On 24 Sep 2001, at 19:04, Paul Lussier wrote:
> You mean like box cutters? Or how about a Glock 9mm, it's ceramic,
> won't show up on a metal detector. And I bet you can get ceramic
> buttets, or maybe hide them in a something like, oh, say a laptop
> where they'll get lost in the clutter of all the other metal!
Okay, as a gun enthusiast I can't let that comment go without
responding.
Glocks are NOT made of ceramic and they are easily picked up by
any metal detector. They are made primarily of a polymer for
weight savings but the slide, barrel and other parts are machined of
100% steel. You're talking ~6 pounds of solid steel, what detector
do you think you can sneak that by?
No one has yet come up with a non-metal material that can handle
the incredible pressures and heat generated by firing a weapon.
Ceramic is too brittle to handle the violent movement of parts that
occurs and other materials are either too weak, too easily melted or
wear too quickly.
This is mainly an outgrowth of the original media hoopla
surrounding them when they were introduced. "Journalists", never
believing they should actually know something about their subject,
or research it properly apparently, widely reported that Glocks were
"plastic guns" that were undetectable by normal security measures
and were sure to be the favored weapon of terrorists and hijackers.
Of course when the guns came out those same journalists, true to
form, neglected to issue retractions or to run any articles pointing
out that they were in error and had needlessly frightened the public.
Thus we're left with people believing that there exist mass produced
weapons that are invisible to metal detectors.
Were this the case, does anyone believe that there is a government
of the planet that would allow the manufacture of them for private
purchase?
On the subject of ceramic bullets, again the brittleness of ceramic
would rule them out. There are rubber bullets used by the police
and other groups for crowd control and they can kill by blunt trauma
if aimed properly, but the casings are metal (again due to heat and
pressure considerations) and as I mentioned above, there are no
"invisible guns" to use them in.
You are right though, the low-tech methods will always exist. I don't
care what safeguards they put in place, you cannot stop a
determined, careful and well-planned attack by dedicated
terrorists/criminals.
Chad
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