GPS Locators in Firearms?

[JohnRich 4]

Massachusetts State Senator Andrew Petruccelli has re-introduced a bill calling for a commission to study GPS tracking for firearms:

"A special commission after this referred to as the Global Positioning System Locators in Firearms Study Commission, is hereby established for the purpose of making an investigation and study relative to the feasibility of placing Global Positioning System (“GPS”) locators in firearms...

"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 by filing the same with the clerk of the senate before the bill filing deadline for the 2013-2014 general court session."

Bill source: http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/Senate/S01224

[steve1 5]

My gosh! What's the world coming to. Don't legislaters have anything better to do, than dream up rubish like this...

[wayneflorida 0]

It would be cheaper and more effective to GPS all excons and felons.

[masterrig 1]

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My gosh! What's the world coming to. Don't legislaters have anything better to do, than dream up rubish like this...

They'll do anything they can to look 'busy' while avoiding the real job at hand.
As was said here... keep track of the criminals and they'll know where the 'bad' guns are. Typical lame-assed politicians!


Chuck

[billvon 3,110]

Good idea in theory; implementation problems make it impractical.

[JohnRich 4]

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Good idea in theory; implementation problems make it impractical.

So if implementation was practical, then you would be all in favor of GPS tracking of millions of guns? And of having some government agency that sits around and stares at computer screens full of little red dots, 99.9% of which rarely ever move from a fixed location? And of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a computer system and the manpower to run it, to keep track of all of those little red dots?

[billvon 3,110]

>So if implementation was practical, then you would be all in favor of
>GPS tracking of millions of guns?

Nope. But I would be in favor of GPS tracking of guns that have been used in crimes.

>And of having some government agency that sits around and stares at
>computer screens full of little red dots, 99.9% of which rarely ever move from a
>fixed location?

Why would you do that?

>And of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a computer system and the
>manpower to run it, to keep track of all of those little red dots?

Again, why would you do that?

[AggieDave 6]

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Nope. But I would be in favor of GPS tracking of guns that have been used in crimes.

Lets cover some criminal justice technical details.

If a gun is recovered, having been used in a crime, it is kept in evidence. Upon the completion of the trial (including appeals, which may take a decade or more depending on the crime), if the weapon had been stolen, it may be returned to the owner (who is a victim, not a criminal); however, typically, the weapon is destroyed and the materials recycled. Especially since the gun is typically claimed on insurance and replaced or the claim was paid out. So the insurance company could claim it, but they usually don't. The majority of weapons used in crimes are destroyed after the trial process.

So GPS tracking of a weapon that was used in a crime is an idea that has no real use.

That is unless you can convince someone who is a criminal, who shouldn't have a weapon anyways, to bring their illegal weapon down to the station to get it implanted with a GPS.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[rehmwa 2]

I'd think that if a hunter wants to know where he is and how to get home, he'd just buy his gun and his GPS separately.

No need to mix unrelated features in a product.

(I'm being off topic here because the actual concept of tracking personal property by the government is just too idiotic, intrusive and horrible to acknowledge. If the point is to track criminals, then plan the tracker in convicted felon's femurs.)

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[Andy9o8 2]

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It would be cheaper and more effective to GPS all excons and felons.

That will probably happen some day; there are already "bracelets" in use to track offenders. Just a matter of science fiction converging with science fact; and that's just a matter of time.

[Andrewwhyte 1]

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Good idea in theory; implementation problems make it impractical.

So if implementation was practical, then you would be all in favor of GPS tracking of millions of guns? And of having some government agency that sits around and stares at computer screens full of little red dots, 99.9% of which rarely ever move from a fixed location? And of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a computer system and the manpower to run it, to keep track of all of those little red dots?

IF it could be done practically so that bad guys could not disable it without rendering the gun useless I would think it would be a very good idea. It is a good idea for my phone.
I could find nothing in the link to indicate that the government would have access to the tracking information any more than they can find my phone. Doesn't mean they can't, it just means they need a warrant. I realise the police no longer need warrants in the US for much, but that is not a weakness in this particular idea. However If my gun was stolen it would be very cool to go to my computer and locate it the moment I realise it is missing.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

It would certainly make black market dealers of guns without GPS very rich.

[billvon 3,110]

>So GPS tracking of a weapon that was used in a crime is an idea that
>has no real use.

So looking at a murder scene, and knowing that the gun that was used is now a mile north of your present location, would be of no real use?

[mnealtx 0]

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>So GPS tracking of a weapon that was used in a crime is an idea that
>has no real use.

So looking at a murder scene, and knowing that the gun that was used is now a mile north of your present location, would be of no real use?

And by what magic are they supposed to be able to tell just *what* gun was used in the murder?

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[rushmc 23]

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>So GPS tracking of a weapon that was used in a crime is an idea that
>has no real use.

So looking at a murder scene, and knowing that the gun that was used is now a mile north of your present location, would be of no real use?

And by what magic are they supposed to be able to tell just *what* gun was used in the murder?

Hmm

I would guess that would mean tracking all guns at all times
Then you just check the time of the crime against which weapons were there at the time

No big deal right?

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[rehmwa 2]

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I would guess that would mean tracking all guns at all times
Then you just check the time of the crime against which weapons were there at the time

actually, that's a really good idea

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[rushmc 23]

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I would guess that would mean tracking all guns at all times
Then you just check the time of the crime against which weapons were there at the time

actually, that's a really good idea

Cool

so the bad guys disable theirs and the law abiding dont

And the data base would not be very big or expensive now would it

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[billvon 3,110]

>And by what magic are they supposed to be able to tell just *what* gun was
>used in the murder?

One whose geotag matched the location and time of the murder.

[billvon 3,110]

>I would guess that would mean tracking all guns at all times

Nope. Why would you bother tracking a gun that is sitting in someone's safe?

[rushmc 23]

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>And by what magic are they supposed to be able to tell just *what* gun was
>used in the murder?

One whose geotag matched the location and time of the murder.

I have to wonder if a bad guy was going to use his/her gun in a crime, would they leave the GPS locater active?

I wouldnt
Would you?

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[billvon 3,110]

>I have to wonder if a bad guy was going to use his/her gun in a crime, would
>they leave the GPS locater active?

They would certainly try to disable it if they were aware of its presence.

[rushmc 23]

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>I would guess that would mean tracking all guns at all times

Nope. Why would you bother tracking a gun that is sitting in someone's safe?

So you would only track guns that are moving

That would be some better

Of course the current gps units are not really small enought to be part of a hand gun (today) are they?

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[rhaig 0]

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>So GPS tracking of a weapon that was used in a crime is an idea that
>has no real use.

So looking at a murder scene, and knowing that the gun that was used is now a mile north of your present location, would be of no real use?

knowing the exact time and location would allow you to find all the guns that were inside 10m of that location at that time (assuming they had line of sight to 4 GPS satellites). Of course for indoor crimes it would narrow it down to guns in the building. Now the system is tracking this data for ALL guns in a jurisdiction, and keeping it logged for a fixed period of time (which would mean likely forever).

were you to be able to get a query against that DB to return, assuming scale wasn't a problem, you would be able to determine which tracked weapons were in the vicinity at that time. This doesn't ensure that ANY of these weapons were the actual murder weapon. The result would be that if none of them were the murder weapon, that several people would be violently detained and likely have their weapons temporarily confiscated as potential evidence.

Of course the criminals wouldn't dare disable the GPS trackers on their weapons. That would be illegal.

--
Rob

[mnealtx 0]

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>And by what magic are they supposed to be able to tell just *what* gun was
>used in the murder?

One whose geotag matched the location and time of the murder.

Sweet - so you're going to go round up the 27 gun owners in the building that the murder was committed beside?

Damn, that's a GREAT idea, Bill!!

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[billvon 3,110]

>So you would only track guns that are moving

I'd only track guns that have been fired, say within the last 12 hours. Only tracking guns that are moving is another potential option.