Gun Safety System

Abstract

A method of multistate labeling a firearm as to the readiness state of the firearm is described. Information as to the readiness state of a firearm is conveyed to a handier of the firearm immediately and accurately regardless of environmental or stress conditions.

Description

FIELD

This invention relates generally to a system for labeling a firearm to allow an owner or user to identify the readiness state of the firearm. Such a need may arise during an emergency or while otherwise under stress or pressure, to inform a third party quickly and accurately as to the readiness state of the firearm or simply to remind the firearm owner after a period of time. The system uses magnetized or otherwise adherable or removably attachable color-coded labels or other sensory-based multi-state signs, signals or tags recognizable quickly or under duress and affixed to firearms or other tools to serve as alerts to users or handlers of such firearms.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The nature of firearms is that most people will never use them in times of emergencies or while under stress or duress. However, in those situations in which an emergency arises or in which a user or potential user is under stress, it is critical that the user be able to function with as much information regarding the readiness state of the firearm as possible. At the same time, it is not possible to predict the conditions under which the emergency will arise, whether in daytime, nighttime, at home, at work or in transit.

Further, it is the nature of firearms that use and handling, including periodic handling for maintenance, is necessary and useful. Firearms are not static items intended to remain unused.

In an emergency, an owner of a firearm needs immediate and accurate information on the readiness state of the weapon—is it unloaded? Is it loaded? Is a bullet chambered? The term “readiness state” and the various readiness states of interest in this disclosure are defined more specifically in the Summary of the Invention below. Apart from deliberately opening the breech and/or removing clips, most handguns provide no clear external sign of their readiness state. In general, firearms require some level of handling and/or manipulation to determine the readiness state of the firearm. In an emergency, this may take time the user does not have. Worse, handled inappropriately, a firearm can be just as dangerous for the owner, user, a family member or companion as it can be for an attacker or intruder.

Current technology typically uses a safety lever built into most firearms. These, however, do not sufficiently apprise a user of the readiness state. For example, most safety levers are designed to have low visibility. While it is possible to determine if the firearm safety level is positioned to prevent firing through tactile sensing, the safety lever cannot operate to apprise the user as to whether the firearm is loaded and is not designed for use in stressful situations in adverse conditions, such as low light. Stated otherwise, a standard safety lever has two settings, which is insufficient for informing a user during an emergency as to whether the firearm should be selected for urgent use.

Other firearm safety means, such as trigger locks and cable locks, do well to show dearly which firearms are not immediately available for use in an emergency, but the absence of these do not identify which firearms are available for immediate use.

In a non-emergency situation, a person unfamiliar with a certain firearm may have need to handle or manipulate the firearm for any one of a number of reasons. While safe handling practices should always be used, in most cases no external sign shows the readiness state of the firearm to the person, increasing the risk of injury or death in the event of an accidental firing of a loaded firearm. Similarly, in the event an owner of a firearm has not handled a firearm for some period of time, the owner may simply not remember the readiness state of a given firearm or, worse, may mis-remember the readiness state of that weapon.

Certainly, it is possible to train firearm owners and others to handle weapons safely in a variety of possible situations. And while this is beneficial, despite the need for firearm safety, such training is not common and is not likely to be common for the average owner of a firearm.

There exists in the marketplace no device which can be affixed to a firearm which provides an owner or other person immediate and accurate information as to the readiness state of the firearm to allow the owner or other person to make immediate and accurate decisions regarding the firearm.

There is a need for a means by which an owner or handler of a firearm can, regardless of physical and other conditions, immediately determine the state of readiness of a firearm from among a plurality of options without manipulating the firearm. There is a further need for a means by which an owner or handler of a firearm can temporarily mark a firearm as to its readiness state until it is appropriate to change the marking of the readiness state. There is a further need for a means for marking the readiness state of a firearm which can inform the owner or handler of the firearm of the readiness state by different senses, such as visually, tactilely. or audibly. The present invention meets these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It should be regarded that while the present invention is described in general relative to a visual system for marking the readiness state of a firearm, the invention is not limited thereto. The present invention may be practiced in any application in which a sensory-based label is affixed to a firearm to allow an immediate and accurate determination of the readiness state of the firearm, whether visually, audibly, tactilely or otherwise. Although the invention is commonly identified as a “label,” it may take any form useful to store and convey information under the conditions described.

In a preferred embodiment, the invention is comprised of a set of removably attachable labels coded with desirable readiness conditions as to a firearm. Because firearms are typically made of steel, magnetic labels are suitable, although other means may be employed.

Readiness states of interest may include, without limitation, “unloaded,” “loaded, not chambered” and “chambered.” These designations identify the primary states of interest to an owner or user of a firearm. “Unloaded” refers to a readiness state in which no ammunition is contained in the firearm. “Loaded, not chambered” refers to a readiness state in which a clip or magazine containing ammunition has been placed in the firearm, but no bullet has been placed into the firing chamber. Thus, while loaded, the firearm is not ready to fire without further action taken. “Chambered” refers to a readiness state in which ammunition is both in the firearm and the firing chamber. The firearm is ready to be fired. It should be noted that none of these states refer to the safety mechanism on the firearm.

In addition to the wording on each label, each label may be color-coded. The “unloaded” label is color-coded green, reflecting a relative safe ability to handle or manipulate the weapon. The label “loaded, not chambered” is color-coded yellow, indicating the need for caution in handling the firearm, given its ability to be fired with a minimum of effort.

The “chambered” label is color-coded red indicating potential danger in mishandling the firearm.

These colors are chosen based on their common association with concepts of “go,” “caution” and “stop.” Although these concepts are not directly relatable to an emergency which might involve firearms, they likewise are associated with safety (green), danger (red), with yellow available for a neutral or cautionary position.

In use, the owner of a firearm makes a determination of the state of a given firearm prior to storing the firearm. Based on the readiness state of the firearm, the owner of the firearm attaches an appropriate label to the barrel of the firearm and then may place the firearm in a cabinet or other storage place such that the label is in an easily readable position. The owner of the firearm thereafter does not have to keep in mind on an on-going basis the readiness state of each stored firearm. Regardless of the circumstances of the owner's next handling of a labeled firearm, the removably affixed label provides an immediate and accurate reminder of said readiness condition.

In the event the owner of the firearm changes the readiness state of the firearm, whether by loading, unloading, chambering or firing the firearm, the label may be changed as needed to provide immediate and accurate information about the modified readiness state of the firearm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of one of the possible labels positioned on a flat surface of the barrel of a firearm.

FIG. 2 depicts perspective view of preprinted and color readiness state labels.

FIG. 3 depicts a perspective view of a representative label.

FIG. 4 depicts a front view of a labeled firearm stored in a cabinet in which the readiness state label is viewable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, and in a representative embodiment, a semiautomatic pistol 100 of common design is depicted. Without limitation, the pistol may be comprised of known parts, including a barrel 101, hand grip 102, trigger 103, trigger guard 104 and so forth. On such a pistol 100 is commonly found a flat, approximately flat or slightly curved surface area 105 on the barrel 101. A pistol owner, having used, cleaned, or otherwise handled the pistol, confirms the readiness state of the pistol 100 prior to storage. This may be by any known method, such as by inspection or by performing an act to impose or undo a condition of the pistol 100.

Having made known the readiness state of the pistol 100, the owner then selects an appropriate attachable label for the pistol 100. Referring to FIG. 2, appropriate labels in sheet form 200 are available for use. Fixable labels include “unloaded” 201 colored green with black lettering, “loaded not chambered” 202 colored yellow with black lettering and “chambered” 203 colored red with black lettering. In this example, the pistol is unloaded, so that the owner selects “unloaded” 201. Coloration is not depicted in FIG. 2, although labels may be colored by any known method.

Referring to FIG. 3, a representative label 300 is depicted. An upper surface 301 is provided on which is printed lettering as discussed above, such as “unloaded.” The upper surface 301 is printed with a distinctive color to provide the owner a distinctive visual cue of the intended message of the label 300. A lower surface 302 is also provided. In a preferred embodiment, the lower surface 302 comprises a magnetic substance capable of being removably affixed or attached to the steel-based material of the pistol 100. Alternate attachment means may include, but are not limited to, adhesives or clips.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the owner places the green “unloaded” label 201 on a flat, approximately flat or slightly curved region 105 of the pistol barrel 101 or other suitable surface. Placement should be made such that in storing the pistol the label 201 is immediately seen upon first viewing.

The utility of the invention is in the ability to identify the readiness state of the pistol regardless of most ambient conditions. In an emergency, it is not necessary to re-chamber the pistol or to remove the magazine to determine whether the pistol is loaded. In the presence of some level of light, the color-coding of the labels 201 202 or 203 provides immediate information on the readiness state of the pistol. Alternately, in conditions of complete darkness, similarly color coded glow-in-the-dark labels can convey the same information.

Referring now to FIG. 4, for storage purpose, in any standard firearm cabinet or safe 400, the pistol 100 may be placed on a shelf 401. In placing the pistol 100 for storage, the owner places the pistol 100 such that the readiness state label 201 202 or 203, as appropriate, is viewable immediately upon opening the cabinet or safe 400. When placed amongst more than one firearm in the cabinet or safe 400, the owner may immediately identify which firearm best suits the owner's immediate needs.

The invention is not limited to color coding or visual coding. In alternative embodiments, other sensory signals may be provided. For example, given that there is no guarantee that an emergency situation may arise only during daylight hours or in locations in which sufficient light is available to read words or identify colors, alternate sensory signals may be provided. Such alternative signals may include distinct sounds, such as a pleasant sound for an unloaded firearm, an intent-neutral sound for a loaded, not chambered firearm or an alarming sound for a chambered firearm. Labels may be devised with motion detectors which, when moved, provide information to the owner of the firearm of steps necessary to make the firearm ready to use.

In a further embodiment, a tactile sensory cue may be used to signal the readiness state of the firearm. Tags which are distinctive to the touch may be removably attached to a barrel or other part of a firearm, known to the owner or user, to provide immediate information upon picking up the firearm as to its readiness state. Information may be coded in any distinct form employing two extremes and a neutral setting, such as: hot, cold and tepid.

The invention allows removably affixed labels to employ more advanced technologies. In an embodiment, a readiness state label may be comprised of an RFID tag in one of a plurality of state conditions for a firearm. The RFID tag may be removably affixed to a firearm, as otherwise taught in this disclosure, and the firearm stored for later use. In the event of a need, the owner may use an RFID reader by placing the reader in sufficiently close proximity to a firearm to which an RFID tag is removably attached. Upon reading the signal of an RFID tag, the RFID reader emits an identifiable signal to the owner, informing the owner as to the readiness state of the selected firearm. Depending on the form of the signal used, which may be set by the user, the information conveyed by the signal may not be known to a human cause of the stress, such as an intruder.

In this alternative embodiment, the owner may scan a plurality of firearms quickly in order to select a firearm in a desired readiness state.

By these embodiment and others, the invention is described generally as methods and means by which the readiness state of a firearm, from among a plurality of readiness states, made be identified by labeling such that a user of a firearm may be informed as to said readiness state by a minimum of investigation and/or delay and under a range of stress conditions or environmental factors. The invention is practical in a range of settings, from use by a novice handler of a firearm to use by an experienced owner who has not handled a certain firearm for an extended period of time, to use in an emergency under extreme ambient conditions. In any event, the owner or handler of the firearm is informed immediately and accurately as to the readiness state of the firearm without unnecessary delay and is further able to avoid mishap or casualty better by assuring himself or herself that he or she is acting in conformity to the readiness state of the firearm.

Claims

1. An apparatus for providing information as to a unique readiness state, of a hand tool from among a plurality of possible states, comprising:

a removably affixable state identifier with integrated sensory information, suitable for conveying state information as to the current state of the hand tool;

with means for removably affixing said state identifier to the device;

in which the sensory information is immediately sensible to a user via a human sense.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the sensory information is visually conveyed.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the sensory information is audibly conveyed.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the sensory information is tactilely conveyed.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the state identifier incorporates an RFID tag.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the state identifier incorporates a motion detector.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the state identifier incorporates a tactile signal.

8. An apparatus for providing information as to a unique readiness state of a firearm among a plurality of possible states, comprising:

a removably affixable state identifier with integrated sensory information, suitable for conveying state information as to a single state of the firearm;

with means for removably affixing said state identifier to the device;

in which the sensory information is immediately sensible to a user via a human sense.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 in which the sensory information is visually conveyed.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 in which the sensory information is audibly conveyed.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 in which the sensory information is tactilely conveyed.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 in which the state identifier incorporates an RFID tag.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 in which the state identified incorporates a motion detector.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 in which the state identifier incorporates a tactile signal.

15. A method of labeling a firearm to provide sensory information as to the readiness state of the firearm comprising the steps of:

a. setting the state of the firearm to one of a set of possible states;

b. determining the environmental factors relative to the storage or use of the firearm for which readiness is a condition;

c. attaching one or more removably affixable sensory information emitters suitable to provide sensory information under the anticipated environmental conditions.

16. The method of claim 15 in which the user activates the sensory information emitter in order to receive information as to the readiness state of the firearm.

17. The method of claim 15 in which the sensory information emitter is activated by an internal signal.

18. The method of claim 15 in which one state from a plurality of readiness state information states may be conveyed.