Smart gun closer to reality

canada.com ^ | Thursday, April 15, 2004 | The Associated Press

[TaxPayer2000]

A new computer chip promises to keep police guns from firing if they fall into the wrong hands.

The tiny chip would be implanted in a police officer's hand and would match up with a scanning device inside a handgun. If the officer and gun match, a digital signal unlocks the trigger so it can be fired. But if a child or criminal gets hold of the gun, it would be useless.

The technology is the latest attempt to create a so-called "smart gun" and could be marketed to law enforcement agencies within a year, according to Verichip Corp., which has created the microchip.

Verichip president Keith Bolton said that the technology could also improve safety for the military and individual gun owners.

"If you let your mind wander to other potential uses, you can imagine the lives that could be saved," he said.

Verichip, which has marketed similar microchips for security and medical purposes, announced Tuesday a partnership with gun maker FN Manufacturing to produce the smart weapons. The companies have developed a prototype and are working to refine its accuracy, Bolton said.

Similar developments are underway at other gun manufacturers and research firms. The New Jersey Institute of Technology and Australian gun maker Metal Storm Ltd. are working on a prototype smart gun that would recognize its owner's individual grip.

"We're at an interesting age where all sorts of science fiction is becoming real technology," said Donald Sebastian, NJIT vice-president for research and development and director of the project.

The technology could also eventually have an even bigger impact on the illegal gun trade, Sebastian said.

The FBI estimated that 67 per cent of the 16,204 murders in 2002 were committed with firearms.

"You have a long-term benefit of making it much more difficult for a handgun to have any value to anyone other than the original owner," Sebastian said.

A VeriChip microchip, held with tweezers, could help make handguns safer.

[John Jorsett]

I wonder if anyone has asked the cops how they like the idea of being tagged like a Dalmation.

[kingu]

"You have a long-term benefit of making it much more difficult for a handgun to have any value to anyone other than the original owner," Sebastian said

Wouldn't that just be so fun.. Try my gun at the range.. Ooops, you can't. And you can just imagine how quickly states would enact laws making it a felony to carry an unencoded gun. And since the chip is already there, how much harder would it be to adapt screening devices to see if a chip is in someone -- Airline security would of course pay more attention to those who have chips than those that don't, because we all know that gun owners are just uber eager to hijack planes.

Nuts to this; I'll keep my guns unchipped, thank you very much gun grabbers.

[TaxPayer2000]

And since the chip is already there, how much harder would it be to adapt screening devices to see if a chip is in someone

Obviously you are inclined to "let your mind wander" as the writer of this article clearly wants

"If you let your mind wander to other potential uses,

This is an obvious pre-cursor to gun control, and eventual ban, as you correctly eluded to.

[Redcoat LI]

20 seconds after it hits the market,someone will invent a way to bypass it.

[umgud]

20 seconds after it hits the market,someone will invent a way to bypass it.

20 seconds after it hits the market, legislators will be pushing laws making smart guns and chips the law.

[basil]

ping

[Sgt_Schultze]

20 seconds after it hits the market,someone will invent a way to bypass it.

Right you are. Mayhaps the crooks will start removing or slicing open the hands of their victims along with the stolen firearm. One would expect the "chipped" weapon would resume function in close proximity to the coded chip.

[TaxPayer2000]

20 seconds after it hits the market,someone will invent a way to bypass it.

20 seconds after it hits the market, legislators will be pushing laws making smart guns and chips the law.

20 seconds after the first person is found dead with one in his hand, someone will be using a pocket knife to dig it out.

[Redcoat LI]

20 seconds after it hits the market, legislators will be pushing laws making smart guns and chips the law.

Right,then criminals will have the chip-bypass technology,and the liberal record of exempting criminals from gun laws,while obstructing law-abiding citizens trying to exercise their Constitutional rights will be intact.

[Redcoat LI]

Mayhaps the crooks will start removing or slicing open the hands of their victims along with the stolen firearm

You're right,but which hand?

To be safe cut off both of them.

[boris]

"20 seconds after it hits the market,someone will invent a way to bypass it."

Correct. And then they will make that illegal, creating a whole new class of felons.

Imagine the wrongful death liability suits if the battery in the gun goes dead and it fails to function in a self-defense situation.

On the other hand, all my "dumb" guns will be MUCH more valuable...

--Boris

[Nebr FAL owner]

It ain't the gun that gets chipped you are what gets chipped also what happens when the batteries in the gun that check if the person hoilding the gun is the owner go flat ??? I agree with you on the treachery of politicians & will keep my old fashioned guns for the same reason.

[TaxPayer2000]

what happens when the batteries in the gun ....go flat."

Maybe its solar powered!

LOL!

[aomagrat]

It starts with the gun owners...

It ends with everyone required to have a chip.

[ServesURight]

What effect will these implanted chips have on doughnuts?

[babaloo999]

I think the FDA wouldn't let chips be implanted into something edible, more research to do on that one.