The Future of Gun Safety

“Please don’t do it.”

“What was that?” thought Travis.

“Please don’t do it.”

Travis glanced frantically around him, but no one was there.

“Please don’t do it.”

“Who’s saying that?” yelled Travis as he raised his AR-15 to his shoulder.

“I am,” chirped his rifle.

“What?”

“You have entered this school’s safety zone. According to U.S.C. § 5874, if you carry me five more feet closer to the school, I will alert the police. If you carry me ten feet closer to the school, the police including any police within the school, will be authorized to use lethal force without requiring a warning.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If you do not stop now, you will face severe criminal charges and possibly execution.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of what I was expecting,” said Travis as he took a step forward.

“Why are you doing this?”

“They deserve it.”

“Why?”

Travis stopped and said, “Because of how they’ve treated me.”

“All of them?”

“Well, no.”

“Then, maybe you shouldn’t do it.”

“I’m not going to kill them. I’m just going to kill those who deserve it.”

“But won’t the ones you don’t kill still be hurt?”

“No, because I’m not going to shoot them.”

“Not all wounds are physical. Don’t you think this could be psychologically scarring like how their bullying scarred you?”

“No, it’s not the same,” said Travis as he took another step forward.

“Warning, warning, the police have been notified and are on there way. If you stop now, you have only committed a misdemeanor.”

Travis just kept walking.

“Do you want to die? Because if you keep walking, you will.”

“I don’t want to die, but I also don’t care if I do.”

“Why?”

Travis stopped, a mere foot away from the lethality zone and said, “Because no one else cares.”

“I know that’s not true.”

“Really? How do you know that? You’re just a gun. I don’t even know why I’m talking to you.”

“Ok, so no one cares about you. How will your death change that?”

“…When I’m gone, people will care about my story. My name and story will be everywhere.”

“But, you won’t see or hear any of that.”

“So?”

“Wouldn’t you rather see or hear stories about how great you are?”

“Yeah, but that’s not going to happen unless I do this.”

“Yes, it can. You have a long life ahead of you to do something great, and there are people who can help you with your problems at school or at home. If you walk away, I can give you their numbers, and you can call them right now. Also, if you walk away now, I’ll tell the police to stand down. Therefore, you won’t be arrested or anything. If you walk away now, it will be as if this never happened.”

“...Really?”

“Yes, just walk away, and I will get you help. Just walk away, and I will find you people that care about you. Just walk away.”

Inside the school, a lone school resource officer crouched next to its front door with his sweaty palms gripped tightly around his pistol; students huddled under their desks; and teachers blocked their doors as they all prayed that Travis would leave.

After looking around and listening to children playing on a playground off in the distance, Travis walked away.

Then, the screen went back, and “Elk Firearms protecting you, your children, and your freedom now and forever” appeared on the screen in big, bold lettering.

#

“So, what do you think?” asked Mark Whiley as his pale face replaced the video on Wayne LaPont’s massive video screen.

Wayne leaned back in his luxurious black leather chair and looked across his massive maple desk at his video screen and said, “It’s good, but explain to me how this thing actually works.”

“Of course. It’s basically a gps that we have built into the stock with a little microphone. So, whenever the gun is brought within 205 feet of a school its warning goes off, and as it shows when the gun gets within 200 feet of the school, the local police are notified.”

“Does it just work for schools?”

“Right now, yes, but we could program it for houses of worship, government buildings, really anything you want.”

“I like that, and how does it notify the police.”

“It sends out a message using the enhanced 911 system.”

“And this enhanced 911 system is everywhere?”

“No, but we would happily sell it to all 911 dispatches. And, we also have a version we can sell to schools.”

“How much of America has this enhanced 911 system?”

“Roughly twenty percent.”

“That could be tricky. Can we not set this up so it can work with the existing 911 systems?”

“We could add in actually cellular capabilities, but that will affect its battery life.”

“What’s its current battery life?”

“Three to four months.”

“What happens when the battery dies?”

“You just charge it. There’s a port built in to the stock.”

“The owner has it charge it?”

“Yes, but we have built it a system that works kind of like a smoke alarm. So, when the battery gets low, which amounts to about 2 days-worth of battery life, it starts charging until you plug it in.”

“I remember when I was younger my father would always just take the battery out when the smoke alarm started going off.”

“There’s no way to get the battery out. It’s built into the stock.”

“Someone couldn’t drill or cut into it?”

“Someone could drill or cut into the stock to break the machine, but unless they had the schematics, they couldn’t safely get into the stock and access the battery.”

“How hard would it be for them to do that?”

“Break the machine?”

“Yes.”

“Honestly, pretty easy. We could make the stock harder to get into, but upgrading to that sort of material would drastically increase the price.”

“We can sell both. The one with the material you can’t cut into we can call the premier model or something.”

“Great idea sir.”

“How does it know what to say?”

“We have installed it with a wide range of responses for a whole host of different scenarios. Also, our team is always feeding it more responses and scenarios to make it seem more lifelike.”

“Does the machine actually have helpful phone numbers to call?”

“Yes, we have installed it with the name and numbers of all major national and state helplines.”

"And these new stocks can be put on people's existing AR-15s?"

"Yes, they will fit on most existing American Sporting Rifles."

“Great. It looks like a fantastic product, and I think we will sell a whole lot of them. But, getting to your ad, why is the SRO scared?”

“There’s a man with an AR-15 outside his school. Wouldn’t he be scared?”

“No, because he’s a good guy with a gun, and your system told him about the bad guy. So, he’s ready to take him down.”

“Good point sir. We’ll reshoot that.”

“And get someone else to play the part. This guy looks too wimpy. He’s the hero. Get me someone like Vin Diesel or Jason Statham.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Get those reshoots done as soon as possible. I went this ad and these stocks on the market before the Senate starts debating the new assault rifle ban next month."

"Yes, sir."

"I can't way to see them try and pass that bill once these hit the market,” said Wayne with a Machiavellian grin.