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pheonix358
S&F ......... but!
Not much of a real world weapon system.
This will not work too well in rain, snow, sleet or hail.
In other words, it is a summer weapon. Even clouds may stop it.
"Number 1! Bring the beam weapons on line!"
"We can't Captain! It's raining!"
"Blast, we will just have to do it the old fashion way! Man the machine guns!"
lol
P
on the ethics of it it's no less ethical than a bullet. it is more ethical than an explosive or a nuclear bomb. it adds nothing to the ability to kill or hurt people (a hole through a person is bad whether poked by an arrow a bullet or a laser) and actually protects people from indiscriminant weapons like nukes.
Laser: one hole at a time whether a person or tank or missile or plane. just like a fire arm.
pheonix358
For the time being, you are right! But not for long. This is the holy grail for the military mind. You said yourself, these are early days. Beam weapons are sought after because they can sweep across a field of fire, the ultimate machine gun!
To buy a howitzer is difficult. To make a howitzer is also difficult. You need a huge machine shop, you have to make your own ammo, on small task!
Building with electronics simply requires a work room, even the kitchen table will do! A few basic tools, soldering iron, multimeter and you are good to go. A howitzer is difficult to get through customs! A circuit board secreted inside a laptop, pretty easy! TSA Kiddie fiddlers at airports are basically a dumb lot.
Governments can't stop the influx of drugs coming into a country, how do you think they will do trying to stop a single type of electronic component coming through when they have no idea what they look like. Much of what you need is available off the shelf!
Consider the words uttered by those who developed the Atom Bomb. They had no idea of where it would lead. We do!
It turns out scientists are not very good at developing rational governmental policies. they need to be kept to thier campuses and labs. when a scientist interferes in politics it often leads to disaster. see silent spring and the deaths of millions from malaria that resulted from banning effective pesticides. Global warming is going the same way. these florescent bulbs are another example. they cause skin cancer and contain mercury. if they had shut thier faces for a few years we could have went directly to LED bulbs that have no such problems. or better yet stayed with incandescent ones and merely upgraded our energy infrastructure.
At some point science needs to take some responsibility because, heaven forbid, your Government will never do it!
but it still is functionally equivalent to existing weapons like automatic or semi automatic rifles
bigfatfurrytexan
Pheonix is making a point that is being missed here.
In the US, tne notion of the second amendment is all about reciprocacy. Essentially, if a weapon is fit for the government, it is fit for The People.
I am a firm believer in this. And because of this belief, have to wonder why we would want to continue creating more effective ways of killing more people.
If one doesn't enjoy the horrors of a population armed with the new weaponry, then one would have a duty to prevent said new weaponry from being created/marketed.
stormbringer1701
Not totally. arms had a specific meaning when the 2nd was written. even the founders did not consider that civilians should have cannon for example.
if you read you'll see that i mentioned that. however those very founders took up those cannon after the war anyway.
Cohen the Barbarian
stormbringer1701
Not totally. arms had a specific meaning when the 2nd was written. even the founders did not consider that civilians should have cannon for example.
That is utter nonsense. The only cannons available to the Continental Army were civilian owned. Of course the Founders accepted that civilians should own cannons. The point of the Second Amendment was that the population should be armed to the same extent as their government. But the civilian disarmament crowd has done a cracking job of painting that as a right-wing fringe idea.
pheonix358
S&F ......... but!
Not much of a real world weapon system.
This will not work too well in rain, snow, sleet or hail.
In other words, it is a summer weapon. Even clouds may stop it.
"Number 1! Bring the beam weapons on line!"
"We can't Captain! It's raining!"
"Blast, we will just have to do it the old fashion way! Man the machine guns!"
lol
P