MA Moving Towards Requiring Mandatory GPS Trackers In Firearms

Fleming and Hayes ^ | March 10, 2011

[La Lydia]

How this is slipping below the national radar is beyond me, but, in late January, the Massachusetts legislature once again looked to put our state in the forefront of national policy. This time we’re not talking about RomneyCare being the forerunner and blueprint for ObamaCare, but something more sinister and foreboding: tracking your guns with a mandatory GPS unit. On January 24th, the Massachusetts State Senate Referred S01224 to Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. S01224 is a petition by State Senator Anthony Petruccelli to “create a GPS Locators in Firearms Study Commission”. It reads....

.....

The operative word in this study commission’s charter is “feasibility“. The only thing this commission is going to be “studying” is how to side step the 2nd amendment (something in which MA law makers have become very skilled) and impose a truly draconian law upon the citizens of Massachusetts. This is further evidenced by the last line in the bill”"

The commission shall report to the general court the results of its investigation and study, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry such recommendations into effect…

So it seems, you have every right to bear arms as long as every power-thirsty bureaucrat knows exactly where you are at any given time! As we mentioned this commission is the brain child of state Senator Anthony Petruccelli of East Boston. If you’re actually a fan of civil liberties and the whole “2nd Amendment” thing (and even the “4th Amendment” in this hellish scenario), I can’t encourage you enough to contact Senator Petruccelli.

[La Lydia]

Bill language at link.

[paul51]

put a gps tracker on the senator and any one that supports legislation like this. they are dangerous and shouldn't be allowed freedom to roam unrestricted.

[Puppage]

Let's just call the police every time we step out of our homes. Tell them where you're going & when you'll be back.We can also make plaster casts of our cars tire.

After all, these are just tools/sarc.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I'd be all for this if we get to put GPS trackers on all elected officials as well.

[LearsFool]

Sorry, that’s an “unreasonable search”. No sale.

Get a warrant or get out of my life.

[La Lydia]

Yes. Surgically implanted in their rear ends.

[therightliveswithus]

So they’ll go over the border and get one.

For all of the terrible laws coming out of New England, they’re actually usually conservative about gun control. Why are they acting so stupid now?

[La Lydia]

It’s Massachusetts. Remember, they have repeatedly re-elected that pompous, traitorous gasbag, John Kerry.

[utherdoul]

or just hack the device. If its a government mandated anything it’ll probably be easier to hack than a video game.

[Yo-Yo]

What utter morons. OK, put a “GPS Tracker” in a gun. What does that mean? A GPS receiver that records the movement of the gun and stores the results on a memory card? Or is there supposed to be some sort of transmitter included in this “tracker” that reports back it's location in real time to a central depository? On what frequencies? Using what infrastructure? To what central depository? Staffed by whom?

Well, cell phones currently have GPS trackers installed in them for E911 use, so is the national cellular telephone system to be used for this data back channel? Will a Verizon cell phone be built into each new gun?

Now that a GPS location device and a real time reporting of this location is established, what other data will be collected and transmitted? Using our cell phone example, those come with cameras and microphones.

Will the gun report each time it is fired? Will there be a micro camera installed so that video of each firing will be recorded and transmitted in real time? Microphones? Will these features be enabled without the owner's permission if a judge issues a surveillance warrant?

Will it be a felony to be caught with a firearm with it's GPS Tracker/Locator/Logger batteries dead? Will you have to keep your guns on a charger constantly? What about the monthly cell phone service that allows your gun to tattle back to the central authority? Will it just become too expensive for most honest folks to afford to keep a firearm? Did I say these people were morons?

[DBrow]

We’ll need to perfect that technology so that the legal owner can only remove the batteries when they go flat, yet the criminal will never be able to remove them.

This tracking technology will require GPS receivers on firearms, but each will also need a transmitter, broadcasting the received location plus serial number of the tracker. That means that along with this, there must be command posts that can receive the transmissions, process them, and present them to human operators in a situational awareness format. Tax money or gun license fees will need to be raised to cover the millions to do this.

This will be the case even if the GPS trackers are set up like LoJack, in which they are only activated when the legal owner reports a firearm lost or stolen (command central then issues a “turn on” command causing the GPS tracker to start broadcasting location.) In LoJack, when the owner reports theft, a special signal is sent out piggybacking on FM radio signals that turns on a specific LoJack transmitter in the stolen car. RDF units on police cars home in on the signal (the cars with four short antennas on top). In the GPS system the radio signal from the firearm would broadcast the location directly.

There is a time element here- once reported stolen, the firearm must be found before the thief wraps the firearm in aluminum foil (making a Faraday cage), takes the thing to a machine shop, and uses a Bridgeport to gore out the guts of the transmitter (or takes the battery out). Once the battery is out or transmitter machined off, the criminal can use the firearm freely.

This is perfect use of technology to harass legal owners, shift vast amounts of cash from citizens to government workers, and do nothing to solve the real problem, so that government can step in later with another fix (since this one did not work).

[Prokopton]

The people of MA voted for these fools, what do they expect?

[ThomasThomas]

A GPS that you can track will need to have a transmitter that require batteries. Batteries wear out. I don’t see this working.

[ladyrustic]

Thanks for the heads up. I’ve sent him an email and encourage all MASS freepers to do the same.

[alexander_busek]

What utter morons. OK, put a “GPS Tracker” in a gun. What does that mean? A GPS receiver that records the movement of the gun and stores the results on a memory card? Or is there supposed to be some sort of transmitter included in this “tracker” that reports back it's location in real time to a central depository? On what frequencies? Using what infrastructure? To what central depository? Staffed by whom?

"I'm sorry, I can't shoot you right now - I'm not getting a signal... Okay, I'm out of the tunnel, now. BLAM!"

Regards,

[chaosagent]

Disregarding the rights issues for now, how do they expect this to work technically?

They’re not talking about just a GPS receiver chip like in your cellphone, but an additional transmitter to then broadcast the gun’s location, along with some sort of identifying number.

What kind of range are they looking for?
And how much power will be required?
Will the transmission be in the clear so anyone can receive it?
Or encrypted?
And even if encrypted, can your location still be identified by the transmission source?
Will wrapping your gun in foil defeat the GPS?
And lastly, what kind of batteries will be required to power all of this?
Will you have to ‘recharge’ your gun every night?
And what happens if you ‘forget’ to recharge it?
Does your gun quit working?
And of course I’m sure all LEO firearms will have the same feature, right?

Right?

Inquiring minds, and all that.

[GYL2]

Are we allowed to post parodies of the abject stupidity of the gun grabbers from the Onion?

[Mr. K]

wrap it in tinfoil...

problem solcved, lots of taxc dollars wasted for nothing

[DBrow]

“Batteries wear out. I don’t see this working.”

Yes, a weak point. The owner can’t have access to the battery, or a criminal will also.

I think one location in MA should have the technology required to open the battery case and replace it, weekly.

Let’s put it in Ashley Falls, MA, and it will be open from 9: am to 10:56 AM on even numbered days.

[Mad Dawgg]

"A GPS that you can track will need to have a transmitter that require batteries. Batteries wear out. I don’t see this working."

You got to think like a liberal to see how this would work.

All new guns would require the GPS installed. The GPS unit would indeed be battery powered. Further that same battery power would also control a safety mechanism that disengages the firing pin when there is no power. The battery will be secured in a locking system that requires a special key which only the official government agency has. You must go to the official agency to get a new battery and of course ONLY THE REGISTERED OWNER CAN DO SO.

Of course in this situation the government would in no way put in a system that allows the Government to disengage ALL FIRING PINS via the GPS unit. That would be just too paranoid... right?

Then of course a new law would be passed saying you must bring your old weapons in to either be traded for new weapons with the GPS or retro fitted with an ADDON GPS unit.

But of course liberals would never do such right?

I need to light up a good cigar and think about this But I can't because I live in a commercial building and its against the law now...

But liberals would never do this... right?