Password-protected bullets

[dasmi]

Things like this make me love my milsurps more and more.

http://www.newscientist.com/blog/invention/2006/06/password-protected-bullets.html

Password-protected bullets

Safety catches do not always prevent firearm accidents and even newfangled biometric guns, which check the identity of a user by their fingerprint, cannot stop thieves from using stolen ammunition in other weapons.

The way to make firearms really safe, says Hebert Meyerle of Germany, is to password-protect the ammunition itself.

Meyerle is patenting a design for a modified cartridge that would be fired by a burst of high-frequency radio energy. But the energy would only ignite the charge if a solid-state switch within the cartridge had been activated. This would only happen if a password entered into the gun using a tiny keypad matched one stored in the cartridge.

When they are sold, cartridges could be programmed with a password that matches the purchaser's gun. An owner could set the gun to request the password when it is reloaded, or to perform a biometric check before firing. The gun could also automatically lock itself after a pre-set period of time has passed since the password was entered.

The system would undoubtedly cost more than a conventional gun, but many firearm enthusiasts would surely pay a premium for such added security.

Read the password-protected bullets patent.

 

[leadcounsel]

After having computers fail routinely for the last 15 years I've been using them, I would NEVER buy a gun that relied on any computer technology to function properly.

I see these added 'safety' features as making the gun MORE safe for the attacker and 'less' safe for the user.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Hold on, I gotta enter my PIN.
Instead of idiot-proofing things maybe they should enforce existing laws. Just a thought.

 

[El Tejon]

As long as only governments are required to use that technology, I am all for it!

 

[dasmi]

I'm sure Government agencies would be exempt from any law requiring this technology.

 

[Henry Bowman]

The system would undoubtedly cost more than a conventional gun, but many firearm enthusiasts would surely pay a premium for such added security.

Sure. Who could argue with that?

 

[carterbeauford]

Said it before...

...and will say it again. Guns are mechanical devices and have been for some 800 years. The day that changes is the day I stop shooting.

 

[Preacherman]

Lends an entirely new meaning to the "blue screen of death"!

 

[Zundfolge]

Said it before...
...and will say it again. Guns are mechanical devices and have been for some 800 years. The day that changes is the day I stop shooting.

That's exactly what they want.

"Smart Gun" technology is not about making guns safer, its about making them more expensive, less reliable and a loophole to outlaw all of the "non-smart" ones.


I seem to recall a flash animation/game where you had to enter the code and fire the weapon before the badguy killed you...iirc it was impossible.

 

[1911Tuner]

re:

Yeah, that's exactly what we all need. Handgun ammo that costs 25 bucks a round...

Sometimes I'm amazed at the unadulterated silliness of supposedly educated people. Problem is, that there are millions out there who give credence to their ramblings...and they're just as silly, if not moreso.
The other problem is, that some of the silliest ones are sitting in Congress...

All together now...-------->

 

[offthepaper]

Quote from Dasmi:
"Things like this make me love my milsurps more and more."
-----------------
Ain't it the truth.

 

[hso]

A solution looking for a problem.

 

[ArmedBear]

A lot of these ideas about securing ammunition -- legally or technologically -- assume that ammunition is very hard to make.

It's not. It's really easy. And it's really cheap.

Reloading may seldom be more economical than buying bulk ammo, but neither the equipment, the skills, nor the price are prohibitive.

In California, there was a law proposed that would require serial numbers on cases and bullets. Opponents said that criminals could easily reload their own, perhaps even with serial numbers that would be traced to OTHER people, by grabbing brass at any target range. Proponents tried to laugh it off, and said that criminals wouldn't go through the trouble.

Hmmm... These are the criminals who will steal a car for a no-trace getaway, build and operate meth labs, and get fake identification cards. But they wouldn't BOTHER to reload a few rounds to avoid having ammo traced back to their names (assuming the technology would even work)?

Right.

 

[Punkermonkey]

While they are at it, perhaps they should also password protect swimming pools, cars, gardening tools, cholestrol, and cancer. So they can make those safer too.

 

[shooting time]

I will bet the first states here will be Ny and California to enact a law every gun has to have this

 

[rev214]

Password-protected bullets???

aren't these called photon torpedoes???

 

[sparx]

Just think of the millions of rounds that would flood the black market as passwords are so easily cracked for the most part. I can just imagine the first several hundred-thousand rounds alone coming from guns that had little post-its stuck to the grip with the user's password conveniently written down!

If it can be cracked, it WILL be cracked... only a matter of time.

I guess guns will someday start coming with "Intel inside" stickers on them, too. I won't even try to guess what operating system will be used... certainly can't be Windows... breaks too easily. Besides, when you pull the trigger you would get a message that states "Windows has detected a change in your trigger position and will require a reboot. Continue?" And "OK" will be your only option.

 

[foghornl]

burst of high-frequency radio energy

I can see it now...the guy next door cranks up his home-tuned "CB" with the 100-watt RF amplifier driving the 2,000-watt RF amplifier.....

FLASH! BOOM!

Or driving through one of the 'antenna farms' of radio/tv/cel-fone/public safety 2-way repeaters, etc....

Why do you think that in contruction areas where 'dynamite blasting' is going on, do they demand you turn off 2-way radios, cel-fones, etc ? ? ?

 

[Kawasabi]

I can see it already. Hackers will find a way to make the guns go off remotely.

 

[Roadwild17]

I think it would be kinda cool, you could load up all your handguns and make a base to hold them, Then just get a radio frequency generator and sweep the frequency range back and forth really fast, "Look maw, a poor mans SMG"

 

[XDKingslayer]

After having computers fail routinely for the last 15 years I've been using them, I would NEVER buy a gun that relied on any computer technology to function properly.

That's funny. Being in the computer business my initial responce was completely opposite. Mine went "After seeing what people do to computers I would never give them a gun that relied on computers."

Funny how people at different ends of the spectrum see things.

 

[pdowg881]

Don't shoot! I forgot my password! When things get more complicated, more things can go wrong.

 

[rev214]

...high-frequency radio energy...

would this fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission?

 

[Master Blaster]

After every military and police department in the entire world adopts and uses this technology without a single failure for 50 years or so I will consider replacing my old outdated dumb guns.

Until then best of luck.

 

[Third_Rail]

rev214 - it actually may.