New Cell Phone Guns Hard To Spot In Metal Detectors

[The Straight Story]

New Cell Phone Guns Hard To Spot In Metal Detectors
Guns Prompt Warnings

POSTED: 9:35 am EDT May 19, 2006
UPDATED: 1:31 pm EDT May 19, 2006



Law enforcement and authorities at government buildings are being warned to be on the lookout for guns disguised as cell phones that are difficult to spot in metal detectors, according to a Local 6 News report.

The report said the cell phone gun is a working .22 caliber pistol capable of firing off four rounds at the touch of the button.

The hidden guns are made of high-grade plastic, which makes them difficult to spot in metal detectors, the report said.

http://www.local6.com/news/9243672/detail.html

"Hello?" BAM - ooops, shot my own ear off by answering the wrong phone :)

[Coexist]

1. is this like the remote-control airplane bombs?

[SacredCow]

2. I'm in no way an anti-firearm proponent....

But WHY would ANYONE need this, except to sneak it into school, on to a plane, or anywhere else where a gun shouldn't be?

I'd rather have assualt weapons legalized than these things on the street.

[cain_7777]

7. That should be illegal if it isn't already in the US

I'm all for the right to bare arms in America but that gun is purely to conceal from law enforcement and should be illegal.

[benEzra]

15. Er...Federal law has always banned these...

the National Firearms Act of 1934 prohibits disguised firearms. It's been on the books for 72 years now.

[Bandit]

3. The bullets aren't plastic

But I can see where they wouldn't be looked at too closely. :shrug: I bet the Republicans want these guns to protect their grandmothers just like they do assault rifles.

[benburch]

4. You could easily make ceramic bullets, though.

And a brass casing does not usually register on a metal detector.

[Bandit]

11. Why would brass not register with a metal detector?

That doesn't make sense...

[benburch]

12. Brass is not a ferrous metal.

Magnetic fields pass through without much loss. Metal detectors use magnetic fields.

[benEzra]

22. Not true - metal detectors WILL detect brass...

Brass is not a ferrous metal. Magnetic fields pass through without much loss. Metal detectors use magnetic fields.

Not true - metal detectors WILL detect brass, and any other nonferrous metal. You are correct that metal detectors make use of magnetic fields, but they do not depend on inducing ferromagnetism via static fields, which is what you seem to be implying. Rather, they make use of the fact that an oscillating magnetic field will induce an electric current in any conductive object, and that induced current will in turn create a detectable magnetic field.

Good entry-level article on the topic: http://home.howstuffworks.com/metal-detector2.htm

The current moving through the transmitter coil creates an electromagnetic field, which is like what happens in an electric motor. The polarity of the magnetic field is perpendicular to the coil of wire. Each time the current changes direction, the polarity of the magnetic field changes. This means that if the coil of wire is parallel to the ground, the magnetic field is constantly pushing down into the ground and then pulling back out of it.

As the magnetic field pulses back and forth into the ground, it interacts with any conductive objects it encounters, causing them to generate weak magnetic fields of their own. The polarity of the object's magnetic field is directly opposite the transmitter coil's magnetic field. If the transmitter coil's field is pulsing downward, the object's field is pulsing upward.

...

Phase shift provides VLF-based metal detectors with a capability called discrimination. Since most metals vary in both inductance and resistance, a VLF metal detector examines the amount of phase shift, using a pair of electronic circuits called phase demodulators, and compares it with the average for a particular type of metal. The detector then notifies you with an audible tone or visual indicator as to what range of metals the object is likely to be in.

Good detectors can not only detect brass, but they can tell you what the object in question is made of.

[warrens]

5. You can buy ammo when you get where you're going

Any Wal-Mart carries .22 ammo.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. But suppose you want to hijack a plane?

Let me rephrase that ...

--p!

[Skink]

8. Always check for the Smith & Wesson logo.

[gatorboy]

9. "Stick'em up!!!"

"Put you hands on your hea–" *RING* "....Hold a sec, I gotta take this..."

[ThomWV]

10. What Bullshit

Just one more thing that you will never encounter anywhere anytime in your life, but one you should certainly be afraid of.

Bullshit.

[benburch]

13. Gives them a reason to prohibit cellphones on airliners though.

Which might be a good thing.

[The_Casual_Observer]

14. You might find one of these in the pay phone coin slot

along with a hypodermic needle.

[paparush]

16. Can you hear me now....BLAM!!!

[Bozita]

17. I'm picturing a cellphone shootout between rival drug gangs

[phoebe]

18. fear, fear and just plain more fear.. they just love serving it up

in big steaming piles..

[donco6]

19. The last time I saw a phone like that was maybe . . .

1992. I don't think they're that hard to spot.

[NoPasaran]

20. Yeah, but everybody knows

They won't work at cruising altitude!

[-..__...]

21. Old news, actually.

These things 1st surfaced about 5 years ago.

I wonder why the panic now unless someone in the US was busted recently with one or US Customs seized any?

Here's a demonstration video of the thing being fired...

http://www.jokaroo.com/funnyvideos/cellphonegun.html

[xultar]

23. These have been out for a while. Why all the hoopla now?