[ad_1]
The so-called smart guns, which only verified users can fire, will be commercially available in the US this year, shaking up an industry that is excited to take first-time gun owners to court but worried that the government is mandating the technology.
Gunsmiths like SmartGunz LLC in Kansas, LodeStar in Pennsylvania, and Biofire in Colorado produce 9mm pistols with a variety of user identification technologies: Bluetooth, biometric fingerprint scans, PIN codes that must be entered before firing, and radio frequency identification (RFID) enabled with a ring on the user’s finger.
Gunmakers say such authentication measures can help reduce the number of stolen guns, accidental shootings, and suicides each year, while providing authorized users with faster access than the requirements for separate storage and locking of guns and ammunition allow.
“We believe the safest weapon is one that is accessible only to the owner and the people they choose,” says Biofire on its website.
The gun industry remains skeptical. Mark OlivaElectronic security features can be dangerous in home defense emergencies, said a spokesperson for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association representing U.S. gun manufacturers.
“A gun you buy to protect yourself needs to work instantly every time,” he said. olive aforementioned. “If it fails or gets stuck, that will be a life-changing issue.”
SmartGunz founder Tom Holland says his company’s modified 1911 Sentry smart pistol with RFID activation will appeal to safety-conscious buyers when it ships to selected law enforcement agencies for field testing next month and to general consumers in April.
“To me, smart guns are another tool for people who want an added security feature,” said Mr Holland, a former Kansas state senator. “It has nothing to do with saying that conventional firearms should be banned. This is mostly for law enforcement who don’t want unfriendly people to snatch their guns, and first-time gun owners with kids who wouldn’t normally have firearms in the home. ”
To fire the SmartGunz 1911 Sentry, an owner must attach a special RFID chip ring to the index or middle finger of the trigger hand while holding the gun firmly.
LodeStar is creating an entirely new weapon that will take the rest of the year to test and develop. The 9mm LS9 gun is Bluetooth enabled. The gun owner can press their finger on the biometric fingerprint scanner on the side of the gun while firing, or enter a PIN wirelessly in a mobile phone app or manually enter a pushbutton pad before firing.
Gareth Glaser, co-founder of LodeStar four years ago, said the LS9 can also be used without safety locks and can be programmed to detect when the owner is holding it, allowing the weapon to be in the default off position without turning it off.
“We want to have weapons that can be used safely with modern technology,” Glaser said. “We tried to develop this firearm to lock or unlock as quickly as possible.”
Biofire will have a fingerprint scanner built into the grip of its smart gun.
Laramy O’Leary, owner of L&L Outdoors gun store in Oklahoma, said that as the father of a 6-year-old, he would welcome smart guns because of safety concerns.
“I think it’s a great option,” said Mr O’Leary. “You can never be safe with guns with kids at home.”
The arrival of smart weapons is good news for gun control groups, who have long called for the federal government to mandate such safety features on all firearms.
Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit funded by billionaire Michael R. Bloomberg, shared a web page with the Washington Times that says smart guns “turn stolen guns and child-accessible guns into harmless bits of steel.”
“If widely implemented, it will change the rules of the game to keep guns out of the hands of children and criminals,” Everytown says on its website. He says more than 37,000 Americans die from gun violence each year.
The National Rifle Association, the nation’s largest gun rights advocacy group, said the Second Amendment “does not oppose” the development or sale of personalized firearms unless it violates the right to purchase conventional firearms.
“The NRA opposes laws that mandate Americans to own or possess only so-called smart weapons,” spokeswoman Amy Hunter said in an email.
The companies behind the new guns said that first-time gun owners seeking home protection during the COVID-19 pandemic have chosen to make 9mm pistols due to increased demand for this size.
It is not yet clear whether gun owners will accept the guns.
Mr. oliveA spokesperson for the arms manufacturers’ trade association said the tendency for smartphones to not recognize a “wet or dirty finger” indicates that fingerprint scanners on smart guns will encounter similar problems.
Since all firearms sold in the USA come with cable locks that render them inoperable at any time, he he said, user recognition technology is not necessary.
“We are not against the development of these products because we think the market should decide,” he said. olive aforementioned. “But we are against any government order or law that requires stores to sell them or their owners to buy only such weapons,” he said.
Jonathan F. Thompson, executive director of the National Sheriffs Association, said it would be premature for police departments to start using smart weapons.
“While technology can solve many problems, there are significant and dangerous barriers to firearm manufacturing to successfully attach firearms to a particular person,” Thompson said.
[ad_2]
Source link