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[IcyTea31]

We do have the technology. The only problems are legal. For example, there are automated sentry guns in the Korean DMZ able to detect, identify and aim at targets, but instead of shooting, they alert a human operator to "pull the trigger" so that we don't need to wonder who's responsible for any deaths caused by the guns.

[overseer05-15]

Goddamn aimbots ruining the pvp.

[Egan_BW]

We do have the technology. The only problems are legal. For example, there are automated sentry guns in the Korean DMZ able to detect, identify and aim at targets, but instead of shooting, they alert a human operator to "pull the trigger" so that we don't need to wonder who's responsible for any deaths caused by the guns.

Well, that version works on the same level as a landmine if you don't have an operator available. It sees a human, it shoots a human. That's why you put them up at the DMZ, and not, say, a military base.
Part of my wondering is at what point the technology gets good enough that you can legally own one in Texas.

[pisskop]

Is it illegal to have an automated turret in texas?

[Egan_BW]

I don't know, but I don't know where you'd buy it.

[IcyTea31]

Well, that version works on the same level as a landmine --  Part of my wondering is at what point the technology gets good enough that you can legally own one in Texas.

The Ottawa Treaty bans anti-personnel mines due to their indiscriminate nature: you can never be sure that a non-combatant won't step on the mine. (Neither Korea is a signatory, though.) I doubt such weapons that kill anyone who steps in their line of fire will ever be civilian legal anywhere, just as you can't buy sarin gas at your local gunstore.

[Greiger]

Ok so no guns.

...Fully auto-reloading automated movement detecting sentry gun tazer?  Just keep firing and reloading tazer darts until no more motion is detected while telling the target to stay still. That seems safe reasonable legal not-a-gun.

[Kagus]

Tasers still have the unfortunate downside of the darts needing to stay connected to the launcher in order to deal their shock, so it would end up getting pretty clogged after a couple targets.

There are gas pellets that explode into a puff of teargas on impact, which I don't think counts as chemical warfare since they use it on civvies all the time... Or just load 'er up with rubber ball ammunition and let the bruising commence.

[IcyTea31]

Tear gas actually does count as chemical warfare by international treaties, but the police of a nation using it against its own citizens isn't considered an international issue. Getting a civilian license for it isn't inconceivable, though those pellets that puff into capsaicin (i.e. chili pepper) might be easier to get a hold of.

Rubber bullets may cause broken bones and internal bleeding, so they aren't exactly a "non-lethal" weapon. I still wouldn't trust them in a sentry gun.

As for the taser requiring a connection, there is a bleeding-edge option in the form of the electrolaser: a laser creates a channel of plasma in the air, through which an electric shock can be conducted to the target. If it turns out to be a viable technology, they could replace tasers in the coming decades.

[Hanslanda]

Star Wars style stun circles when

[IcyTea31]

I suppose freezing intruders in carbonite would qualify as "not escalating the situation".

[Tack]

Am I the only one going “it’s Norway, just answer the door?”
Unless you’ve specifically made an enemy of someone crazy recently; it’s likely a salesman.

Y’all be paranoid.

[Egan_BW]

No, we'll be paranoid when we start setting up the tripwires and pressure plates.

[Kagus]

Am I the only one going “it’s Norway, just answer the door?”
Unless you’ve specifically made an enemy of someone crazy recently; it’s likely a salesman.

Y’all be paranoid.

This is a locked apartment building, solicitors shouldn't be able to get inside. The only other times anyone has ever buzzed our door before has either been my GF's sisters visiting (which follows a heads-up that they're coming), or a drunkard calling every apartment in sequence in order to find someone who'll let them in (the door buzzers are so loud that you can hear it when the neighbor gets called).

And it's precisely that; it's Norway. Direct personal contact is avoided at every possible opportunity. Door-to-door salesmen are abhorred on a cultural level and have been phased out due to nobody wanting to talk to strangers, let alone buy something from them. The idea of some strange person coming to your own door and talking to you on your threshold is the stuff of nightmares, not a keen way of getting your foot in the door.

But yes, GF is being a bit paranoid. But I'm not allowed to answer the door because she's afraid of what might happen or who might be there. It could be a forceful home invasion and one or both of us could get seriously injured, or worse, someone could see how messy it is in here and think poorly of our housekeeping capabilities.

Also the dogs will go flying out the door at the first opportunity if they think someone is out there waiting to pet them, and they need to be physically restrained.

[Tack]

Oh wait the house is messy?
Yeah draw the blinds and mute the TV. If they wanted to see you they would have called ahead.