[LINK] Dept. of Homeland Security weighs forcing passengers to wear stun gun bracelets on airplanes

[Scott Howard]

And not surprisingly, it's a fake.

http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2008/07/shocking-but-false.html

  Scott

On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 11:21 PM, Adam Todd <link at todd.inoz.com> wrote:

>
>
> http://www.gadling.com/2008/07/07/update-dept-of-homeland-security-weighs-forcing-passengers-to/
>
>
> Update: Dept. of Homeland Security weighs forcing passengers to wear
> stun gun bracelets on airplanes
>
> by <http://www.gadling.com/bloggers/jeffrey-white>Jeffrey White   Jul
> 7th 2008 @ 3:00PM
> Back in March, Gadling
> <
> http://www.gadling.com/2008/03/21/company-patents-electrical-shock-device-to-be-used-for-aviation/
> >blogged
> about a firearm training system, Lamperd, which had patented a
> bracelet that worked like a stun gun when activated.
>
> At the time, Lamperd was lobbying the Transportation Security
> Administration to make it mandatory for all airline passengers to
> wear one, with the thinking that it was the best way to thwart a terrorist.
>
> Well, here's an update.
>
> The Department of Homeland Security, ever the shepherds watching over
> their flocks, appears to be seriously weighing making this bracelet
> mandatory and has sent a letter to Lamperd encouraging the company to
> draft a formal proposal for integrating its bracelet into flight security.
>
> That's right. Your tax dollars are funding the R&D arm of DHS, which
> wants to develop technology that acts essentially as a GPS attached
> to your wrist, allowing the government to track pretty much
> everywhere you go once you check in for your flight, and giving the
> flight crew the ability to waylay you if you get out of hand.
>
> O.K., that might be overstating it: Officials say the bracelet would
> only be activated in the event of a terrorist attack. But still....
>
> Here is a promotional
> <
> http://www.lamperdlesslethal.com/video_gallery.asp?video=http://www.lamperdlesslethal.com/video/EMDsafetybracelet.flv&title=
> >video
> for the bracelet that piqued DHS's interest.
>
> The Washington Times
> <
> http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/aviation-security/2008/Jul/01/want-some-torture-with-your-peanuts/#again
> >today
> quotes a letter from DHS's Paul S. Ruwaldt, of the Science and
> Technology Directorate, in which he writes to Lamperd saying, "To
> make it clear, we are interested in...the immobilizing security
> bracelet and look forward to receiving a written proposal."
>
> The Times says the letter was written on Federal Aviation
> Administration letterhead.
>
> The Times goes on to detail what the bracelet could do. It would:
>    * Eliminate the need to carry a boarding pass
>    * Contain personal data about you, including your travel history
>    * Monitor the whereabouts of both you and your luggage after check-in
>    * Employ Electro-Musclar Disruption technology that could
> immobilize a passenger for nearly 10 minutes
> Now, with all the <http://www.gadling.com/page/2/>idiotic things
> passengers have been doing on planes of late, I could maybe get
> behind employing some kind of bracelet stun gun.
>
> But seriously, I consider all this with some foreboding. I mean,
> slipping a bracelet on a little kid that could deliver a shock
> powerful enough to make an electronic dog fence zap seem like a
> pinprick is a scary thought. What if a flight attendant accidently
> activates one of them?
>
> What do you think? Would mandatory bracelets like these make air
> travel safer, or is this just another way for the government to look
> over our shoulders?
>
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