# If you invented a super weapon what limits does the State have in controlling you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-invented-a-super-weapon-what-limits-does-the-state-have-in-controlling-you/330338 "2005-11-10T03:27:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-invented-a-super-weapon-what-limits-does-the-state-have-in-controlling-you/330338/1 "2005-11-10T03:27:43Z")
Let’s say you invent some potent destro ray device or other super weapon that is not wildly complex or expensive to build. The government gets wind of it when you try to patent it and decides it poses a threat to national security… what can they do? How far can they go in taking away your rights in the name of national security? Can they keep you from traveling or talking to other people? Can they put you under house arrest forever? Can they keep you from talking to the press? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-invented-a-super-weapon-what-limits-does-the-state-have-in-controlling-you/330338/2 "2005-11-10T05:08:06Z")
If you are asking what the entire government _can_ do to you? Probably kill you and erase all your records. What they _may_ do under the current set of laws it’s anybodies guess, the set of laws is just waay too large, but if the government is determined enough they’ll find enough loopholes to make sure you won’t get to use your weapon and they can keep it. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-invented-a-super-weapon-what-limits-does-the-state-have-in-controlling-you/330338/3 "2005-11-10T05:29:32Z")
Something that appears on nearly _all_ the websites dealing with free energy, 100 MPG carbs, etc., etc., etc., is that if you attempt to patent something which the government feels is essential to “national defense” they can deny you your patent and deprive you of any means of getting royalties, etc. etc. The _closest_ I’ve found to this actually happening (from a semi-reliable source) was an article in a science magazine (might have been _Scientific American_, might have been _Popular Mechanics_, I don’t remember) discussing “stealth” paint (i.e. paint like one would find on the B-2, F-117, etc.) where shortly after the researcher announced his discovery, the government stepped in and classified it. The guy didn’t seem to upset about it, and could talk about some of the “theoretical aspects” of such paint, but not any details about his particular formulation. Odds are, however, that if you’re some kind of basement inventor the Feds have never heard of, they’d take no notice of your patent. Unless, of course, you fired up your prototype and wiped out something of significance. Certainly, the US allowed [Gerald Bull](http://world.std.com/~jlr/doom/bull.htm) to travel around and try to sell his idea of a “super gun” to anyone who’d listen. It was only after he convinced Saddam to fund his research that “spook” types got interested in what he was doing, and it was most likely the Israeli’s who killed him, and not the US. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-invented-a-super-weapon-what-limits-does-the-state-have-in-controlling-you/330338/4 "2005-11-10T05:46:10Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > The _closest_ I’ve found to this actually happening (from a semi-reliable source) was an article in a science magazine (might have been _Scientific American_, might have been _Popular Mechanics_, I don’t remember) discussing “stealth” paint (i.e. paint like one would find on the B-2, F-117, etc.) where shortly after the researcher announced his discovery, the government stepped in and classified it. The guy didn’t seem to upset about it, and could talk about some of the “theoretical aspects” of such paint, but not any details about his particular formulation. > > . Along that line wasn’t there some case where the US govt essentially stole a device for coupling undersea cables. Ah here it is [Secrecy Power Sinks Patent Case](http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,68894,00.html) > [@](#): > > When New England inventor Philip French had his epiphany 15 years ago, he didn’t dream it would lead to an invention that would be pressed into service in a top-secret government project, or spawn an epic court battle over the limits of executive power. He was just admiring a tennis ball. > > The ball’s seam, with its two symmetrical halves embracing each other in a graceful curve, intrigued him. “I thought, my god, I bet you can do something with that kind of shape,” he recalls. He was right. French and two colleagues went on to design and patent a device now called the Crater Coupler, a simple, foolproof connector for linking one pipe or cable to another without nut threads or bolted flanges. > > The device is interesting on its own, but the broader legal legacy of the invention may be more important. In a little-noticed opinion this month, a federal appeals court ruled against the Crater Coupler patent holders and upheld a sweeping interpretation of the controversial “state secrets privilege” – an executive power handed down from the English throne under common law that lets the government effectively kill civil lawsuits deemed a threat to national security, even if the state is not a party to the suit. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-invented-a-super-weapon-what-limits-does-the-state-have-in-controlling-you/330338/5 "2005-11-10T10:18:29Z")
If you had a weapon which would make you invincible then nothing, your majesty. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-invented-a-super-weapon-what-limits-does-the-state-have-in-controlling-you/330338/6 "2005-11-10T10:59:50Z")
I, for one, welcome our new 1920s-style death-ray wielding overlords. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-invented-a-super-weapon-what-limits-does-the-state-have-in-controlling-you/330338/7 "2005-11-10T12:05:41Z")
Seriously, if you did invent a death ray your government would give you a multi-million dollar defense contract to supply the military, and instruct you not to patent your design, but keep it a state secret. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-invented-a-super-weapon-what-limits-does-the-state-have-in-controlling-you/330338/8 "2005-11-10T12:11:25Z")
I think that would depend on how essential they thought you were to the future development and production of the device; if they thought they could simply reproduce your results for themselves, you might find yourself (at best) locked away in some dungeon where you could cause no trouble, rather than finding yourself the lucky recipient of a clandestine supply contract. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-invented-a-super-weapon-what-limits-does-the-state-have-in-controlling-you/330338/9 "2005-11-10T12:28:34Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Seriously, if you did invent a death ray your government would give you a multi-million dollar defense contract to supply the military, and instruct you not to patent your design, but keep it a state secret. Umm, didn’t you notice **astro** ’s post?