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The gun control gurus have been interested in smart gun tech for a while now. While there are a number of ways the smart gun premise could possibly be implemented, all of them involve adding electronics to firearm controls. Most gun owners generally oppose adding electronics to firearms due to valid reliability concerns. Will the gun fire when I need it to? Will the batteries be dead at the most inopportune time? While those are definitely legitimate concerns, there is a flip side to the same coin. I'm going to suggest that any gun control proponent who thinks bump stocks are horrible devices that need to be banned, really doesn't want to get the firearms community started down the path of integrating electronics into firearm controls. There will most likely be unintended (or intended, depending on your perspective) consequences and developments that will make firearms harder to regulate, and render certain aspects of NFA law to the dustbin of history.
Enter the digital trigger.
A digital trigger system could potentially be used to lock a firearm for "smart gun" purposes. But digital triggers can also alter the rate of fire in a variety of different ways. If gun control legislation is created that requires "smart" technology, such digital trigger controls intended to make the gun safer could also make it much easier for people to create a class 3 weapon that is harder to identify without actually taking it to a range and firing it. Mechanical changes and alterations intended to illegally increase the rate of fire are fairly easy to identify without too much training. A software or firmware change wouldn't be nearly as easy to identify. Once software hacks hit the internet, they tend to be in the public domain for good. Cody Wilson showed us all how that works when the government forced him to take the Liberator pistol plans off his Defense Distributed site. The government has been far more effective at regulating physical firearm mechanisms than controlling what's available on the internet. Pushing for "Smart gun" technology could make firearm characteristics as hard to regulate as internet files.
Paintball markers have been using digital triggers for over 25 years now. Paintball players have had the chance to experiment with electronic trigger mods and hacks without being encumbered by any laws saying they can't. The result is that there are all kinds of creative settings for fire control systems on electronic paintball markers. What would firearm owners think of "ramping" controls on their firearm? Who's familiar with what ramping does for a paintball marker?
http://www.paintballforum.com/new-pl...ping-mean.html
Note: Ramping is illegal under many competition rules for paintball, but not under any laws that I'm aware of.
So how will the ATF be able to identify a firearm with an electronic trigger that has a ramping function? Paintball players have already developed tricks to avoid detection so they can skirt paintball rules. The same tricks could be used for firearms. While many AR-15 enthusiasts wouldn't think such modifications or electronic triggers would be worth the effort compared to a mechanical trigger like Geissele SSA or even a Fostech Echo trigger, many pistols have no comparable triggers available. Start introducing electronic fire control groups to pistols and that all changes.
There is also the potential for the laws regulating mechanical triggers to change. Many gun owners have been concerned about the language that would be used in any legislation that would ban bump-fire stocks. Vague language that would outlaw bump stocks could also outlaw a tremendous number of parts and accessories for many firearms. Those accessories are relatively easy to identify when a firearm is visually inspected. But how about inspecting for a line of code? If poorly worded legislation intended to eliminate bump stocks ever became law, electronic triggers like the DigiTrigger system shown above present some creative possibilities.
Despite the ever so honest intentions of hopolophobic politicians and the anti-gun zealots, mandating electronic fire control systems under the premise of creating smart guns that are 'safer' than traditional firearms will open a pandora's box that gun control advocates will wish they had never ventured near.
Enter the digital trigger.
A digital trigger system could potentially be used to lock a firearm for "smart gun" purposes. But digital triggers can also alter the rate of fire in a variety of different ways. If gun control legislation is created that requires "smart" technology, such digital trigger controls intended to make the gun safer could also make it much easier for people to create a class 3 weapon that is harder to identify without actually taking it to a range and firing it. Mechanical changes and alterations intended to illegally increase the rate of fire are fairly easy to identify without too much training. A software or firmware change wouldn't be nearly as easy to identify. Once software hacks hit the internet, they tend to be in the public domain for good. Cody Wilson showed us all how that works when the government forced him to take the Liberator pistol plans off his Defense Distributed site. The government has been far more effective at regulating physical firearm mechanisms than controlling what's available on the internet. Pushing for "Smart gun" technology could make firearm characteristics as hard to regulate as internet files.
Paintball markers have been using digital triggers for over 25 years now. Paintball players have had the chance to experiment with electronic trigger mods and hacks without being encumbered by any laws saying they can't. The result is that there are all kinds of creative settings for fire control systems on electronic paintball markers. What would firearm owners think of "ramping" controls on their firearm? Who's familiar with what ramping does for a paintball marker?
http://www.paintballforum.com/new-pl...ping-mean.html
Ramping boards is a program used inside the board that accually adds on Shots per pull
the standard Ramp code is 60% at 12 BPS.
what does that mean you ask?
Well basicly what that means is the gun shoots 1 shot per pull at every speed 11.9 BPS and lower.. Once it hits 12 BPS.. it adds 60% to your speed.
so if your shooting 13 BPS when the ramping kicks in you are accually shooting 20.8 BPS... Crazy huh?
Thats why they are ILLEGAL! is because of the high rates of fire you can achieve soo easily...
Ramping boards are most widely avalible in chips for the DM4 by Dye and Intimidators, yet they can be made for other guns
Another mode avalible is called the NXL mod.. NXL is a leage of paintball and their trigger pull rules are different. Their rule is Any modes are allowed but the guns can't shoot faster then 15 BPS, the shooting MUST stop imediatly when the trigger is released, and the first 3 shots must be semi auto 1 shot per pull.
So you can have a gun in the NXL that you shoot 3 paintballs, then hold the trigger, and it's full auto until the hopper is empty.
the standard Ramp code is 60% at 12 BPS.
what does that mean you ask?
Well basicly what that means is the gun shoots 1 shot per pull at every speed 11.9 BPS and lower.. Once it hits 12 BPS.. it adds 60% to your speed.
so if your shooting 13 BPS when the ramping kicks in you are accually shooting 20.8 BPS... Crazy huh?
Thats why they are ILLEGAL! is because of the high rates of fire you can achieve soo easily...
Ramping boards are most widely avalible in chips for the DM4 by Dye and Intimidators, yet they can be made for other guns
Another mode avalible is called the NXL mod.. NXL is a leage of paintball and their trigger pull rules are different. Their rule is Any modes are allowed but the guns can't shoot faster then 15 BPS, the shooting MUST stop imediatly when the trigger is released, and the first 3 shots must be semi auto 1 shot per pull.
So you can have a gun in the NXL that you shoot 3 paintballs, then hold the trigger, and it's full auto until the hopper is empty.
So how will the ATF be able to identify a firearm with an electronic trigger that has a ramping function? Paintball players have already developed tricks to avoid detection so they can skirt paintball rules. The same tricks could be used for firearms. While many AR-15 enthusiasts wouldn't think such modifications or electronic triggers would be worth the effort compared to a mechanical trigger like Geissele SSA or even a Fostech Echo trigger, many pistols have no comparable triggers available. Start introducing electronic fire control groups to pistols and that all changes.
There is also the potential for the laws regulating mechanical triggers to change. Many gun owners have been concerned about the language that would be used in any legislation that would ban bump-fire stocks. Vague language that would outlaw bump stocks could also outlaw a tremendous number of parts and accessories for many firearms. Those accessories are relatively easy to identify when a firearm is visually inspected. But how about inspecting for a line of code? If poorly worded legislation intended to eliminate bump stocks ever became law, electronic triggers like the DigiTrigger system shown above present some creative possibilities.
Despite the ever so honest intentions of hopolophobic politicians and the anti-gun zealots, mandating electronic fire control systems under the premise of creating smart guns that are 'safer' than traditional firearms will open a pandora's box that gun control advocates will wish they had never ventured near.
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