imagine that legally owning a bolt-action hunting rifle will be cold-comfort when you suddenly find yourself in a position which requires you to dispatch a room full of people with semi-automatic weapons.

And this isn't some imagined "gangsters and drug dealers are armed to the teeth!" bullshit. I used to be those things. I owned a chinese knock-off AK-47 when I was 17 years old. When I was 19 I bought a MAC-10 fully automatic machine pistol for $500. And if my speed-addled dumb ass had decided I needed to shoot someone, they'd have been pretty fucked without similar firepower. And yeah, 99.99% of gun owners will never find themselves in a position where they need that kind of firepower for self-defense but the right to defend yourself isn't based on statistical majorities, it's based on the idea that 100% of the people should be able to defend themselves and their loved ones no matter how unlikely it is they'll ever need to. I will probably never fire my .40 carbine rifle at anything bigger or faster than a beer bottle or a jug of water, but I own it (as opposed to a .30-06 or a .303, both of which would be way better for hunting game) because if I absolutely NEED to kill someone, I KNOW that 11 rounds of 185 grain .40 S&W jacketed hollow-point rounds are going to do the trick as efficiently as possible.

[Adios]

I'm not sure your average citizen really needs to own any kind of heavy or auto/semi-auto weaponry.  I'm perfectly fine myself with bans on assault weapons, weaponry that goes above and beyond defending yourself and are designed to inflict harm on multiple targets and in quick fashion.  But I'm not too hot and bothered by it as it seems humans are pretty good at finding a way to kill someone they want to kill whether they have a gun or not. 

That said, my concern with firearms will deal mostly with children.  That is, guns in the homes where children live.  I'm not terribly keen on what kind of laws or policies are in place for gun owners and the children in their homes, but I think there should be some kind of mandate for anyone purchasing a gun, who had kids, to receive some kind of education on proper gun storage.  Maybe just have a quick 30 minute session on site and it's part of the process to buy a gun.  We educate drivers on how to be safe to keep themselves from harming themselves and children and I think that should be a requirement of gun ownership as well. 

More or less agree on the "guns in homes with children" thing in theory, but I doubt it could be crafted as legislation without being too broadly infringing.

however...

it doesn't matter if we NEED to own assault rifles or not. Wanting to own them should be good enough. And anyway, the last time I checked, gangsters and drug dealers don't care if a submachine pistol or semi-auto shotgun is overkill, or even legal. And I imagine that legally owning a bolt-action hunting rifle will be cold-comfort when you suddenly find yourself in a position which requires you to dispatch a room full of people with semi-automatic weapons.

And this isn't some imagined "gangsters and drug dealers are armed to the teeth!" bullshit. I used to be those things. I owned a chinese knock-off AK-47 when I was 17 years old. When I was 19 I bought a MAC-10 fully automatic machine pistol for $500. And if my speed-addled dumb ass had decided I needed to shoot someone, they'd have been pretty fucked without similar firepower. And yeah, 99.99% of gun owners will never find themselves in a position where they need that kind of firepower for self-defense but the right to defend yourself isn't based on statistical majorities, it's based on the idea that 100% of the people should be able to defend themselves and their loved ones no matter how unlikely it is they'll ever need to. I will probably never fire my .40 carbine rifle at anything bigger or faster than a beer bottle or a jug of water, but I own it (as opposed to a .30-06 or a .303, both of which would be way better for hunting game) because if I absolutely NEED to kill someone, I KNOW that 11 rounds of 185 grain .40 S&W jacketed hollow-point rounds are going to do the trick as efficiently as possible.

Several places have 'trigger lock' or 'locked safe' laws. But I agree with the rest.

[East Coast Hustle]

I think one important piece of technology that's being developed is biometric sensors built in to the guns themselves. I believe it's already available on some of the very high-end handguns. Basically, the handle contains a sensor that reads the finger or thumbprint of the gun's owner. If the prints of the person holding the gun don't match the owner's, the gun won't fire. If that becomes cheap enough to become a standard feature, it will probably cut WAY down on the number of children killed in accidental shootings, especially of the self-inflicted variety.

[Adios]

I think one important piece of technology that's being developed is biometric sensors built in to the guns themselves. I believe it's already available on some of the very high-end handguns. Basically, the handle contains a sensor that reads the finger or thumbprint of the gun's owner. If the prints of the person holding the gun don't match the owner's, the gun won't fire. If that becomes cheap enough to become a standard feature, it will probably cut WAY down on the number of children killed in accidental shootings, especially of the self-inflicted variety.

Nice safety feature. Now I'm going to have to go look that up.

[Requia ☣]

I like traditional archery, bolo and atalatl.

Where do you even buy an atlatl?  I'd love to do that again.

[Adios]

Some smart gun technology uses a Verichip  which is permanently embedded under the user's skin in order to activate the gun (and to prevent unauthorized users from stealing or duplicating a non-implanted ring or bracelet activator), [4]. Verichip is a technology that has been strongly criticized by privacy advocates, and by some Christians wary of a technological implementation of a "Mark of the Beast" or "the Number of the Beast."




can't.....breathe.....

[Adios]

Mossberg

In 1999, Mossberg Shotguns, through its subsidiary Advanced Ordnance and an electronics design contractor KinTech Manufacturing developed a "Smart" shotgun using RFID technology. This product is currently being marketed by IGun Technology Corp. The advantage with this design was that the ring worn by the owner and used to identify the owner has a passive tag (meaning no batteries) that relies on proximity to the gun for power. The battery pack in the gun is designed to last up to 10 years when not used or u×p≥ to 8 hours of continual usage (meaning always ready to be fired). The gun has low-battery indication.
[edit] New Jersey Institute of Technology

A current prototype personalized gun relies on biometric sensors in the grip and trigger that can track a gun owner's hand size, strength, and Dynamic grip style also known as (DGR) Dynamic Grip Recognition. The gun is programmed to recognize only the owner or anyone whom the owner wishes to authorize. One of the major projects involves the New Jersey Institute of Technology team, which claims the prototype identifies gun owners with 90% accuracy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Gun

Damn interesting.

[Aucoq]

Verichip is a technology that has been strongly criticized by privacy advocates, and by some Christians wary of a technological implementation of a "Mark of the Beast" or "the Number of the Beast."

You've got to be kidding me.

[Don Coyote]

Verichip is a technology that has been strongly criticized by privacy advocates, and by some Christians wary of a technological implementation of a "Mark of the Beast" or "the Number of the Beast."

You've got to be kidding me.

Because that means the Feds can track your moments with their spy satellites, because you are that important.

[Requia ☣]

Correction, anybody with 100$ worth of equipment can track your movements, not to mention duplicate the key to your gun.

[Adios]

Verichip is a technology that has been strongly criticized by privacy advocates, and by some Christians wary of a technological implementation of a "Mark of the Beast" or "the Number of the Beast.

You've got to be kidding me.

Because that means the Feds can track your moments with their spy satellites, because you are that important.

Let's try this again.