The popularity of Apple AirTags and similar Bluetooth trackers has exploded since they became available. They’re a simple way to keep tabs on your property and other things you care about. My Labrador has one in his collar. You can get one for your keychain. With an adhesive mount, lots of people keep one attached to their bike or car. That makes finding it a snap if it’s ever stolen.
But how about your guns? There’s not much room in most pistols to slip an AirTag in there, but people like Strike Industries have made Pic rail AirTag holders for your rifle (which could also ride on a pistol’s Pic rail if the barrel is long enough, though you’d probably need a custom holster to carry it.
Anyway, Strike’s latest innovation is something far more inconspicuous. It’s an AirTag holder designed to fit in your Magpul pistol grip. Here’s their video showing how it works.
We suppose you could toss an AirTag or other Bluetooth tracker inside any Magpul (or similar) pistol grip without one of these dedicated holders. Just stuff it with, say, a microfiber cloth or something useful like that to keep it from rattling around. But the Strike Industries holder is a more elegant solution and has the benefit of being more difficult to remove if your gun is ever taken or lost.
So…good idea? Do you want to be able to keep tabs on your guns wherever they may be? Or does your Reynolds Wrap-wearing alter ego think that’s a really bad idea that could bite you in the butt some day?
12 Responses
“So…good idea? Do you want to be able to keep tabs on your guns wherever they may be? Or does your Reynolds Wrap-wearing alter ego think that’s a bad idea that could bite you in the butt some day?”
Given the ‘propensity’ of the left wing anti-gunners to want to get their blood soaked hands on gun owner information, and the fact that Apple is left wing orientated, its probably going to bite you in the butt one day some way or another. Nothing ‘Reynolds Wrap-wearing’ about that idea at all.
It would not take much at all to quietly include the capability in a newer generation of Air Tags to detect things common to firearms, such as the slight out-gassing from power residue or the slight out-gassing from firearms lubricants or even the sudden recoil action of firing on the range could be detected and then profiled as firearms use. Thus tying the airtag ID to a certain location and then to your Apple account (the AirTag is registered to your Apple ID) from which Apple could extract all sorts of info from the IP addresses you used or phone to access which can be used to get your actual name and address and turn that info over to the anti-gunners who would then know they are tracking a gun in possession of you. And then post live updated information fed them from Apple to show the locations of gun owners with airtags on their guns.
‘Reynolds Wrap-wearing’? No one thought some states would deliberately violate privacy laws, saying it was accidental, to release gun owner private info to the anti-gunners either which they so gleefully posted on line in public view and endangered lives by doing so. I remember before that happened I had been saying that one days its going to happen, people told me I needed to make sure my tin foil hat was on tight enough ’cause, ya know, privacy laws would keep it from happening. Yet it did happen and today, third parties of the ‘right kind’ (left wing anti-gun interests) can simply ask for it and get it for ‘research’.
Get a version for Android. Get a PAYGO smartphone such as Tracfone (you can get a simple no-frills model for literally $30 at your favorite superstore). Pay with cash, top off the minutes with cash, activated via website from a laptop you didn’t buy yourself, and using an IP access point (Starbux?) that isn’t under your name. Confirm that the phone tracks the tag, and then turn off the phone and place in a Faraday bag for peace of mind. Turn on the phone only when you’re not at home so it can never be tied to you. Viola, you have a truly private device.
I’ve done this myself more than once. It can be done.
That being said, I’d only use it to track a vehicle or such. I’d never put anything on my gun(s) to enable any kind of tracking. In a few years from now, AI will be everywhere, scraping the entire IoT for stuff like this and attempting to connect it all to our identities. Think I’m exaggerating?…TPTB have openly stated this as their goal.
Tag firearms? Yeah, no. What he said. ↑
Quite possibly the most moronic thing I have ever read on this site. Completely asinine.
Dan,
In what universe would you EVER consider “tagging” your firearm with a device that has the capability to identify and report its location? Even assuming that you could find a manufacturer/distributor that wasn’t an anti-gun Leftist?
Sure, it would be nice to be able to “track” my firearm, if it were, for some reason, to be out of my immediate control, but . . . the very real “good” from that ability has to be balanced against the risk of abuse by others (including but not limited to the manufacturer), and the very real potential for damage flowing from that ability. That, in this case (and the case of every OTHER “tracking device) I am aware of), such risk FAR outweighs any potential benefit is a given. (Read Haz’ comment, above.)
Overall, I think this site is sensible and does a fine job. I hope to be part of the fan base involved in building this site to some prominence. But your post, as written (unless you were writing it tongue-in-cheek, and I somehow missed the /sarc/ tag), is one of the seriously most stupid statements I’ve ever read from a POTG. Dude, you need to do better.
Agreed, Lamp. Not a “best of showing” type of article. But then, if we put ourselves into Dan’s shoes and his efforts to build viewership to this new site, I imagine part of the strategy would be to occasionally post something controversial to get the comments section riled up. Get the juices flowing and the words a-poppin’, so to speak. Especially if you can post something that will entice readers on both sides of an issue to come out of the woodwork and join the fray.
I dunno…just thinking what I might do if I were launching a site and building a viewer base. So far, SNW is proving to be enough for me to visit as much as TTAG, and…unlike TTAG…I’m reading just about every article here.
Haz, if memory serves, you asked nicely and politely 2 times now if the new gang there would introduce themselves to the readers of the ‘other’ website, and they flat ignored you, I believe. Not even the common courtesy of a simple “No, thank you”.
To me, that speaks volumes about them and their (lack of) character.
‘Eff’ them… 🙁
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/about/
What’s that, skippy?
Yup, looks like they have that info up. But as Geoff points out, a simple “Sure, please refer to our About page. Thank you!” to acknowledge the requests would have been nice.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/about/
I stand corrected…
I demur.
Agreed, permanently or routinely mounting a tracker in your guns is probably unwise, for all the reasons you mention, as would be labeling the AirTag as “My Gun” or similar. But I can think of some instances where using a nondescriptively named AirTag in a gun might be useful on a temporary basis.
Say you are flying, and have to check the gun in with the airlines. Having the ability to see where it is — especially if a baggage handler has helped himself to it — might be your best chance of recovering it. Or to know if the gun is taking a different path to the plane than the rest of your luggage (travelers routinely use AirTags to see where their bags are), which might warrant further investigation / warn you that TSA or others are probably giving the bag containing the AirTagged gun some special attention.
Good arguments from the above posts. LKB brought up a interesting point, tag for going thru TSA. I would tag in that case and if I had to ship a firearm back to the manufacturer for any reason.
I fly, way too much. I have my baggage tagged. I also FedEx just as much and my tools and equipment are tagged. I know where things are and call centers can’t bravo sierra me with false tracking.