firearms
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Yardarm will tell dispatchers when and where police fire guns
With the exception of maybe old Andy Taylor, most police officers in the United States carry a firearm as part of their standard equipment. Wouldn't it be nice to know when those sidearms are drawn, and why? A Silicon Valley startup called Yardarm seems to think so -- it's testing a new gun accessory that can notify police dispatchers when officers draw and fire their weapons. It's a small Bluetooth-enabled sensor that attaches to the officer's pistol and interacts with a companion smartphone. In addition to tracking the gun's action (if it's been fired) and location, it can also sort out which direction the weapon was fired and even if it has simply left its holster.
Watch a sniper nail his target from 500 yards without even 'looking' at it
Smart-weapon company TrackingPoint seems pretty intent to make real-world guns act like the virtual firearms we use for offing video game villains. The latest demo of its ShotView targeting system showcases live video being transmitted from a rifle's scope to a set of off-the-shelf Smith Optics I/O Recon goggles via WiFi, enabling the marksman to hit an explosives-filled pop bottle from 500 yards down-range without even looking at it. While the previous concept clip used Google Glass, a TrackingPoint spokesperson tells us that the Smith goggles don't lag like Google's wearable does in this scenario. Speed might not make a huge difference at the firing range, but, for soldiers in the field, we'd imagine that keeping pace with a mobile target is somewhat important -- especially if they aren't physically looking at it. For a gander at an advanced warfighter's possible arsenal, make sure to peep the video below.
Facebook and Instagram step in with age limits on firearms ads, new rules for sellers
For most, Facebook's "Look Back" videos were a whimsical retrospective covering a decade of social networking. For Moms Demand Action, an advocacy group that supports gun control laws, the nostalgic campaign was a opportunity to be heard. The group published a parody Look Back video highlighting pages and posts that use the social network to set up gun sales between private parties, some of which violated Facebook's community standards. Now, Zuckerberg and Co. have responded, announcing a handful of new policies designed to help keep posts promoting the sale of regulated goods within the letter of the law.
Philadelphia says no to 3D printed guns
The Liberator made quite a name for itself a few months back when it became the first functioning all-3D printed gun, and while its maker designed it with mass distribution in mind, we now know one place where it's unwelcome: Philadelphia. The city of Brotherly Love lived up to its name yesterday, when the city council voted unanimously to ban folks from being able to print plastic pistols with which to shoot each other. That's right, it is now illegal to manufacture guns via 3D printer in Philadelphia. As of this writing, Philly's the first city to put such a ban in place, and it's not in response to a a rash of plastic pistols flooding the streets, either -- Philadelphia Magazine reports that it's just a preventative measure. Nice to see a city government trying to stop a problem before it starts, but we're betting it won't be long before someone in Philly takes to the courts to challenge the ban.
3D-printed firearm plans downloaded 100,000 times, State Department steps in
That didn't take long -- just days after its first test fire, the Liberator, a 3D-printed pistol designed by Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson, has caught the attention of the federal government. It's hardly a surprise: the arm's blueprints were downloaded more than 100,000 times since going live on DefCAD this week. It's not the amount of downloads that's causing trouble, though, it's who is downloading them. In a letter from the US State Department, Wilson was told that it's a violation of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to "export any defense article or technical data for which a license or written approval is required without first obtaining the required authorization from the DDTC (Directorate of Defense Trade Controls)." The letter goes on to explain that these downloads legally count as exports under the law, telling Wilson to remove the plans from public access immediately. "That might be an impossible standard," Wilson told Forbes. "But we'll do our part to remove it from our servers." As it turns out, most of the gun's downloads were served via Mega, making full removal near impossible. Still, Wilson seems optimistic about the situation, explaining to Forbes that conversation will help mold the discussion on 3D printed weaponry. "Is this a workable regulatory regime? Can there be defense trade control in the era of the internet and 3D printing?" We're looking forward to discovering the answer ourselves.
The Liberator, the first completely 3D-printed gun, gets test-fired (video)
The (almost) all-plastic 3D-printed Liberator pistol was announced by Defense Distributed late last week, but with the gun's blueprints and construction details now live on the company's own DefCAD design site, it's also released a video taken during its testing. In front of a Forbes onlooker, the clip apparently shows a .380 caliber bullet being fired by the Liberator. The only non-plastic part of the design is a common nail, which acts as the firing pin. Defense Distributed's founder Cody Wilson has worked over a year on the project, apparently citing the one-shot pistols that were designed to be air-dropped over France during World War II as inspiration -- also called the Liberator. This modern version is, however, formed of 15 components made inside a Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer. The video of the test shot and more details are right after the break.
NYPD begins testing long-distance gun detector as alternative to physical searches
As part of its ongoing effort to keep New York City safe, the NYPD has begun testing a new scanning device capable of detecting concealed firearms from a distance of about 16 feet. Developed in conjunction with the Department of Defense, the technology uses terahertz imaging detection to measure the radiation that humans naturally emit, and determine whether the flow of this radiation is impeded by a foreign object -- in this case, a gun. During a speech Tuesday, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the device shows "a great deal of promise as a way of detecting weapons without a physical search." Kelly went on to say that the technology would only be deployed under "reasonably suspicious circumstances," though some civil liberties activists are already expressing concerns. "We find this proposal both intriguing and worrisome," New York Civil Liberties Union executive director Donna Lieberman said in a statement, adding that the scanner could all too easily infringe upon civilian privacy. "If the NYPD is moving forward with this, the public needs more information about this technology, how it works and the dangers it presents." For now, the NYPD is only testing the device at a shooting range in the Bronx, and has yet to offer a timeline for its potential deployment.
Lock and load: Undead Labs talks guns
If you're going to include zombies in your game, they're there to be shot. That's a simple fact of life, a fact that Undead Labs seems to be fully cognizant about. The company's most recent developer blog talked about firearms for its upcoming zombie outbreak games, and the topic proved so irresistible to potential players that a second question-and-answer session has been posted talking more about guns. Whether it's in the console version or the full-scale MMO, who doesn't want to be sure of the highest-caliber destruction one can wreak upon the undead? The original developer blog talks in depth about trying to balance a realistic feeling with what players will expect from guns, but the follow-up goes into more detail. Gunfire and sounds will indeed attract zombies to players, but the team doesn't seem interested in burying players under mountains of different ammunition types. The guns in question will most likely not be licensed brands, although some licenses are being sought for some more iconic weapons. There also won't be a full spread of exotic firearms in the console game, Class 3, although the MMO version will likely have a wider variety. Take a look at the full set of answers for more details on the best part of zombie invasions -- sweet, sweet hails of bullets.
Mafia Wars out now on the iPhone
Unfortunately, the classic mobile game of Dope Wars (I played hours of it on my old TI-80) still hasn't been allowed on the App Store -- Apple reportedly wasn't happy with the drug-themed gameplay, and so there are only "sugarcoated" versions there now (including one that is literally about sugar, branded as Candy Wars). But Zynga, makers of Scramble Live, have now released a game called Mafia Wars, which brings the same kind of premise: you're a mob boss, and you buy and use firearms to get money and all sorts of illegal items. The gameplay isn't exactly the same (rather than selling for higher and lower prices, you're "doing jobs" that cash out earned points for money), but Mafia Wars goes a little farther than Dope Wars, too, in that, since the game was originally created on MySpace and Facebook, you can "fight" against other players and win cash from them, too.Don't expect to see any of Grand Theft Auto's 3D graphics or storyline (for that, you can go try Payback) -- this is a strictly turn-based button pressing simulation. But it's got quite a life of its own on Facebook already, so it's well balanced and fun for a few pick-up-and-play minutes at a time. It's free right now on the App Store, though Zynga says there'll be "premium versions" (whatever that means) that cost from $10 to $40 (whatever that means) available soon.
IBM patents bullet dodging bionic armor
Your science fiction fantasy may be coming a reality, if IBM has anything to say about it. The company was recently granted a patent for bionic body armor, originally filed last March, that's intended to bestow the wearer the power to dodge bullets. The device works by constantly emitting electromagnetic waves that bounce off any fast-moving projectiles, and it uses the data to calculate risky trajectories. If the object in question is determined to be a threat, muscle stimulators activate and cause the wearer's body to contort in such way to avoid being hit. It works under the idea that a sniper typically fires from a distance, given the armor time to detect the oncoming bullet and react accordingly. Check out an image of from IBM's filing after the break. Here's hoping it can detect lasers, too.[Via The Firearm Blog; thanks, Chris!]
iPod touch: the hot accessory for your sniper rifle
FBI agents and Marines have a fashion challenge -- it can be so difficult to figure out how to accessorize your Knights Armament M110 sniper rifle. You don't want to put shiny bling on it, since that may attract the curiosity of your target. Dangly things would probably get caught on something. Hmmmm, how about an iPod touch?You too can have an iPod touch for your M110! Knights Armament came up with a mount that attaches to a rail on the side of the rifle. That mount holds an Otterbox protective case, which in turns holds the iPod touch in place.So why do you need an iPod touch on your sniper rifle? There's always the chance that you'll need entertainment during those long hours in Iraq or Afghanistan, and there's no better place to put your iPod touch than with the tools of your trade. Even better, you can use the $11.99 ballistics calculator app called Bullet Flight (click opens iTunes, app written by Runaway Technologies for Knights Armament) to help you stay on target. That's it running on the iPod touch in the picture above.If the long-rumored iPhone nano ever arrives, will there be a side mount for a Smith & Wesson Compact M&P 9mm? It boggles the mind...Thanks to Dan and Steve for the tip![via The Firearm Blog]
