Have you ever been shooting at a terrorist uprising suspicious looking target with your sniper rifle, only to find that the person you’re aiming at was too far out of reach for your bullets? Or, even worse, have you ever been prepping for an assassination only to find that your skill set is that of a lowly, well-armed civilian without any formal gun training, and your bullet trajectory too woefully short and weak — leaving your target out of reach?
Never fear. Thanks to new technology, you’ll never never fear missing a difficult, far-away target again. In fact, you won’t even have to learn how to aim a gun! You no longer need to complete pesky military training to become a highly precise sniper, thanks to TrackingPoint, a gun manufacturer in Austin, Texas. TrackingPoint is selling a “smart scope” military–style sniper rifle that gives the holder the ability to fire with such precision that any member of the public can become a professional assassin. The technology makes military-grade killing easy; a person who has never fired a gun before can purportedly hit a target the size of a soup can… from 1,000 yards away. (That’s approximately 10 football fields away – throwing the idea of shooting a gun for fear of “imminent danger” about half a mile from the bullet’s initial trajectory.)
Until now, only a few, elite, military-trained snipers could achieve this skill level, but new technology makes it similar to the “aim and shoot” targeting that’s popular in first person shooter games. TrackingPoint’s rifles achieve this level of accuracy because their “smart scopes” include a computer that adjusts for key variables affecting a bullet’s trajectory – including range, target velocity, outside temperature, barrel temperature, wind speed and even the earth’s rotation – and indicate to shooters when they have a “kill shot.” The scopes’ electronic guidance is enabled by TrackingPoint applications distributed by Apple and Google Glass.
Elliot Fineman, CEO Of National Gun Victims Action Council, says we must ban “Smart Scope” military-style precision guided sniper rifles from being sold to the public, before it’s too late. The weapons carry a significant threat to national security; a politician or other high-profile target could easily be targeted for assassination using the advanced technology, never mind a madmen whose only intent is “shoot to kill” could easily have a field day avoiding detection and apprehension by authorities. Fineman says hunters and target shooters have no need for TrackingPoint’s rifles because their accuracy eliminates the need for skill. The rifles, designed to precisely hit a target at over half a mile away, have no use for self-defense, says Fineman, as one does not know they are at risk when the shooter is over half a mile away.
According to a press release, “On May 23, 2014 the National Gun Victims Action Council wrote to John Lupher, TrackingPoint’s CEO, concerning the threat to public safety posed by TrackingPoint’s rifles. The NGVAC called on TrackingPoint to immediately cease and desist from marketing and selling its rifles to civilians.”
The NGVAC and its partners (The Newtown Victims & Clergy for Corporate Responsibility, Faiths United To Prevent Gun Violence, PICO National Network, United Physicians of Newtown, Newtown Action Alliance, and 100,000 Poets for Change) also wrote to Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, and Larry Page, Google’s CEO, detailing “deep concerns about the dangers to public safety posed by TrackingPoint’s rifles.” The letter asked Apple and Google to halt distribution of the TrackingPoint application, which enables the rifles’ precision accuracy, and that they take steps to bar TrackingPoint from using their names in promotional efforts.
Neither Apple nor Google has responded to NGVAC’s request.
TrackingPoint continues to develop “smart” weapons and even recently unveiled a prototype that allows a shooter, using Google Glass, to aim and fire around corners.
TrackingPoint’s sniper rifles are a terrifying example of technology that had outpaced legislation, and they represent a significant public safety risk in America. This danger will only grow as additional companies develop similar technology that can easily turn any civilian into a a military-grade killer.
Legislation is the only way to effectively banish the threat posed by these weapons.
To stand with NGVAC to demand that Congress create sane, reasonable gun laws and ask corporate America to stop the insanity, visit OPERATION SIDELINE.
Not a lot of research done on this subject for this article. The theme (present in snippets throughout the whole article) that the only people that shoot 1,000 yards are a few military snipers couldn’t be more wrong. Heck, I do 700 with my average old deer rifle, and it’s just a cheap Ruger American (I don’t shoot at deer at 700, but I target shoot with the same rifle out to 700).
There’s tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of normal old civilians that do long range shooting, and many of them go out to 1,000 yards (or more). Military snipers are highly trained, yes…but 99% of sniper training is all the stuff they have to be able to do other than the actual shooting (there’s a lot more to being a military sniper than just shooting accurately at range). Your belief that all that training is just for shooting long range reeks of being knowledge based on movies more than research. The long range shooting part takes some skill, yes…but with a good accurate rifle and my dope chart (a thing for trajectories) I could teach you most of it and you could shoot 1000 in a day or two. Lots of people learn it.
Not to mention all the talk implying this somehow extends the “woefully short” trajectory of the round…that’s pretty off base. These systems come in the same common cartridges that are owned all over today. In fact, the great irony here is that there’s plenty of rifles around that are offered in higher powered cartridges than the ones these systems are offered for and that reach out to 1600 or even 2000+ yards.
So lets ask ourselves…why don’t you know all this? Here’s why: because guns don’t cause crime. So the ability to shoot 1000 yards doesn’t make people go around shooting at people at 1000 yards, so you don’t hear about people getting murdered at 1000 yards in the news…because it’s just not a common thing at all.
People with criminal intentions get guns that fit their intentions: small, concealable, and that work at close range. Their intentions are, after all, criminal…they need to hide them. All the fear mongering about high powered this or that just shows ignorance about both guns and crime…and those ignorant about both guns and crime should probably not being making decisions (nor writing articles to influence decisions) about dealing with guns and crime.
Funny. Seriously, how many gun murders are done sniper style? Guns and even sniper rifles don’t cause crime – bad people do. Murders want small and concealable weapons. And if someone just really wants to snuff someone out with a sniper rifle, they are probably willing to kill with any and all means available including to super scary dangerous military grade fist.