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"Instead of the oft-discussed political and sociological solutions, how can we as engineers use technology to minimize the damage of mass murders or prevent the
by duncan_bayne 11y ago
"Instead of the oft-discussed political and sociological solutions, how can we as engineers use technology to minimize the damage of mass murders or prevent their occurrence, in a way that respects individual freedoms?"
Well, there are several problems with handguns that lead to people being reluctant to carry them:
- weight
- size
- expense
- safety (esp. accidental discharges, collateral damage, over-penetration)
- lethality (as separate from stopping power; imagine the ideal as a fictional gun that always stops an attacker but almost never kills him or her, like a Star Trek phaser set to stun)
I'm not sure how many of those are amenable to fixing. But if you could come up with something akin to a phaser, at a good price, that could be safely carried by a large subset of the population I think you'd be on to a winner.
"What does your startup do?"
"We're the Tesla of handguns"
:)
- saluki 11y agoThis would be a great option, non-lethal stopping force, that is small, less expensive, safer to carry, repeat shots, integrated so 911 is alerted so police can come to the area right away to sort things out provide assistance. teslaguns.com/phaser
- duncan_bayne 11y agoAlerting is a great idea. Unless you've set the device to 'range' mode, it automatically contacts emergency services with GPS-determined location, 30 seconds after firing. 30 seconds gives you time to switch it to range mode if you're at the range and forgot :) Plus a camera, streaming. Starts uploading video and audio the moment it's out of its holster.
- duncan_bayne 11y agoYou could put a bunch of smarts in it too. RFID reader to prevent use by someone other than the owner. Maybe even geo-fencing to prevent it from being fired somewhere it shouldn't be.
- duncan_bayne 11y agoRe. 'non-lethal', though, bear in mind there's no such guarantee. I think 'less-lethal' is the term of art. E.g. assuming the thing is somewhat like a Taser, good luck if you shoot someone with a weak heart, or a pacemaker. Or maybe your target falls badly and dies from a head injury. Or falls off something. Etc. etc. etc. This is why self-defense is a moral imperative. There is no way to employ force against someone without risking his or her death.