
Why gun violence barely rates on Silicon Valley's long world-changing to-do list - evanh2002
https://backchannel.com/no-moonshots-for-gunshots-f5ca338a273f#.jvag9g7gp
======
Piskvorrr
"If we can set it up so you can't unlock your phone unless you've got the
right fingerprint..." That's a very precise point, although probably
unintentional.

 _Swipe...swipe...swipe...swipe...swipe...swipe...swipe...[gives up and types
a backup passphrase on a huge touchscreen]_ For a smartphone, the
functionality contained is rarely needed _right damn now_ (and many phones
allow the user to make emergency calls from a locked device; I believe that's
even some sort of regulatory requirement). If you're unlocking a smartgun, and
you have all the time in the world for that, _what purpose_ exactly are you
unlocking it for?

------
greenisland
"Gun violence" is a misnomer. Violence using guns is a better description, but
the left-leaning media will never correct this.

Mass shootings get loads of attention, but the murder rate using guns has
actually decreased in the last 20 years, not gone up. But to listen to the
mainstream media, you'd think that a few nutters with guns is ushering in the
end of the world.

There will always be guns, there should always be guns for the law abiding
enthusiast. Making it so difficult to obtain and use a gun is akin to a de
facto blocking of the 2nd Amendment. A simple background check, which is
already the law, works. Anything else is burdensome. Ditto have special
permits to buy guns and ammo. If I need a permit to buy something legally,
it's no longer a right, but a granted privilege. This is the reason, despite
living in Texas, one of the most gun owner friendly states in the union, I
have no gotten my concealed weapons permit. A right does not need a permit. I
don't want a granted privilege. I carry one in my car because the law allows
it sans permit, but I will not ask permission to do something the 2nd
Amendment already grants. This is why states like Kentucky, Wyoming, Montana,
Alaska, Vermont, Arizona, all allow what we call "Constitutional Carry". They
can carry legally with no permit, because the 2nd Amendment is the permit.

~~~
etjossem
> They can carry legally with no permit, because the 2nd Amendment is the
> permit.

No, residents of those states can carry legally without a permit because their
state legislature said they could. "Constitutional Carry" is a cute nickname,
but Vermont is still granting its residents the privilege of carrying guns in
public. There is no nationwide right to concealed carry.

I'd advise you to read up on United States v. Miller (1939), in which the
Supreme Court considered the argument you describe. The defendant was carrying
a sawed-off shotgun without the proper permit, and his counsel argued that the
2nd Amendment absolved him of any wrongdoing. It was the Court's ruling that
many of the firearms we purchase and possess today have nothing to do with the
maintenance of a well-regulated militia, and as such, the states may regulate
them as they please.

The Founding Fathers may have given you the inalienable right to a musket and
a hunting rifle in the days before we had a standing army - but today, even in
Texas, you're going to need a permit to conceal that semi-auto on your person.

~~~
krapp
Unless i'm mistaken, and it's entirely possible that I am, the only enumerated
'inalienable' rights are "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" (albeit
prefaced with the weasel-words "among others".) The Second Amendment is part
of a framework of law which allows for its own legal repeal, so it's not
inalienable.

~~~
greenisland
Well, thankfully, it takes 2/3 repeal, so that likelihood, at least in our
lifetimes, is not realistic.

I'm already disappointed that most of the Republicans in the House and Senate
are actually RINOs. Just goes to show you that there is a difference between a
Republican and a Conservative. No true Conservative will ever vote against gun
ownership. We need an entire House and Senate full of guys like Jeff Sessions
in order to undo the damage by liberals in this country.

~~~
etjossem
Well, thankfully for moderates everywhere, a Congress stacked with guys like
Jeff Sessions is _even less likely_.

------
PaulHoule
I think the person you are mostly likely to kill with a gun is yourself so I
don't think it makes a dent in gun violence.

Yes, it can protect you from somebody who steals your gun, and it can protect
cops from people who steal their guns, but it is not such a big thing one way
or the other.

~~~
sharemywin
I could see a gun you can't operate under the influence of alcohol.
Especially, for law enforcement or private security.

~~~
Piskvorrr
Three words: DoS. Splash a bit of cologne on the officers, abracadabra,
disarmed!

