Biden voices interest in new technology for guns
by ERICA WERNER and JULIE PACE,Associated Press
Jan 11, 2013 | 2762 views | 12 12 comments | 4 4 recommendations | email to a friend | print
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden says he's interested in technology that would keep a gun from being fired by anyone other than the person who bought it. He says evidence shows such technology may have curtailed what happened last month in Connecticut when 20 youngsters and six teachers were gunned down inside their elementary school.

Biden commented Friday as he met with representatives from the video game industry. It was the latest in a series of meetings he's held with interested parties as he finalizes the administration's response to the Connecticut shooting.

He said he hopes to deliver recommendations to President Barack Obama by Tuesday.

Biden said that had the Connecticut shooter not had access to guns bought by his mother he might have been unable to otherwise get a gun.
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Almost_Anonymous
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January 14, 2013
There have been various ways proposed to do this in the past.

This is great from an owner's point-of-view:

* No chance an attacker can use your own gun on you.

* No chance your child or grandchild will have some horrible accident.

* Much lower chance of gun theft if a thief sees he'll now have to somehow disable/remove this technology to sell a stolen gun.

I wish a shotgun of mine had this technology when it was stolen awhile back!

The devil's in the details of the technology, but I urge the NRA, the GOP, the VP and the Democratic Party to push ahead trying to get this going, at least for new guns. It would be great if you could retrofit it to existing guns, too.
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Almost_Anonymous
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January 14, 2013
A wish-list item for gun-owners:

My cell phone has a service where if it's stolen, I can track the phone's location online. I'd love to have something like that (subject, of course, to privacy controls) that I could use to find a gun if it were stolen.

That might be bulky and hard for a pistol but should be doable for a long gun (rifle or shotgun).

I hate a thief, especially a gun thief.
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mirage83
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January 14, 2013
Not necessarily so great AA. I for one have no interest in a firearm that only I (or my wife her's, or my kids their's) can fire. My wife and adult children all live at home, and are fully trained on the use of our firearms. If the need arises, any one of them needs to have the ability to use one, regardless of which is most convenient at the time.

Nor am I interested in having to wear something specific in order to fire it.

As far as the disabling mechanism of such "smart technology", if it fails does it "fail safe" or "fail enabled"? That can make a huge difference for those who have or carry for self-defense.

I don't find a tracking mechanism to be a bad idea in general, so long as the government cannot access the information without a warrant. But we're already seen that the government cannot be trusted to worry about things as warrants.

As you say, the devil is in the details, and I cannot say that I am inclined to trust the federal government when push comes to shove on this issue.
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dialup
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January 14, 2013
Chicago had new murder record for 2012- they outdid their old record from 2010. No one has said a word. Isn't Barry Sotero from Chicago? Nearly 1/3 of the 500 murdered in Chicago in 2012 were humans under the age of 21- aka - CHILDREN by most definitions. And most of that number were caught in cross-fires, etc. No one said anything because it was election year. Same with theater shooting- same with the congresswoman shot who we all talk about but what about the federal judge and US Marshal who died before they BOTH could draw their own weapons and shoot back. Never let a good tragedy go to waste is what the politicians like Biden say- a man reelected for 30 yrs who OPENLY admitted to lying his way into the job in Rhode Island. His original ideas are someone else's old ideas. Bet he got this "technology" idea from new Bond movie- fingerprint recognition to activiate a handgun to unlock its' safety. Obama promised he would make the average ocean depth recede due to stopping global warming- the guy actually said it - so what prevents him from "registering" ALL guns in the U.S. ?
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JoMadden
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January 12, 2013
There are millions and millions of firearms currently owned by evil gun nuts. Will Obama hire those leeches and moochers that voted for him to retrofit the firearms without this new "technology"? Next up, knives that dull when touched by someone other than the owner. Melting baseball bats? Gasoline that can only be ignited by a spark plug in a combustion engine?

There have been mass killings of children since the beginning of recorded history. Obama will have to take a break from walking on water if he is going to be the one person in human history who is able to prevent it from happening again.
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reddersonja
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January 12, 2013
The spelling, punctuation and sentence structure I see in these comments does not present the appearance of clear and educated thought processes.
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dbeall
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January 12, 2013
So in other words you have no counter argument?
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coosatown
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January 14, 2013
"spelling, punctuation and sentence structure"(nouns/plural)."does not present"(verb/singular)."clear and educated thought processes"?
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JoMadden
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January 14, 2013
LOL coosa. Being considered "educated" in NW Georgia is akin to the limbo in that the bar is very low and keeps getting lower.
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TheWaTchr
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January 11, 2013
Is Joe Biden an idiot or what. They want to reduce the number of weapons so they make it that instead of one weapon to protect a home a family would have to buy multiple weapons. Also, there is no way an electronic device will stop a mechanical device from shooting if the devise is altered. It has been tried before.
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MistahROME
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January 11, 2013
You had it right, he is a IDIOT!
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wish2010
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January 12, 2013
And the media portrayed Dan Quale as an idiot. He was a genius compared to Biden.
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