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Gun-Firing Drone Raises Some Eyebrows
An anonymous reader writes: A video posted on YouTube showing a drone firing a gun in a wooded area has caused some controversy today. The short video shows a four-rotored custom drone with a special rig containing a handgun. The handgun proceeds to fire four shots, handling the recoil better than might be expected. The user who posted the video also submitted it to Reddit, where a commenter noted that the apparent use of a solenoid trigger would class the device as an automatic weapon under ATF rules.
This has two components, the handgun and the drone. I suspect the push will be for greater legislation of drones rather than handguns.
https://xkcd.com/1523/
I'm glad someone is exercising their 2nd amendment rights this way. This is exactly what the founding fathers had in mind.
well the problem with that is a gun is not a very aerodynamically sound shape. It would probably start tumbling right out of the barrel and lose velocity far too quickly to have any kind of range. Firing bullets was the proper choice here, let's not armchair quarterback their decisions too much, okay?
Cool project, and it doesn't appear to be illegal (Yet). The definition of a machine gun by the ATF is a gun that fires multiple rounds per trigger pull. There are several companies that manufacture guns with electronic triggers.
Depending on how it is set up, they could nail him for "constructive possession". But assuming this is just a servo and the gun has not been modified, it appears to meet their rules. Then again, the way the ATF is known for having vague definitions and making examples out of people. There was a short period of time where they considered a shoelace to be a machine gun.
http://www.everydaynodaysoff.c...
If they want, they can call constructive possession on just about anyone. Not the people you want to piss off.
What's ATF? A bunch of busybodies seeking to control our use of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms — all perfectly legal things. Dissolution of that agency is long overdue — it should never have been created in the first place...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
In drone-filled American, skeet shoot YOU!
Wherever You Go, There You Are
See! I told you someone would think of a military use for drones.
(Apart from any observations about how technological advances are largely driven by porn and guns)...
I can see some people mounting camera-sighted scope rifles on their drones. Protecting the lives of controversial public figures has suddenly become a whole lot more difficult. Expect an arms-war of RF jamming and anti-drone drones, and countermeasures to these, in endless iterations.
-- In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was UNSIGNED, and the main(){} was without form and void...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Check out FPS Russia video made three years ago with 27Million views. Handgun yielding quadcopter is a bit amateurish compared to the automatic weapon merged with the quadcopter.
Imagine what a quadcopter upgraded with high speed internet, nightvision optics and with the extended range (made possible with advanced batteries) could do.
Heck, drones are already used for smuggling operations.
It's funny to see people get their panties in a twist over this. Especially since this video is pretty tame compared to what's already been done. Now watch the REAL video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Somebody in the YouTube comments mentioned that in the United States the gun would considered a fully automatic weapon because of the attached solenoid.
Ridiculously-broad laws & regulations are ridiculous.
BATFE considers a shoestring a machine gun.
Seriously, no kidding.
The ATF recommends that manufacturers voluntarily submit weapons for case-by-case determination. But those judgments are private and, it turns out, sometimes contradictory. Critics say nearly identical prototypes can be approved for one manufacturer but denied for another.
That process, known as âoeletter rulings,â results in various findings about what makes a weapon. Program critics, including the ATF's former assistant director of criminal investigations, said one determination contended that a shoestring was a machine gun.
http://www.washingtontimes.com...
So basically, an individual can not know precisely what is legal or illegal ahead of time until/unless they are prosecuted, that is, unless they become a licensed firearm maker and submit a prototype for a determination.
But, that does not inform anyone else, as those letters are sent to the specific business involved and are often secret. Letter determinations are not made public.
As far as a solenoid or similar type actuating mechanism that is not a traditional mechanical type, isn't that at the core of so-called "smart gun" designs?
Wouldn't a law that made this armed quad-copter illegal by making the non-manual trigger mechanism illegal run the risk of simultaneously making "smart gun" technology illegal?
It's another of those attempts to make a technology or object illegal instead of making harmful/dangerous acts performed by any means illegal.
I'm certain that, given the amount of laws & regulations concerning firearms already on the books, that there are already laws that would cover any illegal/dangerous acts performed with this technology.
Besides, as has been pointed out elsewhere in the comments, a law won't stop lawbreakers.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
I gotta interject here.
It is not considered an automatic weapon as long as the weapon fires one round per actuation. Press button once and it fires once, then it's fine.
Similar to hand crank device you can put on trigger to fire as you crank it. It actuates the trigger once and the weapon fires once. Not an automatic weapon. You can crank it fast or get creative and put a motor on it, but still not considered an automatic weapon.
As a final example, a Slide Fire stock will shoot at high rates of fire, but is still one shot per trigger actuation so is perfectly legal.
Bottom line, as long as it fires one round per trigger actuation, it's legal. Only multiple shots per actuation is where the BATF starts to care.
I mean, you have to admire the technology, but eyebrows? On a drone?
Don't go to a brothel if you want to buy broth
While this demonstration is not surprising in any way at all, stupid and evil politicians will of course jump right on it. The fact of the matter is that neither can drones be suppressed, nor can firearms. In the worst case, you do a front-loader with self-cast lead bullets and powder from firecrackers.
Of course, authoritarians (and basically all politicians with any real power fall into that class these days) are afraid all the time and irrational all the time as a consequence, so no rational arguments will help. If these people ever realize what any good engineer or scientist in the physical sciences can do (but almost universally does not do), they will panic completely. Until the human race learns to keep authoritarians under control, there will be no end to evil.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Looks like the NRA has some more work to do, since someone will try to ban this too.
The Russians have done it better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
Fake.
Both the 'Russian' (his name is Kyle Myers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... ) and the quadcopter ( http://www.military.com/video/... ).
Not saying it will never be done (the opposite, in fact), just that it hasn't been done just yet.
Hunter Seeker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Because it's impossible to remove either part of the wooden stock, making it a 'sporterized' model, or most of the wooden stock, making it harder to aim, but more concealable.
And it's sure as fuck impossible to replace the stock, or even chop most of it off, drill some holes for large dowels in one end, some holes in the other end, conceal them, and mate them together when you're ready to shoot.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
For the same reason (which I can't figure out) that I can't just buy a military-grade rifle, like a US rifleman would carry, even though I'd pass any reasonable background check.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
who knows, maybe he will bring it to a marine recruiter's office. but then again, those are gun free zones so nothing bad can ever happen there
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
I've yet to hear about how you're going to keep the government under control with your firearms. Apparently no one has an answer to that one yet. They must not have thought this thing through.
You are welcome on my lawn.
So, you're going to keep the government under control using firearms, but you have absolutely no idea how to go about that besides "have firearms"?
You simply refuse to admit the obvious: that the people who believe the Second Amendment is some guarantee against tyranny just have not thought it through. Or, they refuse to admit that it always ends up with killing members of the US military or civilian police. But since they're all good patriotic paramilitary groupies, they won't admit it to themselves. Yourselves.
Me, I tend to think you're in the "haven't thought it through" camp.
You are welcome on my lawn.