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Comment by krapp | Hacker News Reader

>Saying "well, they could eventually mount guns on them" is like saying the same for the cameras in stores used to help prevent shoplifting.

The US government and law enforcement have the monopoly on violence and a long bloody history of exercising it against foreigners and people of color, whereas Wal-Mart does not (abuse of employees notwithstanding.) The last President wanted a wall across the southern border with barbed wire, snipers, a moat full of alligators and electrified spikes. You think a government that xenophobic wouldn't also put a gun on a drone? Or that Biden and the Democrats are that different?

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> You think a government that xenophobic wouldn't also put a gun on a drone?

When they do, I'll complain. They aren't doing that now. I don't think guns on drones at the border with Mexico will happen in my lifetime.... I'd put money on that.

> Or that Biden and the Democrats are that different?

Yes. Yes I do.

We have had guns on drones already for years.

There is no valid excuse for pretending there is no problem.

Not to enforce border patrol. They are used against enemy combatants. If you are against weapons that kill at a distance, you might as well complain about the invention of rock throwing. Regardless, that is an entirely different situation.

I don't see a problem here. There are remote controlled cameras surveilling the border. That's a long way off from remote controlled guns patrolling the border. And an even longer way off from autonomous guns patrolling the border.

The only reason guns have been legally used at the border is when an agent's life is in danger. Agents can't just shoot a migrant to stop them from crossing the border. So what good is a gun going to do on a drone dog? You're just making up non-existent problems.

Moreover, this is a much better way to monitor the border than to build and maintain walls. These dogs and the drones are largely out of site. I do envision one kind of gun being put on these drones: a flare gun. This provides migrants with the information they've been spotted and provides them the opportunity to go back. You can also imagine text-to-speech speakers being mounted on the dogs capable of translating to Spanish.

I can also see these dogs being used for rescue - capable of bringing badly-needed food and water. We needn't loose sight that these are human beings, regardless of their legal status.

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