No Chip in Arm, No Shot From Gun

AP via Wired News ^ | Wednesday, April 14, 2004 | Associated Press

[Momaw Nadon]

PALM BEACH, Florida -- A new computer chip promises to keep police guns from firing if they fall into the wrong hands.

The tiny chip would be implanted in a police officer's hand and would match up with a scanning device inside a handgun. If the officer and gun match, a digital signal unlocks the trigger so it can be fired. But if a child or criminal would get hold of the gun, it would be useless.

[Momaw Nadon]

FYI and discussion

[Pikachu_Dad]

Perhaps it may work in an emergency gun take away situation. There are not to many of those.

But if the bad guys get the gun home, how long would it take for them to crack the digital signature by running all of the combinations and then build their own transmitter capable of firing the gun.

Probably not more than 2 hours.

[dead]

I would bet that less than 1% of cops would opt for this "breakthrough" if given the option.

But 100% of citizens in NJ will have no choice once its marketed. The law is already passed, waiting for the technology.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

No Chip in Arm, No Shot From Gun

I assumed the article was an investigative report on Kerry's Purple Hearts.

[LibKill]

Wonderful! Awesome! BS!

And when the Windows (TM) operating system crashes just when you need to pull the trigger, a new meaning will come to the phrase "Blue Screen of DEATH".

I'll keep my 'dumb'guns.

[aomagrat]

It starts with the gun owners...

[Joe Brower]

[Inyo-Mono]

The only real change we've seen is to make them more lethal and smaller so they can be more easily concealed," said Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Uh, they were making smaller handguns in the 1870s than they are today.

[Political Junkie Too]

How long will it be before they want to put a chip in the brain to make sure that the shot was not fired out of racist or hateful thoughts?

-PJ

[Poohbah]

Consider the prospect of limited-try and lockout circuitry.

[unixfox]

The FBI estimated that 67 percent of the 16,204 murders in 2002 were committed with firearms.

And just how many of those where used when they were taken away from a cop? Hmmmm....

What a bunch of psycho babble propoganda.

[BenLurkin]

We are at risk from what Churchill feared (IIRC):

"A new dark ages, made all the more sinister and prolonged by the terrible powers of science."

[Pikachu_Dad]

Cool, the bad guys would LOVE limited try and lockout circuitry. Then they just have to ride around with a small PDA that sends out 50 tries per second.

No Cops guns would work anywhere near them.

[Oztrich Boy]

But if a child or criminal would get hold of the gun, it would be useless.

But if the bad guys get the gun home, how long would it take for them to crack the digital signature by running all of the combinations and then build their own transmitter capable of firing the gun.

Probably not more than 2 hours.

Or go lo-tech
1. remove hand
2. extract chip
3. dab of super glue
4. affix chip to gun

child's play.

[TaxPayer2000]

already posted on FreeRepublic, sort of....

Smart gun closer to reality

[Bob]

The chip needs no battery or power source.

No, but the electronics in the gun do.

[Eala]

Great. I want to commit a crime, and knowing that all the local cops' guns are outfitted with this technology, I bring along a jammer that prevents the gun from communicating with the chip.

Since the guns can't communicate with the chips, they won't fire.

Who has the advantage here?

[Servant of the 9]

Perhaps it may work in an emergency gun take away situation. There are not to many of those.

But if the bad guys get the gun home, how long would it take for them to crack the digital signature by running all of the combinations and then build their own transmitter capable of firing the gun.

Probably not more than 2 hours.

How long will it take to remove the grips and pull all the electronics nonsense out?

Probably not 15 minutes.

How long will it take to find a Patrolman's Union that will let it's members be used as guinea pigs for this unproven tech?

Probably geologic ages.

Not even the liberal democrat politicians who run most unions are gonna risk the blowback to them from an officer having a malfunction.

So9

[riggedtosail]

I was thinking the same thing. As often as we see chips fail in computers, appliances, radios, cars, etc., I'm not sure I would bet my life on the both chips always working. A failure on either end and you might end up dead.

[kingu]

Hmm. New industries...

Gun smiths will have a great boon installing chip readers into guns; any concealed carry state will try to push this through for 'safety' reasons. Chip reader installation will likely run $250 - $500, depending upon the firearm.

Doctor offices will likely get to install the chips. I'd imagine that all insurance companies will try not to cover the procedure, so expect installation of the chip running $250+

Government contracts for chip disruptors will be a great market - school districts will install them on all campuses (to disable civilian chips.) Metal detectors modified to check for chips would be a natural progression so that security can give extra scrutiny to those who 'might' be armed.

Police disruptors to disable chipped guns and civilian chips would be a natural tool to use before breaking down doors (or at the end of high speed chases.)

Black market disruptors would make bank robberies interesting -- you know all insurance carriers for businesses will be forced to require only chipped firearms for employees.

Recoding chips and readers would also be a boon to the black market, on the criminal and non-criminal sides. Gun clubs would like encourage members to encode all their chips to match so guns can be shared on the line.

I'd guess that we're talking close to $3 billion a year in chip related devices. A pretty good sized industry. Gee, just can't wait.