07-02-2015, 03:02 PM
I like the idea of smart-guns a lot, but don't think they'll be a reality in the short-term future.
Here's a piece I read about them last year.
Snip:
Smart-gun advocates say the technology will stop kids from shooting themselves with their parents’ guns, undermine the market for stolen guns, and protect law enforcement from having their guns used against them. "We need the iPhone of guns," said Ron Conway, a Silicon Valley investor, referring to the phone’s fingerprint unlock. Conway is backing a $1 million contest for smart-gun technology. "We want gun owners to feel like they are dinosaurs if they aren’t using smart guns," he told the Washington Post.
Opponents counter that the technology adds an unnecessary failure point — you don’t want to fumble with a fingerprint unlock if someone is breaking into your home. They also fear the spread of laws like New Jersey’s, since similar proposals have been introduced in other states and in Congress. "The NRA does not oppose new technological developments in firearms," the group writes on its website. "We are opposed to government mandates that require the use of expensive, unreliable features, such as grips that would read your fingerprints before the gun will fire."
Criticism also comes from a surprising place: The Violence Policy Center, a gun control advocacy group, which has a long list of objections to smart guns. "There is this idea that the smart gun is a catch-all solution," says director Josh Sugarman, but people use their own guns in murders and suicides most of the time anyway. "Even if every gun was a smart gun, it would affect a very small percentage of gun violence in this country."
The focus on smart guns cannibalizes funding and attention that should be put toward gun-violence research and the fight to stop military-grade weapons from being sold to civilians, Sugarman says. And while smart guns tend to grab headlines, there is little evidence that people actually want them.
Full piece: http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/5/5683504...-guns-away
Here's a piece I read about them last year.
Snip:
Smart-gun advocates say the technology will stop kids from shooting themselves with their parents’ guns, undermine the market for stolen guns, and protect law enforcement from having their guns used against them. "We need the iPhone of guns," said Ron Conway, a Silicon Valley investor, referring to the phone’s fingerprint unlock. Conway is backing a $1 million contest for smart-gun technology. "We want gun owners to feel like they are dinosaurs if they aren’t using smart guns," he told the Washington Post.
Opponents counter that the technology adds an unnecessary failure point — you don’t want to fumble with a fingerprint unlock if someone is breaking into your home. They also fear the spread of laws like New Jersey’s, since similar proposals have been introduced in other states and in Congress. "The NRA does not oppose new technological developments in firearms," the group writes on its website. "We are opposed to government mandates that require the use of expensive, unreliable features, such as grips that would read your fingerprints before the gun will fire."
Criticism also comes from a surprising place: The Violence Policy Center, a gun control advocacy group, which has a long list of objections to smart guns. "There is this idea that the smart gun is a catch-all solution," says director Josh Sugarman, but people use their own guns in murders and suicides most of the time anyway. "Even if every gun was a smart gun, it would affect a very small percentage of gun violence in this country."
The focus on smart guns cannibalizes funding and attention that should be put toward gun-violence research and the fight to stop military-grade weapons from being sold to civilians, Sugarman says. And while smart guns tend to grab headlines, there is little evidence that people actually want them.
Full piece: http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/5/5683504...-guns-away