Revolver takes a picture every time you pull the trigger

From the Netherlands' National Archive, a 1938 photo taken in New York City of a Colt revolver that has been modified to shoot a picture with every trigger pull. Presumably most of those photos are of people looking horrified and about to say something like, "Oh Christ, you turned your gun into a camera? No, don't point it at me! Ahh!"

(via Super Punch)

Revolver-camera / Revolver camera [flickr.com]

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: camera • Copyfight • flickr • Gadgets • gun • History • netherlands • photo

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Yarp

Jesus, that’s a bad idea. It could get you killed, not even mentioning terrifying people. Extremely irresponsible, coming from this gun owner.
http://twitter.com/who_dat_tweeter Dave P

I assumed it was to keep a record of what you’re shooting at, not just to turn the gun into a camera
- sweetcraspy
  
  Totally. I’d be in favor of every cop having one of these and of requiring the images to be presented every time the gun is used in the line of duty. Given how tiny and light webcams are now, I don’t see any practical downside.
Kaffenated

Bang Bang! Your…..on Candid Camera!
http://darcyfitzpatrick.tumblr.com/ Darcy Fitzpatrick

This should be a mandatory piece of tech on all police issued side arms.
CSBD

If a police officer actually used one of these camera guns… would other police officers beat them down, mace them and then confiscate/break these subversive guns at every opportunity like they do when anyone else is “Illegally videotaping them”?
http://twitter.com/mediarosa Jamie Templeton

In the wake of the Occupy Wall Street cameras should be mandatory on pepper spray as well.
http://valiant66.myopenid.com/ valiant66

Eh, I thought I read something in boingboing previously about a modern example of this, but I couldn’t find it. I distinctly remember reading about a current edition of an automatic with attached camera. So instead: something from engadget in 2007:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/30/pistol-camera-captures-gunslinging-action-seeks-role-in-next-fa/

None of its outgoing links are live anymore, and in finest engadget tradition they neglect to name the product they mention so you can’t google it.
http://valiant66.myopenid.com/ valiant66

Ah-HA! I found the boingboing reference after all:

http://boingboing.net/2008/06/26/pistol-cam-to-shoot.html
Brainspore

Don’t fear the gunman who turns his weapon into a camera. Fear the photographer who turns his camera into a gun.
- mccrum
  
  No, actually those are a lot safer when you shoot.
  https://secure.flickr.com/photos/57440951@N05/5489334994/
DewiMorgan

If we could do this three quarters of a century ago, why the heck is it not standard in every gun? Or at least in every public servant’s gun?

In my ideal world, civilians would have the right to wear panoramic camera-hats at all times in public; and public servants would be expected to, while in public. Cameras are not evil. Lack of public access to them or their footage, is.
- Brainspore
  
  In my ideal world, civilians would have the right to wear panoramic camera-hats at all times in public; and public servants would be expected to, while in public.
  
  There’s such a thing as going too far in the other direction. How many people would be willing to talk to cops if they knew there would be a public record of every discussion?
Sooper8

Shoot me
http://dev.null.org/acb/ acb

I recall once seeing in a video library a videotape promising a film about a killer who attached a camera to his rifle so he could photograph his victims at the moment of death. I have no idea what it was titled, though it was probably from the 1980s.
mccrum

And while I’m at it, they converted machine guns to cameras and mounted them to airplanes as well back in the day:
http://www.seawood.com/classic-camera-corner/004-machine_gun_cameras/index.html
“Take that, Red Baron! Show me angry! I’ll send you the contact sheets later!”
- penguinchris
  
  Really interesting link, actually, but the “model” used to demonstrate the guns is, like, 12, and wearing a WW I uniform. From the thumbnail, I thought it was just a fresh-faced 18-year-old (or, someone who lied about their age to enlist), like you see in old photos from WW I and II.
  
  But no – it’s literally a 12-year-old dressing as a WW I soldier, with a goofy look on his face as he tries to look like a serious soldier :)
  
  That said, I thought your link would be referring to WWII gun cameras in combat aircraft – you see footage from these all the time in WWII documentaries. They’re cameras mounted in the wings near the machine guns that are linked to the gun trigger, so whenever you shoot, footage is taken as well. I took a photo of one at an air show, on a beautiful chrome P-51.
nudobato

Cameras and guns have gone together since World War I:

http://www.amazon.com/War-Cinema-Perception-Paul-Virilio/dp/0860919285
http://www.kmoser.com kmoser

“Don’t shoot me, bro!”
Guest

That cameraguy is a terrible shot.

I like the idea of going one further though, and requiring officers to wear cameras/mics on their person. They are “uniformed” when it is activated.

Yes, It will allow other people to tell them how to do their jobs, which are hard enough without such interference, but you know what? about 20% of the police DO NEED to be told how to do it right. And theother 80% have to raise that thin blue line if they want it to be anything but a garotte on a free and civil society.
http://twitter.com/Drakaji Drakaji

“Hey check out my new camera! Oh wait, that’s not a camera.”
Mister44

Neato.
jimkirk

What could possibly go wrong?

Next up, machine gun video camera.
- Felton / Moderator
  
  How about an 8mm camera mounted to an Uzi 9mm?
ernunnos

There are plenty of mounts for putting sportcams on Picatinny rails. Used by a lot of competition shooters for diagnosing performance with post-game footage.
bkad

I could get behind requiring service pistols to take pictures. The courts and internal affairs already allow a reasonable amount of flexibility for difficult, heat of the moment decisions, so I don’t think it would threaten honest cops, and it would certainly help victims in clear cases of malfeasance. Heck, it might help honest cops, too, because they could point to photographic evidence of threatening behavior/apparent weapons which is otherwise contested. Sounds good to me.
http://twitter.com/Skyhawk1 skyhawk1

“Freeze!” Frame.
JhmL

Mark Lewis coos in delight.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054167/
Daemonworks

All guns should have mandatory integrated cameras – especially those used by the police.
jdixon

Reminds of Michael Powell’s “Peeping Tom” (1960) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054167/