Unsafe at any altitude

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

Politicians and the media were quick to jump on the NRA's statement about guarding schools which came out on Friday, Dec. 21. In reality, the NRA, politicians, the media, and nearly everyone else are lacking the vision and missing the threats in our near future.

There are two of them, they are already here, they are very serious, and are being ignored by nearly everyone.

Probably the least lethal of these two is the 3-D printer. 3-D printers can make things. They are already in commercial use. Their processes are called "additive manufacturing," for unlike the old days when machine tools took chunks of metal and carved away at it (subtractive manufacturing) to make something, these 3-D printers start with nothing and build parts exactly with no waste.

Each 3-D printer model is designed to use only one certain material (steel, aluminum, plastic and so forth). The news is 3-D printers using plastics are now less than $2,500 and they use plastics from which one can make a pistol or an ammunition clip.

Further, the design drawings to make such things are already widely available on the Internet. One cannot register or control a gun or ammunition clip that is not within a rigid chain of custody from manufacturer to consumer. If anyone can make a gun in their basement for less than $3,000, federal controls are meaningless. And they can do this right now.

The second and most lethal device is the Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), often called drones. Famous are the large and expensive ones used by the U.S. Air Force. Equally famous are the toys.

For Christmas this year, you may have bought an "Orbit" by Puzzlebox. This little helicopter, which is battery powered and controlled solely by brainwaves, sells for less than $100. For around $500 you can have a reasonably serious RPA that will carry a payload and is controlled by an iPad.

Here is the scary part. One has been tested with a mounted paintball gun and proved to be highly accurate. From paintball gun to real firearm, is a tiny step. So is attaching an explosive or a container of dangerous chemicals.

The FAA is supposed to be promulgating rules controlling RPAs, since as flying objects, they are within their purview. However, they are woefully behind schedule on the project. (Not that rules will help control illegal activities.)

In two other venues where I work, I have been raising the specter of RPA trespassing for nearly a year. In the pulp and paper industry, my profession, I have been writing articles in the trade press about the coming violation of private property by RPAs.

In the National Guard, where I serve an adjunct role in Georgia, I have written a white paper, back in September of this year, on the subject. There are already over 1,300 models of RPAs, from the size of bumblebees to the size of large airplanes, in commercial use around the world.

When I talk to groups about the coming threats of RPAs, I point out that most defenses we see routinely deal with threats under 10 feet in altitude. Even most of the TSA checkpoints in airports are wide open above eight or nine feet. Our thinking must change when we think of threats. Threats now come from any altitude, from any direction and at nearly any speed.

So, the NRA is wrong, but not for the reasons its detractors claim. They are wrong because threats no longer have an altitude limitation. They are no longer someone moving at the speed of a walking or running human.

The NRA's detractors screaming for gun control laws are wrong, too. For if I can make a working plastic gun in my basement outside the chain of custody path, gun control laws are worthless.

There is a famous war strategist upon whose writings all modern warfare is based. His name was Carl von Clausewitz and he lived from 1780 until 1831. He was a Prussian soldier and scholar.

His definitive book on the subject is "On War" and it is mandatory classwork in war colleges around the world. Clausewitz famously said that the strongest position in conflict is defense.

So, in that sense, perhaps the NRA is partially right. They were just limited in their vision – the day is here when anyone with a couple of thousand bucks can wreak havoc on any undefended target they choose. And keep in mind, most targets in this country, as currently defended, lack any defenses above an elevation of about 10 feet. Even the TSA fails this test in most cases.

The future will require defense from all directions to protect the things we cherish.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga., following decades of wandering the world, and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.