Ask HN: How can we use technology to prevent domestic mass murder?

Re:Ask HN: How can we use technology to prevent domestic mas... by duncan_bayne on Sunday October 04, 2015 @09:09PM (#10329502)

"Instead of the oft-discussed political and sociological solutions, how can we as engineers use technology to minimize the damage of mass murders or prevent their occurrence, in a way that respects individual freedoms?"

Well, there are several problems with handguns that lead to people being reluctant to carry them:

- weight

- size

- expense

- safety (esp. accidental discharges, collateral damage, over-penetration)

- lethality (as separate from stopping power; imagine the ideal as a fictional gun that always stops an attacker but almost never kills him or her, like a Star Trek phaser set to stun)

I'm not sure how many of those are amenable to fixing. But if you could come up with something akin to a phaser, at a good price, that could be safely carried by a large subset of the population I think you'd be on to a winner.

"What does your startup do?"

"We're the Tesla of handguns"

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Re:Ask HN: How can we use technology to prevent domestic mas... by saluki on Monday October 05, 2015 @09:40PM (#10336283)

This would be a great option, non-lethal stopping force, that is small, less expensive, safer to carry, repeat shots, integrated so 911 is alerted so police can come to the area right away to sort things out provide assistance.

teslaguns.com/phaser

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Re:Ask HN: How can we use technology to prevent domestic mas... by duncan_bayne on Tuesday October 06, 2015 @02:12AM (#10337003)

Re. 'non-lethal', though, bear in mind there's no such guarantee. I think 'less-lethal' is the term of art.

E.g. assuming the thing is somewhat like a Taser, good luck if you shoot someone with a weak heart, or a pacemaker. Or maybe your target falls badly and dies from a head injury. Or falls off something. Etc. etc. etc.

This is why self-defense is a moral imperative. There is no way to employ force against someone without risking his or her death.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: How can we use technology to prevent domestic mas... by duncan_bayne on Monday October 05, 2015 @11:54PM (#10336680)

Alerting is a great idea. Unless you've set the device to 'range' mode, it automatically contacts emergency services with GPS-determined location, 30 seconds after firing.

30 seconds gives you time to switch it to range mode if you're at the range and forgot :)

Plus a camera, streaming. Starts uploading video and audio the moment it's out of its holster.

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Re:Ask HN: How can we use technology to prevent domestic mas... by duncan_bayne on Tuesday October 06, 2015 @02:08AM (#10336994)

You could put a bunch of smarts in it too. RFID reader to prevent use by someone other than the owner. Maybe even geo-fencing to prevent it from being fired somewhere it shouldn't be.

[ Parent | on HN ]