The proposal under discussion has poor definitions, but “autonomous robotic weapons which can kill a human without an explicit command from a human operator” is a good start.
That’s at least six different grey areas already (Autonomous, robotic, weapon, able to kill a human, explicit, human operator).
My guess is that bullets fired from current-generation conventional firearms aren’t robotic, and also don’t pass the explicit command test. That is despite the fact that many firearms discharge unintentionally when dropped- a strict reading would have them fail that test.
Finally, the entire legislation could be replaced by legislation banning war behavior in general, and it would be equally effective.
Extremely unlikely, with a properly designed, maintained, and controlled firearm. A worn out machine pistol knockoff can have a sear that consistently drops out when struck in the right spot. There’s a continuum there, and a strict enough reading of ‘explicit command from a human operator’ would be that anything that can be fired accidentally crosses the line.
For that matter, runaway is a common enough occurrence in belt-fed firearms that learning how to minimize the effects is part of learning to use the weapon. (Heat in the chamber is enough to cause the powder to ignite without the primer being struck by the pin; the weapon continues to fire until it runs out of ammunition.)
The proposal under discussion has poor definitions, but “autonomous robotic weapons which can kill a human without an explicit command from a human operator” is a good start.
That’s at least six different grey areas already (Autonomous, robotic, weapon, able to kill a human, explicit, human operator).
My guess is that bullets fired from current-generation conventional firearms aren’t robotic, and also don’t pass the explicit command test. That is despite the fact that many firearms discharge unintentionally when dropped- a strict reading would have them fail that test.
Finally, the entire legislation could be replaced by legislation banning war behavior in general, and it would be equally effective.
Is this true? My impression is that almost all modern firearms are designed to make this extremely unlikely.
Extremely unlikely, with a properly designed, maintained, and controlled firearm. A worn out machine pistol knockoff can have a sear that consistently drops out when struck in the right spot. There’s a continuum there, and a strict enough reading of ‘explicit command from a human operator’ would be that anything that can be fired accidentally crosses the line.
For that matter, runaway is a common enough occurrence in belt-fed firearms that learning how to minimize the effects is part of learning to use the weapon. (Heat in the chamber is enough to cause the powder to ignite without the primer being struck by the pin; the weapon continues to fire until it runs out of ammunition.)
Exactly