Yes! It's the handgun camcorder!

The term 'point and shoot' has been used by photographers for years. However, snappers’ images were never fatal - until the invention of a compact camera-cum-handgun, that is. PistolCam2 PistolCam: photography at its most deadly PistolCam is a camera unit that clips onto a variety of handguns. Once in place, and the deadly …

[Anonymous Coward]

Can I just say.....

Will we now get Happy Capping vids ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Look for footage on Youtube

How long before the first happy-shooting murder gets uploaded do you think?

[John Bayly]

USB 1.1 ?

I'd want USB 2.0 so that I could upload my videos of shooting people to YouTube as quickly as possible.

Beats the hell out of happy slapping.

[adnim]

I see,

happy slapping taking on a whole new dimension.

[James]

Happy slapping 2.0

Why wait for a mate with a mobile, no third party required. Dibs the patent on the one with wifi for easy upload to youtube

Mines the one with the kevlar

[Anonymous Coward]

Ummm....

Excellent!! Just as the yoof of today seem to be starting to tire of the 'happy slapping' craze, now they can indulge in a 'happy shooting spree' instead...the wonders of modern technology, eh?

How long before we start to see lots of wonderful footage of 'victims' on YouTube / LiveLeak, i wonder?

[Derek Hellam]

How long before these vid's are on the net? lost cd's? etc.

You've been framed......In a nice wooden box with padded interior and brass handles.

And now ladies and gentlemen the last words of (insert chav/scally name), before the poolice popped a cap in his arse!

[Anonymous Coward]

youtube

New YouTube craze?

[Anonymous Coward]

Prize

El Reg should be offering a prize to the first person who takes this through hand baggage from the US to the UK and back to the US.

No prize awarded if you are detained/held in a cell, shipped off to a military based on an island just off the US, shot with a real gun...

Prize doubled if you have a tan complexion, prize tripled if you have a tan complexion and a middle-eastern accent with a large dark beard.

[Ian Rogers]

"non" lethal?

Is there anything to stop the bullets from being in the gun at the same time? Handy laser targeting and Happy Slapping taken to a new level!

Just don't use the camera-only version around Stockwell Tube station...

[Mark]

Happy slapping

Looks likes this could be the next stage in happy slapping.

[Lickass McClippers]

Mark_T wins the Jellyfish Medal...

"Happy Capping", bravo Sir, had me chortling into my coffee..!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Good Thing There's a Bright Light and a Visible Laser

Gives the "target" something to shoot at.

[Nev]

Tsk,,..... Call that a gun gadget?

Check out what our wacky gun obsessed Yank cousins can really cook up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D99NHb6B03s

Small enough for Paris to carry in her

handbag for those close-encounters of the paparazzi kind.

[Gaz]

This is nothing new...

These devices have been around for some time, often used in assasinations as proof of kill. Maybe a pistol mount is new, mind, but rifle attachments have around for years!

[Anonymous Coward]

American gun slingers watch out...

I suspect it won't be too long before some politician spots these and makes it mandatory for you to have one on your gun - evidence of 'legal shooting' or some such nonsense!

[James Dunne]

This is just stupid.

And wheres the FIREwire support?

bdum tcht.

Did we not see such a device in the recent movie starring the famed monotonous puppet we know and love from team america?

[alistair millington]

silly

Should be good in court for defending police officers who are blamed for everything, and prosecuting those people that said they didn't do it, weren't there at the time.

But it will only be like an asbo, something to use and something to be proud of for scum to show off and compare.

Stupid invention.

[Joe]

Seems a bit of a crappy spec

Only half a gig memory? Only USB1? Is this 2001 and the past seven years have all been a dream?

[Anonymous Coward]

FireWire?

I'd rather it had FireWire capability. If I own a nice handgun, obviously I'm a hardware zealot. USB might be ok for 9mm, but I've got a 40cal.

[Matt Bradley]

A good use for these

I for one would like to see these attached to the front of every SO19 and Airport security weapon :)

[Jason The Saj]

Actually, could be quite useful...

Think of the effectiveness this could have for law enforcement.

If police have to use deadly force, the situation could be recorded and reviewed. If a lawsuit arises in which it's claimed the police fired wrongfully and without cause. Said resulting video could be used to support or condemn the actions of said firing officer.

[Erik Olafsen]

Combine it with a head-mounted display...

...and I could happy-cap people around the corner! Without showing myself!

[Saucerhead Tharpe]

If you think it is a gun it's a gun

The cops shoot you for using the camera

There is no comeback

Now, about attaching it to a chair leg

[Anonymous Coward]

@Jason The Saj

Yes very useful, 'cos I'm sure the camera wouldn't have happened to have 'malfunctioned' on the day said officer shot a man for carrying a table leg/being a brazilian/wearing a heavy winter coat.....

[Dave Bell]

Harsh environments

This thing is going to take a lot of hammer when the gun is fired.

Mind you, that isn't a good reason for only having USB1.1, and there are still better ways of mounting a plod-cam.

[Herby]

But no sound recording?

What happens when it records an "accidental" shooting, like in a cockpit of an airplane. I can hear it now:

"Hey Clyde, look at this neat gun I can have."

"You shouldn't play with that <bang> thing. Too late, never mind".

"How do we hide this from the bosses....."

Another star is born. See the Darwin award in living color!

[Anonymous Coward]

Perfect for armed airline pilots

Now we can see what they were doing when their gun negligently (or not) discharges.

[Morely Dotes]

Nice one, Saucerhead!

There's no reason I can see that you'd be *required* to attach it to a gun. It could as easily be mounted to the side of a hat, or on a belt.

Or, in Saucerhead's case, the leg of his romantic interest's chair.

[Anonymous Coward]

GPS/gun combo might be interesting

Would be interesting to see a GPS/gun that tracks where it was each time a bullet was fired, perhaps also with an integrated fingerprint device. You can have a gun, but if you use it wrong there is incriminating evidence against you of who, what, and where.

[Anonymous Coward]

About time

I've been saying for ages that every armed police officer should have a camera on their weapon (and possibly on their person) so that the officer can instantly justify their actions - or be done for genuine f-ups. Everyone can see exactly what happened instead of just relying on what other people saw and heard. No false accusations.

Didn't our planes have cameras on them during WW2 to take pics when they opened fire - it's taken this long to apply the technology to handguns?

[Oldfogey]

Weapons Shops of Isher

Anybody remember the two Space Operas by AE Van Vogt? The weapons on sale in the Weapon Shops would only fire in self defense.

Can't do that, but a Gun/GPS/Camera/Fingerprint combo might go a long way. Add WiFi, so the data is sent to the cops instantly.

This isn't my coat - mine has the shoulder holster.

[Nexox Enigma]

Re: About Time

"""Didn't our planes have cameras on them during WW2 to take pics when they opened fire - it's taken this long to apply the technology to handguns?"""

And an aeroplane is the same size and price as a hand gun. Just because it worked in one situation doesn't mean that it'll scale. I'm sure you could have slapped a nice 8mm camera to a pistol, but would it be at all useful? Would the mechanics in a film video camera stand up to the shock of firing? Would you even be able to draw it with that additional weight?

Admittedly this hardware has probably been possible for a while now, but your argument with WW2 is complete crap.

Plus I'm sure even this camera would get in the way / be heavy and make the cop's weapons less effective, plus it'd cost more, and they'd need to be maintained, etc. The lawsuits are probably less money and time, plus that funding probably doesn't come out of the police equipment budget, which I imagine is somewhat strained in most cases.

And requiring that all guns have some sort of massive electronics package attached and functioning is pretty unrealistic as well. Just something that won't happen for plenty of reasons. There'd probably be some sort of a rebellion (using all the older weapons) against legislation like that in this country...

[Dana W]

You have to be kidding.

I shoot a Glock, how would you get it in a holster with all that junk hanging off of it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wide Angle Lens?

I hope this has a very wide angle lens, otherwise you're not going to have a very informative video are you. Just someones chest in the dark, and then a shout of pain from the burglar or would-be attacker.

24mm equivalent ought to do it I think.

[Anonymous Coward]

re. You have to be kidding

I agree it's a bit bulky, but if people can see a benefit in this type of technology (police I'd guess) then it would be easy to reduce it in size and integrate it into the design of the weapon (a bit like the LaserMax sight that fits into the guide rod).

From a photography point of view it will definitely prevent those annoying "hand in front of lens" shots; well the second time anyway.

[Nameless Faceless Computer User]

I don't hate this

This camera protects the innocent, no matter which end of the gun they are on.

[A J Stiles]

Easier Method

Surely there's a much easier method of preventing the police from shooting anybody they shouldn't: don't give them guns in the first place!

[Anonymous Coward]

Half-baked idea, and incomplete article

From a newspaper report I read yesterday, the camera allegedly starts "shooting" as the weapon is drawn from its holster, so it will show everything from that moment.

This only records half of the event however. One of the things that is usually asked is "was the officer correct to draw his weapon" - this won't provide those answers and still leaves the officer vulnerable in a court case. Nearly there, but not quite.

I'd suggest building the camera into a headset or something, should cover everything. Unless there are people out there who can shoot a crim without pointing their head in that general direction!

@A J Stiles - sounds brilliant, we can have armed response units with truncheons and CS gas tackling armed criminals then? Recipe for success right there... It ain't perfect, but I don't think the police saying "we'll not have guns from now on" followed by a plea to the baddies to follow suit will work at the moment!

[Rod Shoaf]

great idea but

the one thing I've noticed about police in action when they have their guns drawn is that they tend to move pretty fast.. then all that movement at the end of your arm would be magnified even more. So unless the camera has a pretty high frame rate all you are gonna see is a blur.. especially when combined with the kick of the bullet leaving the barrel..

does this thing have image stabilization like the steady cams that the movie studios use?