2015-08-11 – As of 2013 (latest available data), the number of firearm deaths in the United States nearly equaled the number of motor vehicle deaths: 33,636 for guns and 33,804 for cars (10.6 and 10.7 deaths respectively per 100,000 population).

Futurists tell us that the number of motor vehicle deaths could start dropping precipitously in the next 10 to 20 years as driverless car are introduced to our highways and replace human-driven cars. Test versions of these cars are already on our roads and are performing well (see this debate about driverless cars).

Why isn’t anyone working on trigger-man-less guns?

Yeah, I know about drones. But so far those are military weapons. And drones aren’t really autonomous. They’re really just remotely operated weapons. There is no indication that truly autonomous automatic weapons will be part of the civilian landscape anytime soon.

But if autonomous cars will improve motor vehicle safety, couldn’t autonomous guns improve gun safety?

Driving a car is a pretty complicated undertaking. Click on this link to get a taste for how driverless cars tackle the problem. It’s pretty amazing. As this video points out, the most unreliable part of a car is the driver. Science has now solved the problem and, in a few years, the solution will be rolled out and we’ll finally have safe roads. The driver will be taken out of the equation.

As the NRA says, “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” It’s the same problem. We just need to get people out of the equation. The solution will be autonomous weapons.

I know what you’re thinking. You wonder how an autonomous weapon would select a target. I wonder that myself, but science is amazing. A few short years ago, you would never have thought a car could drive itself, and now it is almost a reality. With guns, it will be the same thing. Today, you can’t even imagine how an autonomous weapon will select and kill targets. Tomorrow it will be an awesome reality.

The only obstacle will be the do-it-yourselfers. I certainly will be happy to have a machine drive my car, but there are many people who like to drive. Same thing with guns.

Some people just want to do their own killing.