Wi-Fi Gun Detection System Being Developed to ‘Out’ Concealed Gun Carriers
“A group of AI researchers at the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI) has developed an AI system that can identify concealed handguns using Wi-Fi signals, offering a non-intrusive alternative to visible cameras and cumbersome metal detectors,” computer technology site Tom’s Hardware reported Sunday. “To ensure the system could specifically distinguish a handgun from everyday items of similar shape or material, the researchers trained it on recordings of a plastic handgun, a metal water bottle, a real metal handgun, and a phone,” the report elaborates.
Prior experiments showed “ordinary Wi-Fi routers identify people with 99.5% accuracy,” and these latest controlled trials show “an average handgun-detection precision of 72.5%.” Where the system falters is “pinpointing the weapon’s exact location on the carrier, precision dropped to 53.8%. The neural network also struggles to perform accurately in unfamiliar, untested indoor layouts.”
“Planned improvements” are in the works, of course, and it’s a sure bet that government and private prohibitionist interests will be incentivized to see the system develop to where it can be as widely deployed and ubiquitous as Ring and Flock cameras.
Other systems utilizing different technologies are already out there, including ventures like the Omnilert AI gun detection system, which basically appears to recognize openly carried guns. There’s also ZeroEyes, which “detect[s] potential threats, from visible firearms and knives, to intruders,” and competitors like Brivo, “to identify brandished guns in a person’s hand…”
The adage “When seconds count, police are minutes away” comes to mind. So do warnings about false assumptions and misplaced trust.
“Police swarm student after AI security system mistakes bag of chips for gun,” Fox News reported on an Omnialert -generated fiasco last October. “Taki Allen, 16, was handcuffed by armed officers after a school security system flagged his snack as a gun.”
It wouldn’t be funny if panicked cops had opened fire.
Aside from such obvious risks and liabilities, the in-development Wi-Fi system raises all kinds of privacy and legal exposure concerns. Because the absence of metal detectors or visible cameras notwithstanding, this is hardly, as the report characterizes it, a “nonintrusive alternative.” It’s highly intrusive and overrides the entire purpose of concealed carry.
It also leaves many questions unanswered: In addition to private businesses, where gun owners at least have the option not to patronize, will the system signal blanket public areas and alert law enforcement along the lines of Shot Spotter detectors? Will notices need to be posted to avoid self-incrimination? Will detections lead to armed response arrests with the inherent dangers those present? How secure will the systems be from hackers? What will the liabilities be if a gun owner decides not to risk detection, leaves his gun at home, and ends up getting himself and/or his loved ones hurt or killed because he was rendered defenseless?
Here’s the big one: Will Fourth Amendment protections apply?
With no reasonable expectation of privacy in public places, technologies employing CCTV cameras, facial recognition, license plate scanners and the like generally don’t cross a “plain view” legal threshold, although there’s movement to reconsider how much is allowable, especially when surveillance becomes prolonged for tracking purposes.
But what if it’s a real bad guy? Since when has requiring you and I to be disarmed done anything but give predators the advantage?
Naturally, those intent on controlling not just guns but their fellow man, will be all for expanding the surveillance state if they can seize the power to do it. What laws to do that can we expect them to enact, and how will the courts react to challenges, especially if Democrats win the midterms , then take over in ’28, and start reshaping the Supreme Court to reverse Bruen, McDonald, Heller, and more?
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
