Issue date: 2/5/09 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Natalie Cervantes [Click to enlarge]

It wouldn't be too radical to suggest the 18th century was very different from the 21st century, but bring up gun control laws and the differences are suddenly inconsequential. A glance at technology's relentless advance over the past three centuries readily demonstrates the stark contrasts between today's firearms and the antiquated fire-sticks of an equally antiquated era.

The relentless advance has most recently shifted its focus towards non-lethal, or compliance, weapons. This begs one to reconsider gun control issues with a distinctly modern eye. Do tomorrow's guns change yesterday's policies?

Gun culture isn't the subtlest cultural facet throughout the South, of which Texas A&M is an ardently enthusiastic constituent. It's (somewhat) understandably important to people. But a salient feature of American society is the ability to adapt to new technologies and, in the face of a better solution, let go of bygone ways.

Gun culture and the Second Amendment of the Constitution dictate that every American has a right to bear arms; devices that, at the time of our nation's founding, fired solid little balls at 450 meters per second after loading the gun with black powder and ammo at the muzzle end. We've had no qualms in applying the Second Amendment to today's semi-automatic technological marvels, so why stop there?

Non-lethal weapons have come a long way, now encompassing everything from mace to the painfully efficient Active Denial System, a military directed-energy weapon capable of sending the most hardened Steven Segal-like tough guy heading for the hills. It does this not by throwing more bullets or puncturing more organs, but by microwaving your skin and causing an unbearable amount of reversible pain. This technology has gone through a barrage of testing and, although it garners its own share of concerns, is in the process of becoming a field weapon in today's conflicts.

There are many other avenues available to develop even more impressive and effective non-lethal arms, using everything from electromagnetic radiation (the Active Denial System) to high-intensity sound waves and even to the already familiar electric shock of the stun gun. Research into non-lethal weapons not only opens a whole new vista of hurting people, it has the chance to replace what may eventually become known as the barbaric modern gun.

Continued...

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