Two years ago, TrackingPoint made a major stir at CES with its Precision-Guided Firearm, or “Linux gun.” The weapon integrated a smart scope that displayed weather conditions, wind speeds, and other target information, and only fired the gun when the crosshairs were lined up properly on the target. Fast-forward to today, and the company has unveiled another milestone. It’s new Mile Maker is a custom weapon that’s capable of firing a round up to 1800 yards at a target moving at up to 30 miles per hour.

The new Mile Maker is chambered with a round TrackingPoint calls 338TP; reports state that this is similar to the .338 Lapua Magnum round, but with slightly different attributes. Given that the .338 LM has dual-purpose anti-personnel/anti-materiel capabilities, it’s possible that the company has redesigned the round more for hunting and less for penetrating vehicle armor. This new technology is debuting after the most recent demo, earlier this year, of a video screen attachment that allowed hunters to aim without actually looking at what they’re firing at.

The Mile Maker’s 1800-yard range is 50% farther than the 1200 yard maximum on previous rifles and it comes courtesy of both new hardware and more advanced software. TrackingPoint isn’t talking about precisely how its tweaked the software guidance on the scope, but the company is adding various social media capabilities to its platform. In 2015, TrackingPoint rifles will be able live-stream the video to a nearby smartphone or tablet in addition to the already existing option to upload video to YouTube or Facebook.

The company is also building a new set of rifles at lower price points and lighter weights, chambered with smaller ammunition. Currently, the price tags on these weapons have kept them out of the hands of most users, even the cheapest model is currently $8000, and that’s for an AR-15 with a scope that’s calibrated out to 600 yards and the ability to hit a target moving at up to ten miles an hour.

More range, more controversy

The technology behind TrackingPoint’s scope and accuracy continues to impress. The company claims significantly better accuracy than what conventional scopes are capable of achieving, under ideal conditions. The ability to share footage and takedowns will strike some as improper, but it’s likely to be well received by the firearm’s target market.

Some will argue that by making sniping easier and giving the scope an increased ability to track moving targets, TrackingPoint is creating an objectively more dangerous weapon. By lowering the skill required to properly operated the gun, TrackingPoint may also be indirectly contributing to the possibility of it being used improperly. Price, alone, won’t be a barrier forever. Already, the cost of the lowest-end models has fallen to $8000, down from $17,000 at initial introduction.

As with 3D-printed firearms, there are valid concerns and questions about how shifting technological capabilities alter potential requirements for owning, using, or manufacturing a firearm for one’s own personal use. In an odd way, TrackingPoint’s scopes are actually a marvelous metaphor for the rise of Big Data. In the old days, a hunter “interfaced” with a scope with a single fixed purpose and capability. Now, an incredibly sophisticated piece of technology gathers a great deal of external information that’s ultimately personal to each individual user and, based on that data, makes decisions about when to fire the weapon. Targeting, it this sense, can occur in multiple contexts.

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