Semi-smart Guns

There is an old saw to the effect that

"Cadets prattle about strategy.  Majors write white-papers about tactics.  Generals lose sleep over logistics: the beans, bullets and bandages that support battle groups in the field."

If generals lose sleep over logistics over then politically oriented Rules of Engagement and mission creep must give them ulcers.

Bullets

Consider the Iranian Embassy hostage crisis.  The political types wanted a "nuanced" message.  The guards (Marines) were issued weapons but not ammunition.  That is as practical as causal dining with one foot in the canoe and the other firmly planted on the dock.

One of the Honor Guard near the Canadian Parliament  responded to a recent terrorist attack  even though their weapon was ceremonial, that is, unloaded.  That took cajones of steel.

According to the media, that same "nuanced" message was replicated during several of the recent "protests". The National Guard was deployed with weapons but no ammo.  That is beyond stupid.  Those weapons, if taken from a Guardsmen, will accept commercially available magazines.  It is my studied opinion that it is easier to take an item from an unarmed person than from an armed person...and an unloaded M-4 is a flimsy stick at best.

Semi-smart gun proposal

Every commercially available cell phone has a battery, a processor and a motor that drives the silent/vibrator.  Cell phones receive texts.  There are many ways to send mass text messages.

How hard would it be to embed the guts of a Mil-Spec cellphone in a purpose built trigger group such that receiving a text message would unlock the safety? 

It would be necessary to have a manual key-lock over-ride to reset the safety and to bypass the electronics in case cell service goes down.

The good guys at the Embassy or Honor Guard could walk about with their ceremonial weapons and tourists would not wet their panties.  In the event mission creep becomes mission jump, a few key strokes could activate one weapon or a cluster of weapons.

Suppose the south side of a protest near the Embassy goes "hot", the loaded weapons of the guards deployed along the south side can be activated.  If the battle continues to engulf the compound, there is no need to ferry ammo out to the good guys while they are under fire. Just turn on their weapons.

My gut feel is that the pieces-parts are out there to make this possible.  We just need a smart drop-out from the local community college to tinker-toy them together.