2-Aug-11 – 10:09 by ToddG

Recently, there has been discussion across the ‘net about Chiappa Firearms‘s decision to use RFID (radio frequency identification) chips in the manufacture of its Rhino revolvers. While the use of such technology is nothing revolutionary, quite a few people have pointed out that fairly common technology can be used to locate (“ping”) an RFID chip. Heck, you can even buy a scanner from Amazon that goes in the Compact Flash slot of many mobile device. And hackers have proven that they can easily detect the small chips from hundreds of feet away.

What makes this a story, though, is how Chiappa — or rather it’s US wholesaler, MKS Distributing of Dayton, OH — is responding to criticism. Their press release includes the following suggestion for those who are concered:

Others may prefer to wrap the revolver and their head in aluminum foil, curl in a ball and watch reruns of Mel Gibson’s 1997 film, Conspiracy Theory. Well, that’s a plan too!

It also attacked what is obviously a dominant force in the firearms community today, gun-related internet sites. The very first sentence of the press release begins:

Recently there has been some blogger activity (credibility always guaranteed) …

… then goes on to say things like …

RUMOR: (known as blogosphere food) …

As Tam points out at View From The Porch, it’s not the technology. It’s the attitude that Chiappa/MKS excretes. No one would even know the Rhino existed if not for blogs and forums. Don’t go blaming “teh internetz” just because there are folks out there who understand a heck of a lot more about RFID technology and detection than the marketing guy at your import/export business. By the way, when I worked at SIG-Sauer we offered this same RFID capability to some federal agencies. Their reaction was abject horror. Why? Because they knew that an RFID-equipped pistol could be detected easily at a distance by anyone with a little technological know-how. I don’t know how you say “clue” in Italian but…

Given that some early reports of the Rhino have been less than exuberant already, you’d think perhaps Chiappa/MKS would be smart enough to engage the bloggers and forums rather than attack them. But they may prefer to bury their revolvers and their heads in the sand, curl up in a ball and watch … wait, I had something for this … um, some movie about a company that ticks off its customer base and then goes out of business. Because that’s a plan, too!

By the way, any guess on how Chiappa/MKS distributed that press release? If you guessed “What is the internet, Alex?” you win…

Train hard & stay safe! ToddG