A smart gun, also called a smart-gun, or smartgun, is a firearm that can detect it is being used by authorized user(s) or in an authorized location. Various designs have been proposed to prevent accidental discharge and criminal misuse of firearms. The term is also used in science fiction to refer to various types of firearms with self-aiming capabilities or which use smart bullets. User-specific smart guns typically employ RFID chips or other proximity tokens. They are intended to prevent accidental shootings (e.g. by children), gun thefts, and criminal usage by persons not authorized to use the guns. Location-based guns implement geofencing via GPS; a wireless signal from a base station or a motion-activated time lock to prevent usage if the firearm is stolen or otherwise removed from its authorized location. Related to smart guns are other smart firearms safety devices such as biometric or RFID activated accessories and safes.
Commercial availability No smart gun has ever been sold on the commercial market in the United States. The Armatix iP1, a .22 caliber handgun with an active RFID watch used to unlock it, is the most mature smart gun developed. It was briefly planned to be offered at a few retailers before being quickly withdrawn due to pressure from gun-rights advocates concerned that it would trigger the New Jersey Childproof Handgun Law. As of 2019, a number of startups and companies including Armatix, Biofire, LodeStar Firearms, and Swiss company SAAR are purportedly developing various smart handguns and rifles, but none have brought the technology to market.
Operating Principles
User-specific guns User-specific smart guns cannot be fired unless unlocked by an authorized user. Proposed mechanisms are mostly proximity-based, where the firearm activates in the presence of a corresponding RFID tag contained in a watch, bracelet, ring or other jewellery worn by the user, or embedded in the user's skin. Miniaturised electronics have raised the possibility of firearms which activate based on a biometric challenge, such as a user's fingerprints.
Location-based guns Since the 1980s, several patents have been filed describing firearms that can only be used within a location, or for a short period of time after being moved. The intention is that firearms can be held for home defense but will deactivate if removed from the home. One patent describes a firearm that cannot be fired unless it has remained motionless for a relatively long time, e.g. 24 hours. Following that time period, there is only a relatively short time period that it can be fired after being picked up for use, e.g. 5 minutes. After its firing time period expires, it must undergo its motionless period again to allow firing. Consequently, the usefulness of this gun is restricted to locations relatively close to where it is kept, e.g. its owner's property. A demonstration model having timing and movement sensing circuitry was produced in 1989 but not marketed commercially. Later patents describe locationized guns that cannot fire unless they are in range of a signal that enables the gun, or else using a system of radio frequency triangulation such as GPS or cell phone signals to determine its location.< Firing is allowed only if the gun's location is electronically determined to be within the area stored in memory of where its firing is allowed, such as a home, business, or hunting area.
Reception Reception to the concept of smart gun technology has been mixed. There have been public calls to develop the technology, most notably from President Obama. Gun-rights groups including the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) have expressed concerns that the technology could be mandated, and some firearms owners are concerned that the technology wouldn't be reliable enough to trust.
National Rifle Association of America The NRA and its membership boycotted Smith & Wesson after it was revealed in 1999 that the company was developing a smart gun for the U.S. government. The official position of the NRA-ILA (the lobbying arm of the NRA) with regards to smart guns, is: "The NRA doesn't oppose the development of 'smart' guns, nor the ability of Americans to voluntarily acquire them. However, NRA opposes any law prohibiting Americans from acquiring or possessing firearms that don't possess "smart" gun technology."
Law enforcement Some smart gun proponents have called for federal, state, and local police organizations to take the lead on adopting smart gun technology, either voluntarily or via purchasing mandate. There has been scattered support for voluntary test programs from some law enforcement leaders, including San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr, who has said, "Officer safety is huge, so you wouldn't want to compel that upon officers. But we have so many officers who are so into technology, I am all but certain there are officers that would be willing to do such a pilot.". Richard Beary, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said there would be "plenty of agencies interested in beta testing the technology" and that "[a smart gun] can't be 99 percent accurate, it has to be 100 percent accurate. It has to work every single time." James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents 325,000 officers nationwide, has stated, "I don’t think that police officers, or anybody for that matter, should be guinea pigs for untested, deadly weapons,"
New Jersey mandate
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