Can Gun Power Be Stopped? Experts Weigh In

[Shiro]

Hey there! I found this website and I was hoping to get some info from some smart folks with experience and extensive knowledge. Okay, from the title, I know it seems like a stretch but I just have to know. Physically speaking, is there a way to stop the gun? By stop I mean robbing it of its power, be it through the device not firing, the actual propellant not igniting, or even movement that may decrease the lethality of it. It all seems like a kid coming up with some comic stuff but it's a question that's been on my mind lately and hopefully I can get an answer. Thank you for your time in responding!

 

[animalcroc]

Hey there! I found this website and I was hoping to get some info from some smart folks with experience and extensive knowledge. Okay, from the title, I know it seems like a stretch but I just have to know. Physically speaking, is there a way to stop the gun? By stop I mean robbing it of its power, be it through the device not firing, the actual propellant not igniting, or even movement that may decrease the lethality of it. It all seems like a kid coming up with some comic stuff but it's a question that's been on my mind lately and hopefully I can get an answer. Thank you for your time in responding!

If you are able to give a super strong kick or something to gun and make it travel backwards then the bullet will travel slower.

 

[cesiumfrog]

One way might be superconducting magnets under the floor, but then that's unsafe if other people in the room may have metal, and useless against ceramic weaponry.

I wonder what the limits on NMR imaging are, since it is the best way I can think of to thoroughly screen for potential weapons. If you don't somehow restrict weapon access in advance (with continual automatic screening), you can try to actively defuse blatant acts of aggression (eg. station a guard with taser readied), or you can think about ways to shield potential targerts (but these are likely to be inconvenient or uneffective). In the real world, you might just put cameras up.

It's difficult to come up with a perfect comic book scheme that is also physically realistic. How do you protect yourself from the person you're shaking hands with, who may be trained in hand techniques?

 

[Shiro]

A good point cesiumfrog. The only thing I can really think of is working with clothing material to decrease the impact of the bullet. That's more of a "shield" though. I guess it's the next best thing. If I may suggest, perhaps not magnets on the floor, but what about a magnetic device? Does lead have a specific electric or magnetic signature that can be tampered with and tuned to make bullets slow down? I know, comic book-ish, but its a start.

 

[Cyrus]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_armor
http://science.howstuffworks.com/body-armor.htm

Google...is ...your...friend.

 

[Valeres]

Well going literally on what you said in order to stop a "gun" you can do several things depending on what the gun is doing at the time. If the gun is say, doing a limbo, then you can tell those annoying bows and arrows to go home since they are obviously a bad influence on your gun. And make sure your gun knows only to associate with guns of equal or larger caliber than it. If your gun is really bad then you can punish your gun by locking it in a gun safe until it learns its lesson, this may take a while since guns are incredibly stubborn, especially in the teen calibers.

But since I am going to assume that you meant how to stop a bullet that has been fired by a gun i would say the most effective way to do this would be to encase yourself with ballistic gelatin, depending on the round you want to stop, up to 3 feet thick. That would provide you with enough protection to stop a .50 BMG. The drawbacks would be looking stupid and obviously social awkwardness, but rest assured you would be fully protected against most handgun, shotgun and rifle rounds.

 

[Shiro]

Thank you cesiumfrog for answering my question as best as possible.

[edited: I understand your frustration with how you were treated. Try to stay above it, though

-Russ]

 

[Valeres]

I would remove my "ignorant comments" but I am too stupid to figure out how. Anyways I wasn't trying to make fun of/at you, I just thought it was funny and everyone would get a laugh at a gun doing the limbo. I anything it proves that I am dumb enough to think of those things and dumber to reveal them in public, but in my defense, most everyone else thinks I am pretty funny. So in closing, Sorry. I will go attempt to get a life now.

 

[Shiro]

My apologies for snapping like that. I don't handle these things lightly. It's a problem I have, I've been made fun of a lot. But I hope other people can see what I'm trying to accomplish with this question. I'm just trying to see if this device that mankind so reveres has a weakness. Again, my apologies, and I hope that this thread can continue and that people bring some interesting ideas to it.