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Has a coilgun a barrel or not??

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BigBad

Thu Jun 04 2015, 02:31AM

Registered Member #2529 Joined: Thu Dec 10 2009, 02:43AM
Location:
Posts: 600

Yeah, you might be able to argue that a coilgun is not a firearm if it's solidly bolted down and not easily unbolted. Most of the regulations seem to apply to portable guns.

Sulaiman

Thu Jun 04 2015, 06:27AM

Registered Member #162 Joined: Mon Feb 13 2006, 10:25AM
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3140

If you want to argue that a coilgun is not a weapon without a barrel
I think that the first step is to stop calling it a coilGUN

Electromagnetic Mass Accelerator EMA
or some similar name that conjures up thoughts of science/physics rather than weaponry.

hen918

Thu Jun 04 2015, 05:23PM

Registered Member #11591 Joined: Wed Mar 20 2013, 08:20PM
Location: UK
Posts: 556

I've always called (or tried to call) them LEMAs (pronounced lee-ma) or Linear Electro-Magnetic Accelerators. It reminds me of furry creatures with long tails.

DerAlbi

Thu Jun 04 2015, 10:29PM

Registered Member #2906 Joined: Sun Jun 06 2010, 02:20AM
Location: Dresden, Germany
Posts: 727

Hmmh

I honestly dont know if namecalling really helps to have sunshine on a cloudy sky..
The problem is that you stand there, having a beast of a device in your hands, possibly most badass-looking as it is reasonable to get customers impressed and then you tell the police "its not a gun, its a motor" with the best pokerface you can have

Dr.Slack was very realistic and imho right.

On emotive issues like gun control, logic takes a back seat, or rather the axioms that precede the logical process are chosen rhetorically by entrenched sides with axes to grind.

And if it looks like a gun... it its one. Like you dont eat perfectly fine food if it looks or smells like shit.
In my opinion, beeing honest that the device is dangerous is the best way and even call it a gun. But if you get shut down for it, it must happen by law... and there you must be able to argue why the law does not apply. And then there is time, to say that the "gun" is actually only a "motor" and therefore the definitions will not apply.
Thats the only way they retreat with their teeths grinding...

The funny thing in germany is that e.g. a "unusable gun" is a gun, that has holes in the barrel every x centimeters with a certain diameter. If they categorize it as gun.... i can easily drill the barrel and/or leave gaps... and stuff and make it unusable by law, which is crazy and stupid.
The only problem is when they start to argue that the coils itstelf form the barrel

then i am fucked. But that is technically far catched... hopefully.

Finn Hammer

Tue Jun 09 2015, 01:03PM

Registered Member #205 Joined: Sat Feb 18 2006, 11:59AM
Location: SkÃ¸rping, Denmark
Posts: 741

You could arrange 3 -4 -5 rods with rectangular crossection to form an open cage where one of each of the rodÂ´s faces forms a tangent to the projected path of the projectile (woops, projectile=gun?)
Then argue up front that it is a rail guided device, not a barrelled device.
But really, come on: anything that hurls a slug forward with 100J behind it, is a weapon, is it not?

Cheers, Finn Hammer

Dr. Slack

Tue Jun 09 2015, 02:34PM

Registered Member #72 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:29AM
Location: UK St. Albans
Posts: 1659

DerAlbi wrote ...

The problem is that you stand there, having a beast of a device in your hands, possibly most badass-looking as it is reasonable to get customers impressed ...

If you have a thing with BFG-9000 stencilled on the side that looks like it could take down a squadron of space marines, that is going to be a problem, unless it simply blows bubbles.

DerAlbi

Tue Jun 09 2015, 06:42PM

Registered Member #2906 Joined: Sun Jun 06 2010, 02:20AM
Location: Dresden, Germany
Posts: 727

But really, come on: anything that hurls a slug forward with 100J behind it, is a weapon, is it not?

Agreed

But the difference is made by law.... A crossbow (can be as strong as 100J) without a barrel is a weapon, but [in germany] you do not need a licence to have one, just the age 18+. ...while a barreled guns are restricted.

If you have a thing with BFG-9000 stencilled on the side that looks like it could take down a squadron of space marines, that is going to be a problem, unless it simply blows bubbles.

That blowing bubbles intrigued me for 2sec,.. then i gave up to hold my self back

that epic situation

love it.
I woud suggest BFG-9001.. you know.. it needs to be over 9000...
duuude ive got problems now...

. do you want to reserve any rights for that name?

hen918

Tue Jun 09 2015, 08:30PM

Registered Member #11591 Joined: Wed Mar 20 2013, 08:20PM
Location: UK
Posts: 556

The crossbow thing is a bit odd; I know someone who legally, and without a license, owns and uses crossbows which can practically cut someone in half and are silent(ish). Yet in the UK, rifles require a licence (and a very good reason to have one). I suppose it's a convenience thing: rifles have a repeatable, high accuracy and fire rate.
Your coil-gun might fit into the crossbow category.
I hate law. It's supposed to have few gray areas, but I always seem to find them, bend the rules.
At the end of the day, a barrel is a tube. Your pen has a barrel. That's why, unless you can find a way to remove all tubular objects from your projectile pathway, they are gonna call it a gun. Sorry.

DerAlbi

Wed Jun 10 2015, 01:59AM

Registered Member #2906 Joined: Sun Jun 06 2010, 02:20AM
Location: Dresden, Germany
Posts: 727

And then i slice the barrel along its length which makes the gun legaly "disabled". That is defined by [german] law.
What do they say then?

That the crossbow is legal and 18+ [here] is a direct result of it having no barrel and a rail like projectile guide. Which is indeed something that i also associate with a CG....

Does anyone know if anyone ever got into trouble posting a youtube video of a 10J+ coilgun? (or "1.25kJ Coilgun", like one would name it on Youtube

) I mean.. they shuld! Or shouldnt?

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