Smart Guns Aren't So Smart
Guns, guns, guns. America is absolutely obsessed with guns. Well, now it's even easier to shoot at things. Austin-based company Tracking Point recently unveiled a rifle that aims itself, making it easily the most advanced, and easy-to-use weapon in the gun lexicon today. They're called "Smart Rifles," a ubiquitous name for a gun that allows even the most inexperienced gun user to hit a target 1,000 feet away with 100% accuracy. So, to rewind for a moment: it's a gun that aims and shoots for you-all you do is hold the trigger. Vice recently profiled the company for one of their documentaries and talked about how someone who has never shot a gun before can be on a range hitting targets in an hour. It brings to mind some troubling trends in recent years. As the south and west sides of Chicago continually turn into warzones and weekly mall and school shootings become more and more routine, we have to ask ourselves if a Smart Gun is smart at all. Last week gunmen shot up a park in Chicago where friends and family were taking in a neighborhood basketball game, hitting 13, including a 3 year old boy. Reports estimated somewhere around 20 shots, fired blindly into a crowd. Now, a proliferation of these Smart Guns would almost definitely result in their hitting the streets. Imagine if the shooters last week in Chicago had hit every target with 100% accuracy, a terrible night in the Back of the Yards neighborhood very well may have been a massacre. Smart phones are ok for me. Gun? Not so much.
Full Metal Jacket
On an April night in 1970, photographer and Vietnam vet James Hensinger captured images when his 173rd Airborne Brigade was confronted by a Viet Cong sniper hiding somewhere in the surrounding area that attacked is army base in Phu Tai. There was a huge exchange of shots fired between the both sides that lit up the sky. That night, the US base was unleashing round after round of bullets and even used tanks in the exchange. Hensinger set his Nikon to take long exposures,capturing the firestorm that occurred that night in the process. Check out the rest of the photos below.
[via io9]
Photos by James Hensinger
Venezuela's Most Dangerous Prison
When you translate Vista Hermosa to English, it means beautiful view. It's funny that the name was given to one of Venezuela's most dangerous prisons where the inmates control the inside and have created their own society. These prisoners took control using force where one man is controlling the mayhem: Wilmer Brizuela AKA Pran. The only thing that keeps these prisoners confined within the prison walls is the Venezuelan National Guard patrolling the outside walls. Many of the inmates have some of the same amenities people have on the outside, ranging from guns and drugs to even iPhones. Some have even started their own businesses while inside, such as catering to other inmates, their families, and their friends who come to party. However, even with all of these perks and privileges, this is by no means a paradise. Check out the full article by Jorge Benezra here. Photography by: Sebastian Liste [via Time]
