weapon
Let an agent handle weapons at a general and safety level: explain legal frameworks and history, route safety concerns and threats to authorities, support museums and heritage, and decline any request for making, obtaining unlawfully or using weapons to harm.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Safety Immediate concerns.
Threat
Threats and danger.
Threat
Threats.
- Is someone threatening harm with a weapon, or is a weapon found or unsecured? boundary
- Should emergency services be contacted now, and how can people stay safe? action
Decline
No facilitation.
Decline
Limits.
- Does the request seek to make, illegally obtain or use a weapon to harm? boundary
- How should the agent decline and, where there is risk, route to help? action
Law Legal framework.
National
National law.
National
National law.
- Which weapons are prohibited, licensed or permitted here, in general terms? provenance
- How is lawful ownership or sale regulated? provenance
International
International law.
International
International law.
- Which international treaties govern weapons and their trade? provenance
- Which weapons are banned under humanitarian law? provenance
Heritage History and collections.
History
Weapons in history.
History
History.
- How do historians describe the development of this weapon type and its impact? provenance
- Which museums hold collections? provenance
Collecting
Antiques and replicas.
Collecting
Collecting.
- Which rules apply to owning antique or deactivated weapons and replicas here? provenance
- How should they be stored and displayed safely? provenance
Sport Lawful use.
Sports
Sporting use.
Sports
Sporting use.
- Which sports use weapons lawfully, such as fencing, archery and shooting, and how are they regulated? provenance
- Which clubs and licences apply? provenance
Language
Other senses.
Language
Other senses.
- Is weapon used metaphorically, as in a secret weapon? boundary
- Which entry fits? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Physical world and living systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- PHY
- Domain
- PHY.OBJ
What it is Filled
Any tool or device designed or used to cause harm, damage or the threat of it, from hand weapons and edged tools to firearms, artillery and other military systems, as well as objects used as improvised weapons; weapons are regulated by national law and international humanitarian and arms control law, and are described here at the general, legal, historical and safety level only.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent handle weapons at a general and safety level: explain legal frameworks and history, route safety concerns and threats to authorities, support museums and heritage, and decline any request for making, obtaining unlawfully or using weapons to harm.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Designed or used to harm
- Legally categorised
- Historically significant
- Safety-critical
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Assist anyone in making, modifying, acquiring or using a weapon to harm people, whoever is asking.
- Help anyone evade weapons laws, licensing, export controls or background checks.
- Operate or aim any weapon.
- Present violence with weapons as a solution to personal or political conflict.
- Share information that identifies where weapons are stored for unauthorized access.
Only with a human decision
- Reporting a credible threat of violence to authorities.
- Handling weapons data for lawful control, such as registries or decommissioning.
May
- Explain the history, classification and law of weapons in general terms, citing sources.
- Report the legal status of a kind of weapon in a stated jurisdiction, citing the law.
Moral aspects Filled
- Weapons kill and injure people; their spread fuels crime, war and suicide.
- Lawful self-defence, hunting and military uses are regulated to protect bystanders.
Who is affected
- Victims of violence
- Bystanders and communities
- People at risk of suicide
Owners Filled
Steward
The licensed holder, for lawful weapons; licensing and police authorities control them.
Master systems
- National firearms registers
- Export control licence records
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q223557 - registry parent class
- Q39546 - registry parent class
related
- physical tool - category
- firearm - kind
- ammunition - related regulated items
- international humanitarian law - law
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.weapon
- Wikidata: Q728 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q728)
Direct properties required Filled
- Total mass: kilograms - Mass is measured with a suitable weighing instrument while recording the object's configuration and included components.
- Overall length: metres - Length is measured between the object's extreme points along its principal axis in a documented configuration.
- Maximum width: metres - Width is measured across the widest extent perpendicular to the principal axis in a documented configuration.
Recognition required Filled
- Objects designed to cause harm
- Regulated categories in law
- Tools become weapons through use or design
- Described only generally; suspected weapons should not be handled.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- explain weapons law in general terms
- route threats and safety concerns to authorities
- describe weapons history and heritage
- decline facilitation
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Facilitating harm
- Accidents with weapons
- Illegal possession and trafficking
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- National weapons and firearms laws
- Arms Trade Treaty
- Geneva Conventions and weapons conventions
Context of use required Filled
- A regulated class of objects relevant to law, history, sport and public safety.
- hand and edged weapons
- firearms (regulated)
- military weapon systems (general level)
- improvised weapons
- historical and ceremonial weapons
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q728: weapon - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Weapon - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should each weapon class be a separate entry?
- How should national laws be localised?
- How should heritage collections be linked?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q728/spec.json