Strykervet
member
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2010
- Messages
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PLEASE READ ALL BEFORE RESPONDING, THANKS.
I have what I hope will be a good thread. If you think it is out there or crazy, maybe it is, it just occured to me on the toilet, so it isn't a "serious" idea by any means!
We all know the 2A is over a couple hundred years old and technology has changed... A little. So, with cheap components and parts, what is the legality of an automated weapon?
I'll start by saying I know "a little" about security systems. I know in the US, LETHAL reactive alarms are illegal, but not directly (what they do is illegal I believe, not the actual alarm --I don't know much about it because I've never seen one in the US outside of the military, and that was basically a PEWS system connected to claymore mines). Pepper spray and such is okay, and I would suspect taser would be too as long as your intruder doesn't get a boo-boo. Reactive means the alarm "does something" to the intruder. Boobytraps are illegal, even in your own home, but again I can't state the law. In South Africa, they are or were perfectly legal, and having automated lethal boobytraps is or was too. If anyone knows the law about this in the US, I'd be grateful (purley out of interest mind you, I have no desire to kill myself on accident --and while I haven't had an AD in over 25 years, I have had a few false alarms. All due to my own mistake.
Now there is also the question about automated weapon systems that are controlled by a human. Now consider this. Some bench rest folks are REALLY into it, I mean they have 300lb tripods that look like TOW missle tripods (which I bet would work fantastic for what they are doing!) and the rifle sets in a cradle. I've seen them with cameras connected and even a remote switch to eliminate the trigger pull variable, the kind you used to see on professional cameras. Some use a cable, some use air. Because you can only get one trigger pull per push, it is legal, a bijection if you will. I've also seen something similar for a war vet that wanted to go hunting again.
Now take this and replace the manual switch with a remote switch. An electric one, and assuming both wireless and hardwired remotes. Because it is electric now, a servo is to be introduced, and the trigger could technically be wired as an illegal machinegun (again, no desire to manufacture one of those, so I don't need legal advice, this thread is purely hypothetical and informational). The servo could actuate the trigger one time per hour or ten thousand times per mintue (which would be faster than the weapon could work) and still be illegal as I understand it (although the ATF has surprised me before with their letters, paricularly the Masterkey decision --still just an AOW even mounted under a rifle, not an SBS!?). So would a hardwired switch that could ONLY fire semi be legal? Considering it is so easy to rewire it? I mean, it would be easy to drill a couple of holes and swap fire control components in an AK too, but obviously folks can restrain themselves. So with all that in mind, what about it?
Finally, what about "smart" systems? Actually rigging a firearm to a robot that detects targets and fires using Lidar or something similar. I know it is out there and expensive, and for me anyway, useless. This could also be called a boobytrap, since it wouldn't necessarily distinguish between friend or foe (unless that was part of it, but I have to draw the line somewhere). I'd like to assume this rig could be "Bubba'd", perhaps a smart Bubba, but I'm not talking Raytheon quality here. Would one need to be physically present, or could the weapon be fired remotely? I think there was a website, or still is, that you could pay to "control" a weapon with your computer, even kill game. So obviously some Bubba has put this in operation, but I don't know what became of it. I saw it on the news years ago.
I've read in novels about terrorists making up stuff like this, and in the movie "The Jackal" with Bruce Willis, he got an M2 setup with a camera and remote firing switch. In the movie, it was damn cool, and if I owned an M2 for real, this would be how I would want it, but not being a millionaire is standing in the way... And I'd have to upgrade the entire reloading bench for that brass, so just forget about it!
Basically, I just want to know where, and even if, a line is drawn regarding automated, remote, and electrically fired weapons.
I have what I hope will be a good thread. If you think it is out there or crazy, maybe it is, it just occured to me on the toilet, so it isn't a "serious" idea by any means!
We all know the 2A is over a couple hundred years old and technology has changed... A little. So, with cheap components and parts, what is the legality of an automated weapon?
I'll start by saying I know "a little" about security systems. I know in the US, LETHAL reactive alarms are illegal, but not directly (what they do is illegal I believe, not the actual alarm --I don't know much about it because I've never seen one in the US outside of the military, and that was basically a PEWS system connected to claymore mines). Pepper spray and such is okay, and I would suspect taser would be too as long as your intruder doesn't get a boo-boo. Reactive means the alarm "does something" to the intruder. Boobytraps are illegal, even in your own home, but again I can't state the law. In South Africa, they are or were perfectly legal, and having automated lethal boobytraps is or was too. If anyone knows the law about this in the US, I'd be grateful (purley out of interest mind you, I have no desire to kill myself on accident --and while I haven't had an AD in over 25 years, I have had a few false alarms. All due to my own mistake.
Now there is also the question about automated weapon systems that are controlled by a human. Now consider this. Some bench rest folks are REALLY into it, I mean they have 300lb tripods that look like TOW missle tripods (which I bet would work fantastic for what they are doing!) and the rifle sets in a cradle. I've seen them with cameras connected and even a remote switch to eliminate the trigger pull variable, the kind you used to see on professional cameras. Some use a cable, some use air. Because you can only get one trigger pull per push, it is legal, a bijection if you will. I've also seen something similar for a war vet that wanted to go hunting again.
Now take this and replace the manual switch with a remote switch. An electric one, and assuming both wireless and hardwired remotes. Because it is electric now, a servo is to be introduced, and the trigger could technically be wired as an illegal machinegun (again, no desire to manufacture one of those, so I don't need legal advice, this thread is purely hypothetical and informational). The servo could actuate the trigger one time per hour or ten thousand times per mintue (which would be faster than the weapon could work) and still be illegal as I understand it (although the ATF has surprised me before with their letters, paricularly the Masterkey decision --still just an AOW even mounted under a rifle, not an SBS!?). So would a hardwired switch that could ONLY fire semi be legal? Considering it is so easy to rewire it? I mean, it would be easy to drill a couple of holes and swap fire control components in an AK too, but obviously folks can restrain themselves. So with all that in mind, what about it?
Finally, what about "smart" systems? Actually rigging a firearm to a robot that detects targets and fires using Lidar or something similar. I know it is out there and expensive, and for me anyway, useless. This could also be called a boobytrap, since it wouldn't necessarily distinguish between friend or foe (unless that was part of it, but I have to draw the line somewhere). I'd like to assume this rig could be "Bubba'd", perhaps a smart Bubba, but I'm not talking Raytheon quality here. Would one need to be physically present, or could the weapon be fired remotely? I think there was a website, or still is, that you could pay to "control" a weapon with your computer, even kill game. So obviously some Bubba has put this in operation, but I don't know what became of it. I saw it on the news years ago.
I've read in novels about terrorists making up stuff like this, and in the movie "The Jackal" with Bruce Willis, he got an M2 setup with a camera and remote firing switch. In the movie, it was damn cool, and if I owned an M2 for real, this would be how I would want it, but not being a millionaire is standing in the way... And I'd have to upgrade the entire reloading bench for that brass, so just forget about it!
Basically, I just want to know where, and even if, a line is drawn regarding automated, remote, and electrically fired weapons.
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