Ask Slashdot: Can Technology Prevent Shootings?

An anonymous reader wonders if there's a technological response to mass shootings like this Sunday's attack in Orlando, Florida: We're in for a sadly obvious debate now with all of the usual scapegoats, but instead of focusing on who's to blame, it'd be better to identify some specific actions that could actually generate real increases in public safety going forward...

If we're looking for radical changes in the way we live, does technology have a role? Is the answer smart gun technology? Mandatory metal detectors at night clubs? Better data analysis algorithms for the federal government? Bulletproof fabrics?
Share your best ideas in the comments. Could there be a technological solution to the problem of mass shootings?

Comments

Re:An easier sollution

[lgw]

In the context of "nightclubs", not so much. There's good reason most states ban carrying where alcohol is served, and all if you're drinking. The recent shooting was yet another in a gun-free zone.

Technological fix? No. Smart guns? It's the terrorist's gun. Metal detectors? Terrorist. Outlaw guns? Terrorist (much like shootings in nightclubs in other countries).

Outlawing religion seems a better bet, except historically religion has thrived on that.

No easy answers to evil men.

Islam is unique (Re:An easier sollution)

[mi]

because Abrahamic religions in general and Islam in particular have been saying that for 2000 years

Judaism is a lot older than that, actually, while Islam is a lot younger.

More importantly, Islam — uniquely among Abrahamic religions — compels the followers to do something about it. A Christian can be a "good Christian" if he merely prays for the sinners' salvation. A Muslim must act — and homosexuality is the greatest sin .

And then there is the inconvenient truth about Islam-prescribed world-order. Whereas (the original) Christianity left sæcular affairs to the contemporary government whoever they are — "Cæsar's to Cæsar" — Islam explains exactly how the government should be structured: a Theocracy with a Caliph at the top. This alone makes Islam incompatible with America's Constitution — but the same Constitution bans us from collectively acknowledging the problem.