The Second Ammendment and Robots

[Zor]

This is something i was wondering and indeed, with the development of modern robotics technology, worrying about. Would the second ammendment of the US Constitution cover things like private ownership of things such as automatic sentry turrets and SWORDS like robots?

Zor

[Ar-Adunakhor]

No.

I mean, if certian actual guns can be banned, something with a gun merely attached to it sure as hell can. If you want to be really mean then leave them with the completely inoperable weapon after you rip it from the housing containing the rest of the stuff the government can regulate without stepping on political toes.

[Knife]

Would the second ammendment of the US Constitution cover things like private ownership of things such as automatic sentry turrets

Automatic weapons have been banned, or at least heavily heavily regulated for 70 years now.

[Lagmonster]

One would wonder at the 'rights' of a sentient, self-aware gun - technically it could be simultaneously property, a weapon, and an individual.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

This is something i was wondering and indeed, with the development of modern robotics technology, worrying about. Would the second ammendment of the US Constitution cover things like private ownership of things such as automatic sentry turrets and SWORDS like robots?

Zor

Such a thing would probably (and rightfully so) be classified as a "destructive device," and thus, fall under the NFA (National Firearms Act) . . . i.e. for a private person to own one, they'd have to pass a background check pay the transfer tax and fully register it with the government. Unless it were classified as a "machine gun," in which case, would-be private owners would be completely out of luck.

[Sarevok]

No one has built a sentient AI yet.

Why would a sentry gun or vehicle be any different from owning a surface to air missile from the law's point of view ?

[gtg947h]

Unless it were classified as a "machine gun," in which case, would-be private owners would be completely out of luck.

Actually, civilians can own machine guns, provided they pay the appropriate $200 tax, get the appropriate background checks and signed forms, and cough up the thousands of dollars to buy one (prices have risen steadily following the 1987 ban on manufacture of new machine guns or related components for other than government entities or dealer samples). Same for silencers (though the manufacture of those is still legal, provided it is registered and such).

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Unless it were classified as a "machine gun," in which case, would-be private owners would be completely out of luck.

Actually, civilians can own machine guns, provided they pay the appropriate $200 tax, get the appropriate background checks and signed forms, and cough up the thousands of dollars to buy one (prices have risen steadily following the 1987 ban on manufacture of new machine guns or related components for other than government entities or dealer samples). Same for silencers (though the manufacture of those is still legal, provided it is registered and such).

I know this, and I posted with that ban in mind. If the government classified an automated sentry gun or gun robot as a "machine gun", the only way a civilian could legally own one is with the invention of the time machine . . . resulting in a cache of the things magically turning up before 1986.