(FLORIDA) Panhandle Man Invents Bullet to Prevent Accidental Shootings (NRA Member)

AP Breaking News ^ | 29 July 2002

[Travis McGee]

The problem with 'great ideas' like these jammamatic bullets and trigger locks is that step by step they will become mandated by law.

The law will state that your guns must be secured in a "state approved" safe with "state approved" locking devices.

Of course, the state will need to be able to come into your house to check that you are in compliance.... if you are "in compliance", it will take you too long to get a gun out and on target, if that is your way.

If you are not in compliance, the state has just created another "instant felon": 5 years under Project Exile no doubt, and loss of gun rights for life.

[Sungirl]

This is stupid. When you are waiting for the would be rapist-murderer to come into your bedroom....who the hell is gonna have the time or even remember to remove a fake bullet? It could get the victim (me) killed!!
IF anything...let him develope a bullet that can actually be fired...that sounds like a real bullet but discharges harmless material, if he's worried about kids getting ahold of them.
That way it will scare the would be rapist-murderer and it (might) give the victim (me) time to get the second killer bullet ready for the job that must be done.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Here is the fallacy:

1. It wrongly presupposes (for semi-auto pistols) that there are a significant number of children or wrongdoers who will pull the trigger, get no result, and then rack the slide and try again. In reality, the typical child killing is not when a shooting was intended, but when it was assumed unloaded. Kids who are playing with a gun aren't going to rack a slide.

2. Even if there is one child who is this determined (but who is ignorant enough not to eject the disabling round first) it ignores the many likelyu instances detailed above in which an innocent person could lose an essential defensive tool.

[chuknospam]

This is the dumbest idea yet.........
Sorry, but it is.
If your kids can't be trusted, lock up your guns in a safe. Keep your gun ON YOU at all times possible for protection, treat them like the LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM that they are. Would you leave your insulin pump carelessly laying around? Educate your kids properly & with an iron fist on the use & handling of firearms. The safety is between your ears.

[Hot Tabasco]

Good thinking. Maybe it will work.

Actually, if I am thinking of keeping my kids (I have none) from accidentally shooting off my guns I would probably have them locked up in the case with their trigger guards on.

But,

If I had my gun out for self protection there is no way that that gun could be relied upon to protect me if I had to use a tool to somehow pry that dumb cartridge out of the barrel in a time of need. But on the other hand, I could always rely on my Louisville Slugger that is leaning against the dresser next to the locked up useless handgun, don't need a permit or trigger lock for it (at least not yet).......

[VRWC_minion]

OK... So when some guy is coming through the window screen at 3 am, how quickly can Cindee

Which is quicker. Unlocking the safe or dislodging this bullet as designed ?

[El Gato]

It sounds like the thing is supposed to jam up the cylinder advance mechanism on a revolver. Can't imagine it would do much to a semi auto, athough I guess if holds the firing pin firmly enough it might cause a jam on one of those too, and one that would not be cleared by the usual drill.

It's a stupid idea, for the much the same reason that trigger locks on "ready" self defense firearms are. A person that's scared is very likely to forget to eject the "jammer" round and their gun will them be useless except as blunt object. Prehaps, I'm missing something here??

[AnAmericanMother]

I agree.

Anything that interferes directly with the proper operation of the firearm is a bad idea.

But with kids, unless you have particularly responsible ones, you have to keep the sidearm either on your person or locked away. Every kid's different - some you can trust, and some you can't. I have one of each . . . one particularly level headed 14 year old girl (who is an excellent shot and safe gun handler), and one 10 year old boy who is like the Elephant's Child . . . full of "'satiable curtiosity" about anything mechanical, and not yet mature enough to exercise good judgment. So nothing is lying loose around our house.

This leads one to the problem of what to do in the middle of the night when somebody breaks down the door . . . . our answer is a small swing-open pistol safe bolted to the bed frame, with a set of buttons that fit my fingertips. A number of manufacturers make these, and they are not outrageously expensive. With kids around, I would go this way instead of with some nutty device that renders the firearm inoperative.

[Joe Brower]

As my brother, an accomplished aircraft mechanic, likes to say:

YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID.

[TJFLSTRAT]

Oh hahahaha, maybe it will work?????, this is the stupidest idea I ever heard of. A dummy load in the chamber, while the gun is left alone???!!!!. So when the home owner had to use the gun , it first must be unloaded, then reloaded with a "real" round??!!!. Since the dummy load is useless, why not leave the weapon unloaded? If the owner, during the heat of battle, forgets about the gun being loaded with this dummy load and fires it, HE IS SCREWED!,SINCE THE GUN WILL JAM!!!!!!!!!

[TJFLSTRAT]

Better yet, why not keep your guns in a safe, then lower it into the deep end of your neighbors swimming pool.

[Swordmaker]

I was thinking similarly. How would this stupid idea work in a revolver, where the cylinder could be spun to any live round before firing?

Perhaps his idiotic, dangerous 'bullet' would extend a rod into the barrel thereby preventing the cylinder from turning or opening. Then a special tool would be inserted in through the muzzle to push the extension back into the case and release the cylinder.

On the other hand, it may just release a flood of superglue.

[Travis McGee]

"YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID"

Joe, that says it all!

[wardaddy]

This is a dumb idea. Why not a quick safe by the bed? A malfunctioning gun is like no gun except for pistol whipping or throwing it at them.

[Travis McGee]

How about taking your kids out at about age 6 and up and "demystifying" guns? Let them hold them and examine them (unoaded of course!) and "play" with them under close supervision in a solemn educational atmosphere. Let them shoot them with Dad wrapped around them, his hands around and under theirs. Let them hear the bang, feel the recoil, see the blown up melon ten feet away.

Kids who know guns don't have these "accidents", kids whose parents hide them do. Just MHO.

[wardaddy]

Kids?...I'm talking about my wife.....just kidding. Actually with my ex-wife, seriously there were no guns around or I wouldn't be here. She made Bettie Davis look sedated.

Problem is I have a 2 year old who thinks he's Dirty Harry. He terrifies my liberal neighbors. I love it. But, he's a bit young so we keep anything way outta his reach or locked up. My wife's personal firearm is in her quick safe....little black HK model...push button control panel. The tasmanian devil and his little bro due in November will be acclimated by the age you suggested....same as I was and you as well. I see some Red Ryders in their futures early on. Pity the sparrows nearby.

My girls are already familiar and one(13 now) hunts whitetails with me using her .45 frontloader.

[Squantos]

Don't like it........won't even wait and see......won't comply......Stay Safe !

[Travis McGee]

"Here, ya put this fake bullet in your chamber, and if you pull the trigger, it jams it! Great idea huh!"

[herewego]

Travis,
That exact scenario has worked for me three times so far. Counting on a fourth this fall.
Educating children works, they know aging from (16 yrs. 2 1/2 yrs. old)
to ask before handling and proper safety measures.
The only firearms locked up are the irreplaceble ones.
Locking up your safety-defensive arms- is like cutting your own brake lines on your car.
When you need them quick- they ain't there.
Being in a gunfight without a gun is a bad feeling......

[herewego]

sorry- I forgot to add the
hold muh beer tag/