Gun equipped with camera

Abstract

A stun gun is disclosed having a firing mechanism, and also having a camera for automatically capturing post-firing images after the firing mechanism is activated. The post-firing image is automatically and digitally marked, or partly marked, to indicate when the camera was used. A method of gun operation is also presented, along with a system that includes both the gun and a gun holder. Removal of the gun from the gun holder may activate the camera's visual or audio collection capabilities, and further actions such as removal of a gun safety may heighten activation of the camera. The camera's visual collection capabilities include viewing both the target and also the user of the gun.

1 . A gun comprising: 
 a firing mechanism; and    a camera for automatically capturing at least one post-firing image after the firing mechanism is activated,    wherein the at least one post-firing image is automatically and digitally marked, or partly marked, to indicate when the camera was used.    
   
   
       2 . The gun of  claim 1 , 
 wherein the gun is a stun gun that fires at least one projectile connected by wire to the stun gun or fires at least one electrical shock directly to a target in contact with the stun gun,    wherein the stun gun has a battery for providing electrical energy to a high voltage power supply that provides the electrical shock, and    wherein the camera is powered by the battery.    
   
   
       3 . The gun of  claim 1 , further comprising a camera activation mechanism, responsive to the gun being removed from, or being separate from, a gun holding device, the camera activation mechanism for causing the camera to capture at least one contextual image independent of whether the firing mechanism causes the gun to fire.  
   
   
       4 . The gun of  claim 1 , wherein the camera includes audio recording capability, wherein audio recording is initiated by one action necessary for firing the gun, and wherein visual recording is activated by another action necessary for firing the gun.  
   
   
       5 . The gun of  claim 1 , 
 wherein the camera is a digital camera, and    wherein the at least one post-firing image is captured after a fixed period of time following activation of the firing mechanism.    
   
   
       6 . The gun of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one post-firing image includes a view from a direction where the gun is pointing.  
   
   
       7 . The gun of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one post-firing image includes a view of a user of the gun.  
   
   
       8 . The gun of  claim 7 , wherein the view of the user is reflected into the camera.  
   
   
       9 . The gun of  claim 2 , wherein the camera comprises a flash device that is powered by the battery.  
   
   
       10 . The gun of  claim 3 , further comprising: 
 a data storage module for storing the at least one contextual image;    an image deletion module, for deleting or reducing the quality of at least one previous image after a later image has been stored in the data storage module,    wherein the later picture precedes activation of the firing mechanism.    
   
   
       11 . The gun of  claim 10 , wherein the data storage module is also for storing the at least one post-firing image taken after the firing mechanism is activated.  
   
   
       12 . The gun of  claim 1 , 
 wherein the at least one post-firing image forms at least one video picture, and    wherein the camera takes at least one still picture before the firing mechanism is activated.    
   
   
       13 . The gun of  claim 10 , wherein the data storage module is also for storing information regarding at least the time and date when the camera activation mechanism is activated.  
   
   
       14 . The gun of  claim 1 , further comprising a camera activation mechanism, responsive to release of a gun safety or responsive to pressing on the firing mechanism or responsive to another action necessary for firing the gun, 
 wherein the camera activation mechanism is for causing the camera to capture at least one contextual image independent of whether the firing mechanism causes the gun to fire.    
   
   
       15 . The gun of  claim 13 , further comprising a time and date module for providing the time and date to the data storage module, 
 wherein the data storage module is also for storing information regarding the time and date at which at least one of the following events occurs: the gun is unholstered, a safety is released, pressure is applied to the firing mechanism, the firing mechanism is activated, and the gun is holstered.    
   
   
       16 . The gun of  claim 1 , wherein the camera is equipped to acquire both audio and video images.  
   
   
       17 . The gun of  claim 9 , wherein the camera and the flash device are equipped to operate outside visible spectra.  
   
   
       18 . The gun of  claim 3 , wherein the firing mechanism is automatically deactivated if the gun has been separated from the gun holding device for more than a certain time, at least until the gun has been returned to the holding device.  
   
   
       19 . A method of using a handheld gun, comprising: 
 activating a firing mechanism of the gun,    automatically capturing at least one post-firing image in a camera associated with the gun, or attached to the gun, after the firing mechanism is activated, and    marking, or partly marking, the at least one post-firing image to indicate when the camera was used.    
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , 
 wherein the gun is a stun gun that fires at least one projectile connected by wire to the stun gun or fires at least one electrical shock directly to a target in contact with the stun gun,    wherein the stun gun has a high voltage power supply that produces the electric shock, and has a battery for providing electrical energy to the power supply, and    wherein the camera is also powered by the battery.    
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising causing the camera to take at least one contextual image, responsive to the gun being removed from a gun holding device.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the camera includes audio recording capability, wherein audio recording is initiated by one action necessary for firing the gun, and wherein visual recording is activated by another action necessary for firing the gun.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the camera is a digital camera, and the at least one post-firing image is captured after a fixed period of time following activation of the firing mechanism.  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one post-firing image includes a view in a direction where the gun is pointing.  
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one post-firing image also includes a view of a user of the gun.  
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the view of the user is reflected into the camera.  
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the camera comprises a flash device that is powered by the battery.  
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising: 
 storing the at least one contextual image in a data storage module;    deleting or reducing quality of at least one previous picture after a later picture has been stored in the data storage module,    wherein the later picture precedes activation of the firing mechanism, and    wherein both the previous picture and the later picture are part of the at least one contextual image.    
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the data storage module is also for storing the at least one post-firing image.  
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 19 , 
 wherein the at least one post-firing image forms a video picture after the firing mechanism is activated, and    wherein the camera takes only still pictures before the firing mechanism is activated.    
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising storing information in the data storage module regarding at least one time when the camera activation mechanism is activated.  
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising: 
 automatically capturing at least one beginning image in the camera before the firing mechanism is fully activated.    
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the at least one beginning image is deleted if activation of the firing mechanism is aborted.  
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the step of beginning to activate the firing mechanism is accomplished by putting pressure on a firing trigger of the gun.  
   
   
       35 . A computer readable medium encoded with a software data structure for performing the method of  claim 19 , when executed on a controller.  
   
   
       36 . A system comprising: 
 a handheld gun equipped with a camera that includes audio recording capability; and    a gun holding device;    wherein the system further comprises a sensor for sensing whether the handheld gun is positioned in the gun holding device, and    wherein the camera is at least partly activated if the sensor senses that the handheld gun is not positioned in the gun holding device.    
   
   
       37 . The system of  claim 36 , wherein the gun holding device comprises a further camera that is also activated when the handheld gun is not positioned in the gun holding device.  
   
   
       38 . The system of  claim 36 , wherein the sensor is located at the handheld gun or at the gun holding device, or both.  
   
   
       39 . The system of  claim 36 , 
 wherein the handheld gun is a stun gun having a high voltage power supply, and having a battery to provide electrical energy to the high voltage power supply, and    wherein the battery provides electrical energy to the camera.    
   
   
       40 . The system of  claim 39 , wherein the camera is further activated when the gun is fired or within a certain time after the gun is fired.  
   
   
       41 . The system of  claim 36 , further comprising: 
 a data storage module for storing at least one camera image;    an image deletion module, for deleting or reducing the quality of at least one previous image after a later image has been stored in the data storage module,    wherein the later image precedes firing the gun.    
   
   
       42 . The system of  claim 41 , wherein the data storage module is located at the handheld gun or at the gun holding device, or both.  
   
   
       43 . The system of  claim 36 , wherein the gun holding device also serves as a recharging device.  
   
   
       44 . The system of  claim 36 , 
 wherein all images captured by the camera are stored in at least one data storage module, and    wherein the at least one data storage module is configured to delete substantially every one of the images that were captured during the interval between insertions of the gun into the holding device, if the gun was not fired during the interval.