'Smart' Guns: Dumb Idea!

Popular Mechanics ^ | July 2003 | CLIFF GROMER

[Fun Bob]

At first blush it seems like a great idea. A gun that can determine if the person holding it is an authorized user. A smart gun that will fire only if it recognizes the shooter's thumbprint. Pretty neat. Homeowners would want it because it eliminates the danger of their kids or anyone else using it. The cops surely would want it, as it eliminates the danger of a bad guy getting ahold of their weapon and turning the tables. Then there's the problem of teenage suicides--most prevalent where there is easy access to guns, such as the homes of law officers. What's not to like?

New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey seems to like the idea. He signed bill S.573/890, which will ban the sale of dumb handguns--namely, all handguns that are currently available. The law goes into effect three years after "at least one manufacturer has delivered at least one production model of a personalized handgun to a registered or licensed wholesale or retail dealer in New Jersey or any other state." Exceptions to this sweeping legislation would be for antique and competition models. The law doesn't make for a total ban on handgun sales, but it comes pretty close. The law has a good chance of being a model for similar restrictions in other states.

But what about the benefits? What about all those kids who get killed as the result of firearms? The latest information available from the New Jersey Department of Health on this is for the years 1998 and 1999. The total number of children killed in firearms accidents? Zero. Even so, there are kids who are killed by guns, such as the 18-year-old ne'er-do-well who was shot while attempting to rob a liquor store. He was entered in the "child" category.

Well, at least the police would benefit from the new law. Or would they? The cops, as it turns out, want no part of the smart-gun law, and they raised such a fuss that the law was amended to exclude the guns used for official use by federal, state and local law enforcement officers and members of the armed forces and the National Guard serving in New Jersey. The reason was simple. The law enforcement folks didn't want to put their lives on the line for new, unproven technology. It seems that when you marry a firearm and a computer, the result is something that's less than 100 percent reliable. A handgun, with its shocks, vibrations and corrosive emissions, is not the best environment for a piece of sophisticated electronic hardware. In a life-or-death confrontation with a bad guy, a cop doesn't have the option of saying, "Timeout, I have to reboot." It's interesting that the group that smart guns were targeted for--law enforcement officers--is the one rejecting the concept.

Just how reliable is current smart-gun technology? According to research conducted by Sandia National Laboratories, user identification has to be accomplished within a quarter-second to be effective in a life-threatening situation. Sandia says there are no known available technologies that police would find acceptable.

During the Clinton administration, the U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice figured to spur smart-gun development by subsidizing a major firearms manufacturer tasked with inventing a workable system. Colt's Manufacturing Co. took on the project, which was sweetened by hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Justice Department. A workable system has yet to be found.

According to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, which used government grants to study personalized handgun technology, fingerprint recognition systems work only 80 percent of the time. But the New Jersey law goes into effect regardless of whether the guns are 100 percent--or 80 percent--reliable.

Cops protecting the New Jersey governor won't accept an 80 percent reliability factor. But the governor, by supporting this law, is saying that 80 percent is good enough for the homeowner trying to protect his family from an armed intruder. What's wrong with this picture?

[Fun Bob]

When I moved to this state, I was shocked when at the DMV they asked me for my passport. I told the lady, "Last time I checked, New Jersey was still part of the United States." They needed it for ID. My PA drivers license was not good enough ID for them. This is despite that fact that PA licenses have high tech computer embedded anti forgery technology and NJ drivers licenses looks like obvious fakes that have just been run through a laminator. Seriouisly. Whenever I go to a bar out of state, you woudln't believe how much scrutiny my NJ license gets, it looks so fake. But I digress.

When I you cross the bridge from NJ to Philadelphia, there is a sign that says, "Welcome to Philadelphia, America starts here!". Many in NJ take that personally, but I get so many jollies out of it. It is so true. NJ is so disconnected politically and culturally from the rest of the US. It is a corrupt state where only democrats and mobsters can carry handguns (but I repeat myself). To be honest, the GOP in NJ isn't worth much. I am going to start to vote liberterian in state and local elections. This smart gun bill was sponsored by a republican for crying out loud. The constitution means little hear and the state is run by a corrupt judiciary and state police. I can't wait to GTFO from this place. It's been a hard 4 years under totalitarian rule. The second and fourth amendment have no meaning in New Jersey.

Unemployment drove me here. Unfortunately, I like my job and company a great deal. They have kept me here. I need to get out.

Sorry if I am ranting. I just can't stand this place.

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[longtermmemmory]

Just out of curiosity, was the bill sponsored by a woman lawyer?

[Erik Latranyi]

I feel your pain.

No, I am not making a Clinton joke. I got out of the Garden of Evil State about 6 years ago.

I live in PA now, but my company is based in NJ. A trip to the home office reminds me of why I hope an earthquake slides the state into the Atlantic.

[George Smiley]

Does the state of New Jersey still think its citizens are so stupid that they cannot be allowed to put gasoline into their own automobiles' fuel tanks?

[Straight Vermonter]

o th epolice who are huge advocates of gun control don't a gun "safety" law that they have to follow. I am shocked, SHOCKED!

[Fun Bob]

Yep, that is right. They don't even trust us to pump our own gas. It's always a kind of treat for me when I go back to PA to be able to pump my own gas. I feel the clutches of paternalistic totalitarianism releasing their death grip on my life just a bit. You have to be a member of the state gas pumpers union to pump gas. Also known as Al Qaeda.

[Beelzebubba]

Bang

[muawiyah]

Actually most of us don't trust New Jersey people to pump gas either but what can we do about it?!

Now, concerning those "smart guns" ~ so far all the ideas are pretty pedestrian. In the future expect to see "smart guns" with "smart ammunition" that can hit a target in the dark, and in non-fatal parts if you wish (like just in case your daughter comes in late and you think she's a burglar).

Alternatively, the gun/ammo combination will be able to track targets and decide whether or not to fire.

Ultimately we will have forcefields around them and do our banking and bill payments through them. (SEE: AE van Vogt: The Weapon Shops of Isher for a general outline of the idea.)

There was a website showing a "match-head sized server". With such technology it should be possible to computerize shotgun shells as a start.

[Fun Bob]

You might be thinking of Loretta Weinberg. She is about anti-gun as they come. She's a democratic state rep here who is a major threat to freedom and gun rights. She 2 years ago introduced legislation to ban muzzle loaders/black powder rifles as an anti terrorism measure. I am not kidding you! Here it is:

http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/107302627723390.xml

She has had a bill in comittee for sometime to require balistic fingerprinting of all guns. I forget the name of the Republican who sponsored the smart gun bill however. I'm still so sorry Schundler lost. I think his CCW promise is to a degree what lost him the election. He had a big handicap with a local hostile Republican party. The established party fought him hard in the primaries and it hurt him in the general election. It's a corrupt and arrogant machine here--on both sides of the aisle.

This is a state where berzerk cops with an mp-5 kills 5 neighbors gets sympathetic press and army sergeants using BB guns against vandals gets his career destroyed. Pretty soon, we will have our own version of the BATF--tax collectors running around in ninja suits with automatic weapons shooting women and children and burning people alive for unpaid taxes.

[muir_redwoods]

As a self-declared paranoid I've always wondered about smart-guns. If they use any kind of RF signal to indicate who's holding them how tough would it be for a government to simply start a large-scale broadcast of a blocking frequency and disable all guns?

Paranoid I know but even paranoids have enemies

[Gritty]

The law goes into effect three years after "at least one manufacturer has delivered at least one production model of a personalized handgun to a registered or licensed wholesale or retail dealer in New Jersey or any other state." ...fingerprint recognition systems work only 80 percent of the time

Note the fine print of the law. It doesn't even say a single one of these guns has to be "sold", only "delivered".

Look for HCI to find somebody, anybody, to make at least "one production model" of a handgun, and deliver it to some store....

[xm177e2]

Exceptions to this sweeping legislation would be for antique and competition models.

Maybe IDPA could create categories of competition around every existing style of handgun (then any gun could be classed as a "competition" weapon)...

[OldPossum]

Actually, it was a very good rant. I do hope that you (and others stuck in New Jersey) can find your way out. I understand that economics--and perhaps just good ol' family ties--is the driving force for staying there, but there is no way that I would live there or certain other states.

[Fun Bob]

Thanks for the encouraging words. Lucky for me, family ties are pulling me away. The only thing keeping me here is a great job. That can only tie me down so long...I hope.


Just to bash Jersey one more time: Did you know that in the Peoples Republic of New Jersey, the penalty for using Mace to fend off a rapist has a more severe punishment than the legal sanction for rape? It's true. This state is insane. Any weapon, even if defensive and nonlethal is still a weapon and illegal both to carry and to use. baton. Illegal. Mace. Illegal. Slingshot. Illegal. Tazer. Illegal.

Thanks for listening folks. I'm loggin off now, otherwise I'd be ranting all night. I'm going to expend some of this energy and emotion positively. There are a number of pro second amendment groups. I don't think they have much influence or tracdtion, but I'll help if I can.

[foto]

NJ has alot to complain about but pumping gas is not one of them. The reason why they don't alow it is because of the price discrepancy in states that do. Essentially the thinking is if they allow it then the gas stations will have the ridiculous price the rest of the country pays for full service and then the cheap price for self service. And based on the results of other states, older people, infirm, etc will be forced to pump their own gas because they won't be able to afford the full service price. Considering everything the law actually makes sense. To boot , the price of gas in jersey with full service is actually cheaper then most other places. The real question is why do the other states have self service gas that costs more than new jersey's full service gas. You non new jerseyans are being raked over the coals and seem to be quite happy about it, what gives? Essentially they are charging you 10-20 cents a gallon for something we get for free. With 20 degree temps outside I am quite happy to let someone else pump my gas and not be taken to the cleaners. So tell me guys, whats it like standing out in the freezing cold holding a ice cold lump of metal in your hands? hey don't forget to check the oil, don't want any breakdowns in this kind of weather. HAHAHA

[Travis McGee]

"Smart" guns: cops first.

[George Smiley]

I can legally wear my Glock 19 concealed while I pump my own gas.

'Nuff said.

[Mr. Mojo]

[TigersEye]

Will NJ criminals be required to use smart guns too?