Concerning TrackingPoint
BY Herschel Smith9 years, 6 months ago
An open letter concerning TrackingPoint from an anti-gunner:
On August 20, 2014, the National Gun Victims Action Council issued a press release calling for a ban of “Smart Scope” Military-Style Precision-Guided sniper rifles, manufactured by Texas-based TrackingPoint, from being sold to the public. These weapons, legally sold to civilians, allow even people who have never fired a gun to hit a target the size of a soup can from 1,000 yards away every time—that’s 10 football fields or over half a mile.
Promptly, the pro-gun outlets guns.com, Outdoor Life and Ammoland and Lee Williams of the Herald-Tribune issued pleas for sympathy and “understanding” for this weapon while non-gun extremists remained chillingly silent.
“If we start banning technology like this, what’s next? What scope is next? What firearm is next,” whined poor, victimized TrackingPoint in Williams’ Sept. 2 Herald-Tribune column. “We have to stand together to prevent this kind of erosion of our constitutional rights.”
And stand together they did. We, at NGVAC, received an enormous amount of email from followers of these outlets, explaining how ignorant we are, what a threat to the sanctity and security of our country we represent and how our “gun grabbing” legislation-driven agenda violates “constitutional rights.”
None of the defenders of the “can’t miss” Military-Style Precision-Guided Sniper rifle addressed its dangers to the public’s safety and indeed the safety of our public spaces or the fact that the weapon has no legitimate purpose such as self-defense or hunting by “real” hunters who rely on skill.
So if you’d never heard of Charles Whitman, didn’t know how to shoot a rifle, didn’t know how to use a scope, and didn’t know anything about how effective a bad guy can be with even rudimentary weaponry, and if you thought the second amendment was about hunting, and if you didn’t think much at all about amelioration of active shooter situations, you might write something like this. But we all know better.
My problem with TrackingPoint has nothing whatsoever to do with how good they supposedly are. First of all, such gadgetry is too expensive for me. If I can purchase half a dozen high end rifles and scopes for the money I would pay for TrackingPoint products, I’ll just take the rifles and scopes, thank you very much.
Second, remember what TrackingPoint gave up when they sold out gun owners.
“Developed by military experts and over forty engineers, TrackingPoint precision guided firearms virtually eliminate shooter error,” the ad claims. “Their Tag-Track-Xact system more than doubles the proficiency of a skilled shooter by maximizing accuracy, taking into account a slew of variables such as wind speed, air pressure, and temperature. Such unprecedented accuracy enables shots at distances many shooters have never before attempted – up to 1200 yards.”
What’s not to like?
Well, while the right hand is providing American riflemen (albeit well-heeled ones, if you take a look at some of their prices) a chance to apply for one of their limited supply systems, the left hand is urging the government to adopt its patented technology for the Holy Grail behind the ultimate purpose of so-called “smart guns,” the ability for “authorities” to turn them off. Automatically.
“TrackingPoint patents technique to disable guns near schools and ‘gun free zones,’” Steve Johnson of The Firearm Blog reported on Tuesday.
“The invention uses a GPS or mobile phone towers to determine location, sensors to determine orientation and a mobile/radio network connection to download a list of’ ‘gun free’ locations from a central database,” he explained. “Tracking Point Chairman John] McHale suggests that a ‘Gun Free Zone’ database could be maintained by the BATFE.”
Right. Just give up control over your weapon to the ATF. Sounds like a plan to me. You too can get started for just under $10,000.
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