Patent ID: 7188444

Claim:
A sensor system for a firearm including a barrel and a trigger, comprising: a sensor array mounted to the firearm for detecting a fault condition and generating a sensor signal, wherein detecting the fault condition comprises sensing an undesired orientation of the firearm; and a control system receiving said sensor signal from said sensor array and determining whether an orientation angle determined by said sensor array is within a prescribed safe range, and stopping a firing sequence of the firearm upon detection of the fault condition; wherein said control system produces a firing signal for enabling firing of the firearm if said orientation angle is within the prescribed safe range, and wherein the prescribed safe range is at least one of: (a) an inclination orientation angle of from about negative 90 degrees to about positive 90 degrees, relative to an approximately horizontal axis; and (b) a cant orientation angle of from about negative 45 degrees to about positive 45 degrees, wherein said cant orientation angle is a measure of the rotation of the firearm about an axis defined by the barrel, wherein said cant orientation angle is zero when the trigger is below said axis defined by the barrel.