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story identification - I am trying to figure out the title of a book I read in the early 1980's



I'm kind of grasping at straws with this one. I read a book in the early 80's (sometime between 81 and 83) that I have been trying to remember the title of for a long time.


I got the book from my high school librarian as a reading suggestion, so it may have been a young adult book, but I don't know.


The only think I remember about the story is one of the weapons that the "good guys" wore.


The weapon was a hand gun type of weapon that they wore in a holster that was on the forearm of their gun hand. The weapon was somehow connected to the nerves in their wrist so that when they tensed their hand or arm in a certain way the gun jumped into their hand.



I wish I had more info about the book to give, but that is it.


Thanks for any info.



Answer



As mentioned in a comment, the Deathworld series has weapons like this. In the first book, Deathworld, there's a detailed explanation of how the guns/holsters work:



  • the holster is attached to the forearm

  • there are sensors that detect when the muscles of the hand/forearm are in the right position to receive the gun; there's a calibration process to set up a holster for a particular person

  • a cable that becomes rigid when current is applied shoots the gun forward from the holster into the waiting hand (the character being fitted for a gun repeatedly gets his fingers mashed when he inadvertently "asks" for the gun but his hand isn't quite ready)

  • the guns have no trigger guard, so that by bending their finger slightly, the person can fire the first shot as soon as the gun is in their hand



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