Is there a way to Micro Chip Guns

[TJSaltdog]

Why hasn't anyone tried to some how micro chip guns? We now have the "Where's my phone app" which will help you find your phone just in case you lose it or it gets stolen. Obviously you have to have the app on the phone that is lost or stolen and on another phone. My wife and I have the app and it works great. My wifes IPhone was stolen last year at one of our yard sales and the woman that stole it got caught with it at her house 20+ miles away. My phone tracked it and the cops got her.

Why cant some one make a "Where's my gun App"? All it would take is to have something electronic inside the gun and then some how connected to your smart phone. That way if your gun ever gets stolen you can track it where ever it goes.

If you sell it then you can tell the buyer about it and if they have a smart phone then they can use it or you can just take the piece out of the gun and use it for another.

The crap I come up with. I would actually buy this if it were available to us.

 

[iChokePeople]

Well... a microchip, like you implant in your pet, doesn't have a way to communicate anything unless it's scanned. It would be easy enough to microchip a gun, but it wouldn't work like your phone does -- your phone has the ability to communicate with a network and advertise its location.

 

[eldirector]

You've been to Chicago recently, I'm guessing?
Chicago Official Asking GPS Tracking Devices on Guns | Live View GPS Tracking Blog

The problems are:
- Size (most GPS trackers are the size of a box of cigarettes - or a cell phone). Not going to work on most any handgun.
- Battery life (its not like a phone, that you recharge daily).
- Cost (the GPS trackers are about $400+, plus the monthly cellular fee). This almost doubles the cost of a handgun.
- Easily defeated (remove the tracker, wait for the battery to die, break the antenna, reprogram, wrap in foil, etc...)

And, by the way, it already exists (kinda) for Law Enforcement:
Weapons Intelligence

Personally, I'd rather not computerize guns at all. Technology is great when it works, but it invariably fails. Usually when you need it most. Darn you, Murphy and your Laws!

 

[Enkrypter]

The only reason to microchip anything is so you can locate it or identify it. All guns have serial numbers already, why would you want to allow someone to find your guns, because, as long as you would be able to locate it someone else could as well...

That's not a tinfoil hat talking, that is the truth. I work information security and I will be the first to tell you that no electronic system is without flaw.

That said, most hand guns so not have enough space to adequately plant an tracking mechanism that would allow you to locate it remotely. It is entirely conceivable to put a GPS, or even GSM cellular, tracker in the stock of a rifle though, and has been done.

I'd still question the value of this though, as it would bring more harm than good. We'd never need a national registry if guns had this technology, and that is precisely what none of us want.

 

[RedThunder]

Why hasn't anyone tried to some how micro chip guns? We now have the "Where's my phone app" which will help you find your phone just in case you lose it or it gets stolen. Obviously you have to have the app on the phone that is lost or stolen and on another phone. My wife and I have the app and it works great. My wifes IPhone was stolen last year at one of our yard sales and the woman that stole it got caught with it at her house 20+ miles away. My phone tracked it and the cops got her.

Why cant some one make a "Where's my gun App"? All it would take is to have something electronic inside the gun and then some how connected to your smart phone. That way if your gun ever gets stolen you can track it where ever it goes.

If you sell it then you can tell the buyer about it and if they have a smart phone then they can use it or you can just take the piece out of the gun and use it for another.

The crap I come up with. I would actually buy this if it were available to us.

Well, on the downside, it would definitely make it easier for the Gov to track gun owners, tax us more, intrude upon our lives. Of course criminals will get black market software to "locate nearest gun owner" Are you kidding? Why not just put chips in all of us?

 

[Nick040905]

 

[oldguyguns]

Verrrry interesting -----

 

[hoosierdoc]

OnStar Committing 'Brazen' Invasion Of Privacy, Says Senator

You want someone to be able to track your guns? I'd rather lose one than have them tracked.

 

[TJSaltdog]

Im not saying micro chip it so the government knows where it is. We have the Where's my phone app so we can find it if we lose it or it gets stolen. There should be a way where we can track our own guns just in case we misplace it or it gets stolen. The government dont need to know anything. It worked for my wifes phone and the lady that stole it went to jail.

 

[level0]

Im not saying micro chip it so the government knows where it is. We have the Where's my phone app so we can find it if we lose it or it gets stolen. There should be a way where we can track our own guns just in case we misplace it or it gets stolen. The government dont need to know anything. It worked for my wifes phone and the lady that stole it went to jail.

My sister had a similar incident and similar result, in Anderson.

I'm mixed on chipping things, not just guns. True, the technology can work to locate stolen goods. But as noted, I also worry about the technology being used for purposes other than advertised - government tracking, taxing, confiscation, and the like. So...I'm mixed. If my guns get stolen, I do want them back.

 

[Dirtebiker]

Why not just put chips in all of us?

Don't think that's NOT going to happen!

 

[eldirector]

Plenty of opportunities to get this done. Here are two:

Amazon.com: Mini GPS Tracking Device: Everything Else

Web Accessible GPS: GPS tracking system, global positioning system, covert GPS, spy equipment, surveillance device

Just figure out a way to hide one in your LCP, and keep it charged. Don't forget to pay the cellular bill, too.

 

[jerryv]

There's a great solution available if all you want to do is be able to identify an object .. it's an RFID chip about the size of a grain of rice .. small enough to conceal in almost anything. It's used a lot in guitars to be able to provide a serial number when scanned. It's not capable of tracking .. that's far too complicated to make small enough to work in a gun. The company name is Snagg ..

 

[Cameramonkey]

There's a great solution available if all you want to do is be able to identify an object .. it's an RFID chip about the size of a grain of rice .. small enough to conceal in almost anything. It's used a lot in guitars to be able to provide a serial number when scanned. It's not capable of tracking .. that's far too complicated to make small enough to work in a gun. The company name is Snagg ..

Great point. I think this is what the OP was wanting. Unfortunately if you want to be able to TRACK something, its got to have batteries and be charged quite regularly just like a cell phone.

Now a passive RFID/proximity tag as noted above would be great, but those tags are powered by the reader; when you get them within a couple inches of the reader the magnetic field is enough to power them so that they can be read by the reader.

If they come up with a passive RFID that works ANYWHERE like an Iphone GPS We're all screwed.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Im not saying micro chip it so the government knows where it is. We have the Where's my phone app so we can find it if we lose it or it gets stolen. There should be a way where we can track our own guns just in case we misplace it or it gets stolen. The government dont need to know anything. It worked for my wifes phone and the lady that stole it went to jail.

I think we know what you want, we're just answering that it will be a slam dunk for it to be hacked and a huge database created by the .gov. Anything is on the table anymore.

 

[FiReBReTHa]

source
HK P2000 with RFID tracking chip in it?

 

[sloughfoot]

I'm old fashioned I guess. I just tie a string from my handgun to my belt. If I feel a tug on my belt I know my handgun is trying to run away and I stop it and discipline it. :-)

 

[KoopaKGB]

Why hasn't anyone tried to some how micro chip guns? We now have the "Where's my phone app" which will help you find your phone just in case you lose it or it gets stolen. Obviously you have to have the app on the phone that is lost or stolen and on another phone. My wife and I have the app and it works great. My wifes IPhone was stolen last year at one of our yard sales and the woman that stole it got caught with it at her house 20+ miles away. My phone tracked it and the cops got her.

Why cant some one make a "Where's my gun App"? All it would take is to have something electronic inside the gun and then some how connected to your smart phone. That way if your gun ever gets stolen you can track it where ever it goes.

If you sell it then you can tell the buyer about it and if they have a smart phone then they can use it or you can just take the piece out of the gun and use it for another.

The crap I come up with. I would actually buy this if it were available to us.

This might make more sense for the man with just one firearm. But as all others have brought up, the possibility for abuse is huge. Your IPHONE is not a firearm. A portable cell phone and handgun are vastly different. A cellphone broadcasts its signal and can be triangulated. A handgun only broadcasts sound when used.

So I ask how do you go about implanting a GPS unit into a handgun that wouldn't add an unbearable amount of size or weight to it, but also remain concealed to the thief so that he wouldn't just disable it upon stealing the gun in the first place. Plus would folks have to plug in or recharge their gun every other day? Change out batteries on it?

 

[wsenefeld]

If I buy a lower with a chip in it, first thing I'm doing is putting it in the microwave for 1 second. Problem solved.

 

[LarryC]

Im not saying micro chip it so the government knows where it is. We have the Where's my phone app so we can find it if we lose it or it gets stolen. There should be a way where we can track our own guns just in case we misplace it or it gets stolen. The government dont need to know anything. It worked for my wifes phone and the lady that stole it went to jail.

Believe me the Government does know about your cell phone and CAN TRACK your cell phone and locate you just as easy (actually a little better than you can).

I would never allow one in any of my firearms. They have serial numbers & if stolen - then as a earlier post stated - I may lose my gun. Rather that than have every firearm I own "Registered and located".

There is a vast difference in RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Tags) tags and cell phones or LoJack car locator systems. I used a lot of RFID tags on equipment before I retired as an Engineer. These work by a Reader / Sender unit that sends out a pulse (usually magnetic) - the tag then uses the power from this pulse to return a Radio Frequency pulse back with the information written in the tag. The sender unit then reads this information and displays it or sends it to a computer to identify the item the tag is located on. You could read the serial number just as quick! These are very short range units - limited to feet not miles.

A Cell phone or LoJack unit constantly transmits its location, taken from the GPS locator built into the phone or LoJack, this is a high powered output and requires quite a bit of power to reach the cell towers etc. Any device that would allow tracking has to have a GPS locator built in plus the radio frequency sender and a power source. To put in into a device would require regular battery charging.