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The usefulness of a system like this would be where the police have a suspect cornered with their weapons drawn, but the suspect refuses to comply with instruct

The usefulness of a system like this would be where the police have a suspect cornered with their weapons drawn, but the suspect refuses to comply with instructions. If the suspect makes a suspicious move (e.g. as if he is reaching to pull a gun from a back pocket) the police will shoot immediately, since they would not have time to react if they waited to see if he was pulling a gun or not. Right now, the human system provides a 100% false positive rate. A weapon system that incorporates this detector would allow the police to pull the trigger when the suspect makes the suspicious move, but delay the firing of the weapon until the system detects a gun. Even with a 16% false positive rate it would save lives. That said, I don't think police would want it if it might increase the risk to their lives.

Phlarp 9y ago
Adding any kind of electronic firing control mechanism to a service pistol is a non-starter for a bunch of reasons: MTBF: Even small guns produce recoil, which over time will damage or degrade any electronics built into the firing mechanism. Security: if a "computer" of whatever complexity is controlling the firing of the gun it presents surface area both for attacks and bugs. Rank and file acceptance: No officer will want to go into the field with a service weapon fitted with "safety restrictions" or "casualty reduction mechanisms" other than the trigger safety.
- emiliobumachar 9y ago
  I agree with everything you said, except MTBF. The training guns could be separate. Surely the "on-duty" guns are not being fired often enough that this will be an issue at all... right? Right??
  - Phlarp 9y ago
    #1 feeds into #3-- How confident are your rank and file going to be when the "training" guns fail regularly. Also there is something to be said for training with the exact same weapon you plan to use in the field.

Phlarp 9y ago

Adding any kind of electronic firing control mechanism to a service pistol is a non-starter for a bunch of reasons: MTBF: Even small guns produce recoil, which over time will damage or degrade any electronics built into the firing mechanism. Security: if a "computer" of whatever complexity is controlling the firing of the gun it presents surface area both for attacks and bugs. Rank and file acceptance: No officer will want to go into the field with a service weapon fitted with "safety restrictions" or "casualty reduction mechanisms" other than the trigger safety.

emiliobumachar 9y ago
I agree with everything you said, except MTBF. The training guns could be separate. Surely the "on-duty" guns are not being fired often enough that this will be an issue at all... right? Right??
- Phlarp 9y ago
  #1 feeds into #3-- How confident are your rank and file going to be when the "training" guns fail regularly. Also there is something to be said for training with the exact same weapon you plan to use in the field.