Armatix GmbH: Smart System - Future or foe?

[dromia]

wtfwtf

More post modern lunacy, just because we can doesn't mean we should.

All this technology stuff just means we no longer own what we buy, some external input controls our purchases.

If you buy a new car nowadays you don't actually own it because all this invasive and irrelevant technology means that you can't do anything to the car unless the makers computers let you.

Trust me I'm not a doctor, life does not need to be this complicated.

Just another digital geegaw that contributes to the removal of personal responsibility.

[Ovenpaa]

I am sure the latest in technology is always going to appeal to some and this is quite evident at the firing point, plus look at the development of smart munitions over the last few years so there certainly is a future for such things. Equally take a look at the aficionados of strange old wooden rifles and you will see people jealously guarding 100+ year old technology (Has the firearm changed so much to this day?)

I am in the 'Solidly built on tried and tested technology' camp which is probably why we drive an old diesel without turbo, ABS, Aircon or any of the other features seen on more recent vehicles.

[Sandgroper]

@Sandgroper - The way I understand it, you'd have to be stood in front of the target to get shot, if the user was to turn the weapon on himself or a third party it would not operate.
To my mind this system has potential in that the weapons can only be operable within strictly confined zones, even my golf club has 'chipped' it's buggies so the engine cuts out when you get too close to a green or the cliff! As people who enjoy technical innovation I think we should be embracing this technology to make it work for us before we have it forced upon us in a format that doesn't suit our wants and needs.

And reference storage, you don't keep your firearms and ammunition in the same cabinet with the keys hung up next to it, so why would you keep the watch/gun together?

If and only if you are using the target response system (which is a separate system) - you can still fire the handgun at a third party if you were using one of these combinations away from a range.

Storage of ammunition is not the correct analogy - the RFID is similar to a rifle bolt (in concept) and look at how many people on this forum keep their rifles and bolts together!

[Blu]

The problem with chip technology as we have seen many times with other technology is that it can be hacked, altered or changed in some way, and you just know someone out there will do it even if it's just for the challenge of it.

Blu

[Demonic69]

But, last year a friend of mine went to arrest a particular nasty sex offender. He's a detective and was in plain clothes, carrying nothing more than handcuffs.

They let sex offenders be detectives? With handcuffs no less!

[Gaz]

Anything that relies on a current, public RFID technology is inherently insecure by design thanks to the NSA. Even new technologies can (and doubtless will) be cracked.

It has no application outside of a law enforcement environment, and as Sim's example demonstrates, it's not even desirable there.

Every few years these "electronic guns" pop up. Anyone remember the .22" Morini pistols a few years ago which had an electric trigger?

[IsleShoot]

I don't think it's a case of the authorisation system being completely unhackable, it is simply a hurdle to prevent an opportunist taking and using the gun. A bit like the 12" barrel and coat hanger on your .44 LBR prevents you from hiding it in your waistband but there's nothing but your own integrity to stop you cutting either off!

I'm still trying to find out some more on the target recognition system to see what it entails but from the little I know in order to remove it from a range and use it against a person would require the collusion of several trusted members of a club to make it a highly unlikely and unpractical endeavour. so once again whilst not totally infailable it forms part of a system that provides additional safe guards and in my opinion provides a reasonable senario for this type of firearm to be included as a section 1 firearm.

[Sim G]

Am I right in thinking that you would be more than happy to own a pistol, that is kept at a club and only you can use it, under the strict supervision of club officials?

You do know that this already exists.....?

[IsleShoot]

I accept this isn't far removed from S7.3 in that you could only use the firearm at a range fitted with the TRS but to my mind that is where the similarity ends. If a firearm fitted with this technology could be accepted as a S1 then the gun can go home with you just as any other. As for only you using it, nobody has stipulated that, I see no reason why you as the authorised owner couldn't lend it to another shooter in exactly the same way you'd let a fellow club member have a go on your AR straight pull, the only difference being you'd have to give them a watch to wear too! And the need for the strict supervision is negated by the whole concept of the system.

[Sim G]

I'll stick to black powder revolvers and LBR's I think. Electronic locking, TRS are all steps too far to my mind. I'm really not interested in "giving any quarter" what-so-ever in relation to firearms licensing.

Jefferson said "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

That could be paraphrased accordingly as to how I feel about electronic locks and TRS....