Someone needs to figure out the secret life of Buck Rogers, a dystopian in the 25th century sci-fi fantasy universe. Antigun legislators are pushing legislation that would require firearm manufacturers attach RFID trackers each firearm. Government officials could use RFID gun tracking for their location at all times.
Maryland introduces RFID Gun Tracking Legislation
This is a clear violation of privacy rights and Constitutional protections from illegal search-and-seizure. This idea is not technologically feasible. This is Hollywood, and antigun politicians who don’t know anything about firearms or manufacturing process.
Maryland’s Delegate Pam Queen introduced HB704, a bill titled Firearms – Tracking Technology.
A ban on a person engaging in bulk firearm transfers unless each firearm in the transfer has a specific embedded tracker. The Act also requires that sellers or other transferors of bulk firearms transmit certain information to the Secretary. It also provides that a violation is a civil offense punishable by a fine up to $2500 and that the Secretary establish a database to store information about bulk firearm transfers in the State.
The “embedded tracking device” must be attached to the receiver or firearm frame. It must emit unique tracking information, and cannot be removed, disabled, or destroyed without making the firearm inoperable, or destroying the receiver or frame.
Delegate Queen would need the embedded tracker to transmit this unique information to Maryland State Police. The information would be stored in a state-run database by the State Police. Anybody who does not comply with this policy will be subject to $2,500 fines.
Big Brother Would Watch
This bill would allow state authorities to inspect a gun safe. The state would also be able to see where and when a firearm is moving. It doesn’t matter if the firearm is being used for hunting, target shooting or legal concealed carry.
This bill would require firearm manufacturers that include trackers on firearms. Fourth Amendment rights to privacy would be lost by those exercising their Constitutional right of keeping and bearing arms. Their right to be protected from illegal search and seizure is also forfeited. This is because the state would automatically collect this information and store it in real-time.
This legislation would also put into question the protections afforded by Due Process under the Fourteenth Amendment and Fifth Amendments. This is because the legislation requires the government collect information about Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights.
This legislation would also have a chilling impact on Second Amendment rights. Marylanders would be less likely than others to lawfully buy a firearm in order to protect their privacy.
This is without considering the technological hurdles that must be overcome in order to meet this requirement. The makers of “smart guns”, or authorized-user technology that allows owners to fire guns using RFID emitters, fingerprint recognition, passcodes or other technology, have not been able produce a reliable and safe model.
This was a priority for the Obama administration. The Department of Justice (DOJ), however, couldn’t find a working prototype that could be tested.
Impossible Technology
Gun control is not something lawmakers consider. They only see the possibility of making it more difficult to produce firearms. California has a microstamping law. Every new handgun that is introduced to California must be capable of transferring an alphanumeric code from a firing pin to a cartridge prime.
Even the patent-holder of this technology admitted in testimony that his “technology is not reliable.” Even if the code worked, criminals could easily break it by simply running a nail over the firing pin’s tip or swapping the firing pin. This is possible with many models.
California’s obsession with this impossible technological requirement has led to a decline in the number of handguns that can be sold in California. Since it was certified in 2013 by then-AttorneyGeneral Kamala Harris, the number of handguns that are available for sale has fallen by more than half.
Some products come with RFID emitters. They use them only as an internal inventory tracking tool. The NSSF summarizes their position as “Turn it Off, Take it Off at the Checkout Counter.”
The merchant should not electronically retain or store any personal information about the purchaser of a firearm or ammunition product.
This is the only acceptable solution to the potential invasion of privacy, according to the ammunition and firearm industry. This is based upon a deep understanding of its customers. To protect consumers’ rights, it is as simple as “turning off” RFID tags and physically “taking it off” products at the point-of-sale.
A Solution to a Problem
Maryland’s proposed requirement is absurd. It would be impossible to attach an embedded tracker on a firearm without power. This raises the question of how it could be tampered with. This technology would not be able to be fixed to a receiver or frame if it relied on passive-emissions such as RFID.
This problem is easily solved. Every firearm manufactured for commercial sale must have a unique identifier. A serial number is what you need. It is already illegal to alter that serial number in any way that would render it unreadable.
It is easy to dismiss legislative proposals like these as inane, but only one-off political maneuvers. It doesn’t exist and it’s not possible to create an embedded tracker that can withstand the energy and pressures created by a firearm. This is why authorized-user recognition technology was not developed.
However, no one in the firearm manufacturing industry is laughing. This is a clear indication of how far antigun lawmakers will go in order to remove Second Amendment rights. Even at the expense of privacy and Constitutional rights for those who legally own firearms.
Story originally posted to NSSF.org
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Personal Defense World published the article Maryland Lawmakers propose real-time RFID gun tracking.
