Posted on 05/05/2014 7:10:27 AM PDT by Flame Retardant
Andy Raymond, a Rockland, Md., firearms dealer, found out how much some people who love guns and the Second Amendment really hate some guns, causing the owner of Engage Armament this week to reverse his plan to sell the Armatix iP1, the nation's first "smart" gun.
The German-made Armatix iP1 won't fire unless it's in proximity of a special watch, thus making it useless if stolen. Gun control advocates, including Attorney General Eric Holder, have cited such technology as potential life savers.
But the NRA and many gun owners say it's a government Trojan horse...
When Mr. Raymond said he'd sell the Armatix, he was deluged with complaints and threats against his life, even the life of his dog. Before relenting on Thursday, Raymond lashed out against his critics in a YouTube video.
"That's the antithesis of everything that we pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment people should be," he said. "You are not supposed to say a gun should be prohibited. Then you are being no different than the anti-gun people who say an AR-15 should be prohibited."...
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
And be subject to the death penalty for doing so?
Far too many people will do anything for a buck...
The only “reasonable” gun control is a complete prohibition of ownership or possession of firearms by any government employee except the US Military.
Because if the holder of the gun is hurt, another person nearby could NOT use the gun for further protection.
Husband has the ‘special watch’. He goes down. Wife is trapped, unable to use the gun.
Yup - saw that as every totalitarian government rose - for a buck, for a loaf of bread....
Idiot reporter, can’t get the location right... this place is in Rockville. There’s a much better gun store there, Atlantic Guns, since 1950.
cuz dogs.
The gun obviously communicates with the watch using a radio link. The government would most certainly have a device that would take guns "offline". That would certainly defeat the sense of the Second Amendment, wouldn't it?
That’s a reasonable concern. Thanks.
I don’t believe any of this story. I’m very close to the industry and the gun activist world, and nobody cares about whether this technology is offered (mandated is another matter).
The “death threats” are probably PR stunts calculated to help sales, and to make gun owners look bad.
This worthless gun should not be prohibited by law, but it is a threat to decent people and our right to keep and bear arms.
What we should do is make sure that our local and online firearms dealers understand the issue - and that they know they will be boycotted by 90% or more of their customers if they carry this worthless toy. The problem is that it will be imposed on everyone if it is available to anyone, and I will never under any circumstances forgive anyone who contributes to that infringement on our rights. I have already informed every sporting goods store and website that I deal with that offering to sell this toy will permanently end our business relationship, and I hope others will do the same.
As technology goes these days, guns are VERY simple machines. They need no electricity, wi-fi, mobile service, chips, dips, clips, chains, whips, etc. There would be no feasible way to prevent tampering unless they developed a wireless rail-type handgun or electrofied a trigger mechanism in a completely new design. I'm suppose it is possible. But nobody would be able to afford the weapon, which is likely their hope anyway.
The “death threats” are probably PR stunts calculated to help sales, and to make gun owners look bad.
I agree. Most likely this technology is going to fail miserably in the marketplace. Let it fail.
More problematic, the gun becomes useless if the watch is stolen.
If a gun is owned for protection, it becomes an expensive ornament, if it is rendered useless, locked up, or otherwise not available within seconds of a fatal threat.
Not rocket science.
As for the dealer, he is an idiot. So are the nutjobs (trolls? anti-gun neurotics?) issuing threats.
Do you have any documentation for that?
Even a clueless government agency/bureaucrat is not so dumb as to assert that "energy standards" should compel us to replace the entire machine more often!
If you have to ask, no explanation is possible!
Hard to imagine anyone over 60 being that stupid!
You trust government not to do monkey business that would render the firearm useless?
Like, say, when the government decides to go full on gestapo on the population?
Say, send out a signal that would disable the smart gun, or even better, track the smart gun and arrest the owner for the “crime” of simply having a firearm?
If it gives off a signal, it can be tracked.
Even a clueless government agency/bureaucrat is not so dumb as to assert that "energy standards" should compel us to replace the entire machine more often!
I am surprised you are questioning it. The intent had nothing to do with replacing the entire machine more often. That is the unintended consequence of many appliance efficiency standards. In order to make machines more efficient, you have lighten components and reduce friction. The heaviest components in most machines are normally the ones that take the most abuse (metal). In appliances these days, they are either using exotic and expensive components to accomplish this or replacing formerly metal parts with plastic/composite parts. Ask an appliance repair man. The lighter plastic parts do not last as long and have more potential of failure or deformation (which takes things out of alignment).
Should we discuss any other unintended consequences of feel good government regulations? HCL bulbs? MTBE in gasoline? No-phosphorous detergents? Asbestos insulation on space shuttle fuel tanks? Mosquito aerosols? Airport Security? EPA? FDA? VA? Salley Mae/Freddie Mac? Social Security? Medicaid? ....
So much anger. Good thing I’m not over 60.
Yup - I get it now. Thanks.
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