Gun control issue: slightly shotgunned?
For once, my random associations actually may have paid off!
Yesterday morning, something reminded me of something that reminded me of something else that eventually made me think about how if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns, but allowing guns to be too easy to obtain leads to family shootings, school shootings, bank robberies, and so on. Then I suddenly came up with ideas for some possible solutions to the issue! All of them involve special guns being made that only work under certain circumstances, and all other guns being outlawed:
- Probably the best idea would be a very high-tech indoor & outdoor security system that comes with guns, and it works like this:
For a certain amount of days after its purchase (selected at random [I'll explain why it's at random later], but always in a certain range; I'm thinking between 7 and 14 or maybe 7 and 28), the guns can't be fired at all, and the security system detects its owner (this will be determined by who's right at the camera when it's first turned on or something like that) and people that he/she is friendly with and puts them on a "do not shoot" list so that if one of these people goes crazy for whatever reason and decides to shoot someone else on the list, it won't work.
After the days are up, the security system can still add people to the list, but now the gun will unlock (but must still be shot manually) if aimed at someone not on the list who enters the property (and they have to enter the property; if this requirement weren't there, school shootings and things like that would still happen).
The random selection of the delay is to help prevent someone who wants to shoot their kids (for example) from planning to send them on vacation or something for the duration of the delay just so they still won't be on the "do not shoot" list after the delay's up.
The only disadvantages I can think of are the fact that it would be hard to program and its uselessness if a criminal breaks in before the delay ends (though there's still 911 for that).
- Speaking of 911, another idea (I'd say it's my second-best) would be a gun with the owner's phone number programmed in that can only be fired if the owner calls 911 from that number and the 911 operator determines that the owner really is in danger (they have to approve it so that the owner can't call 911 just to kill someone).
However, there's the chance that someone might be able to fake a criminal breaking & entering in order to unlock the gun.
- My third-best idea is a gun with a voice recognizer built in that is meant to be mounted to the ceiling and cannot be fired manually under any circumstances, but if it hears someone yelling something that a criminal would say, like "GIVE ME YOUR MONEY OR ELSE!!", it'll automatically turn and fire in the direction of the voice. (If it fired manually, a criminal might yell something like that to activate their own gun.)
However, it would have to be connected somehow to every TV, portable DVD player, etc. in the house so that it can distinguish real criminals from criminals in movies and TV shows. Also, if it's used in a school, and the school holds a school play with a robber or something as one of the characters, it would have to be turned off for the duration of the play. It would also not be very useful at stopping criminals who are ventriloquists, and if someone else happens to be between the criminal and the gun when the criminal yells, it will end badly.
Yesterday morning, something reminded me of something that reminded me of something else that eventually made me think about how if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns, but allowing guns to be too easy to obtain leads to family shootings, school shootings, bank robberies, and so on. Then I suddenly came up with ideas for some possible solutions to the issue! All of them involve special guns being made that only work under certain circumstances, and all other guns being outlawed:
- Probably the best idea would be a very high-tech indoor & outdoor security system that comes with guns, and it works like this:
For a certain amount of days after its purchase (selected at random [I'll explain why it's at random later], but always in a certain range; I'm thinking between 7 and 14 or maybe 7 and 28), the guns can't be fired at all, and the security system detects its owner (this will be determined by who's right at the camera when it's first turned on or something like that) and people that he/she is friendly with and puts them on a "do not shoot" list so that if one of these people goes crazy for whatever reason and decides to shoot someone else on the list, it won't work.
After the days are up, the security system can still add people to the list, but now the gun will unlock (but must still be shot manually) if aimed at someone not on the list who enters the property (and they have to enter the property; if this requirement weren't there, school shootings and things like that would still happen).
The random selection of the delay is to help prevent someone who wants to shoot their kids (for example) from planning to send them on vacation or something for the duration of the delay just so they still won't be on the "do not shoot" list after the delay's up.
The only disadvantages I can think of are the fact that it would be hard to program and its uselessness if a criminal breaks in before the delay ends (though there's still 911 for that).
- Speaking of 911, another idea (I'd say it's my second-best) would be a gun with the owner's phone number programmed in that can only be fired if the owner calls 911 from that number and the 911 operator determines that the owner really is in danger (they have to approve it so that the owner can't call 911 just to kill someone).
However, there's the chance that someone might be able to fake a criminal breaking & entering in order to unlock the gun.
- My third-best idea is a gun with a voice recognizer built in that is meant to be mounted to the ceiling and cannot be fired manually under any circumstances, but if it hears someone yelling something that a criminal would say, like "GIVE ME YOUR MONEY OR ELSE!!", it'll automatically turn and fire in the direction of the voice. (If it fired manually, a criminal might yell something like that to activate their own gun.)
However, it would have to be connected somehow to every TV, portable DVD player, etc. in the house so that it can distinguish real criminals from criminals in movies and TV shows. Also, if it's used in a school, and the school holds a school play with a robber or something as one of the characters, it would have to be turned off for the duration of the play. It would also not be very useful at stopping criminals who are ventriloquists, and if someone else happens to be between the criminal and the gun when the criminal yells, it will end badly.