Posted on 04/20/2024 4:40:17 AM PDT by MtnClimber
I have long followed every abortive attempt to develop “smart guns,” handguns that can only be fired by a designated user. Early attempts used magnetic locks, requiring rings on both hands. Obviously, anyone with a magnet could fire such guns, and gloves interfered.
Various other methods, including radio transmitters, have also failed. Among the more recent was the Armatix iP1, a .22LR caliber pistol with a watch/transmitter. Back in 2015 the handgun cost $1400 and the watch, $300. Imagine what that would be with today’s inflation. It was rapidly revealed the transmitter could be spoofed with Radio Shack parts costing a pittance, and the German company that made the gun/watch quickly went bankrupt.
SNIP
Now, the next big thing in smart gun technology is here:
The Biofire Smart Gun features built-in fingerprint and infrared facial recognition technology that only permits use by "authorized" individuals, according to the company.
Biofire has called it the "first and only biometric firearm on the market."
The gun is a full-sized 9mm, striker-fired semiautomatic pistol. It features magazine sizes of 10 and a double-stacked 15-round magazine. It has a 4.7-inch barrel and a total of 8.7 inches in length. The total weight of the gun, unloaded, is 2.4 pounds.
And all this for only $1499, including a case and the recharging dock. This is a large and heavy handgun, about what a 1911 .45 weighs, though the Biofire is bulkier. It’s not easily concealed. A Glock 17, not a standard police duty handgun, weighs 22.05 oz unloaded, and currently retails for about $550.00. Finding holsters for the Biofire would be, to put it mildly, difficult.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
How about “no thanks”.
That’s a full “Aw, Hell no!” for me.
An idiotic Rube Goldberg contraption.
Does it have a lithium battery or feature a back-door app?
This a great idea for self-defense. A suggested improvement would be to have a mini led screen and keyboard built into the gun handle. That way the user i.e. shooter would need to login with a password before the gun would fire. Now that’s gun safety.
Mandate them for federal, state and local law enforcement nationwide for ten years, then get back to us.
So.....pay 3X as much for a heavier/bulkier (not to mention ugly) hand gun that is complex and thus can easily malfunction and/or which could be hacked by outside parties vs a completely reliable hand gun which will be 100% under my control when in my hands.
Gosh, tough decision.
Too much banjo wiring. Does it come with a solar panel for recharging. Facial recognition. What happens if I don’t have on my glasses or cut my beard off but will be difficult to commit suicide with it.
It’s expensive, bulky and therefore not easily concealed, heavier and complicated enough to have an unacceptable failure rate with lives on the line. Good luck finding a comfortable holster. Did I leave anything out?
And randomly it would want you to complete the CAPCHA image thing 5 times to verify for security reasons. If you encounter this with an intruder is inside your home you’d be dead
Also mandate that all protective details for all government officials must use them.
“Facial recognition”
Looking at the picture of the guy and the gun, it should be possible to do. I believe some cell phones use facial recognition security.
I’m not fond of fingerprint security. I would not want a home invader to chop off one of my fingers.
California legislators should know that a piece of steel, a drill and a bunch of firecrackers (powder & fuses) can be used to make a gun.
I saw some blunderbusses while I was in Spain, They were bigger than I expected.
How long does it take to reboot? Can it fire while it’s updating its software? Is its “blue screen of death” blue, or some other pleasing color?
Although the idea is impractical for most users,there is one application where it might be useful. A trained public school teacher could protect his classroom while preventing access to students
This is particularly true of the current generation of concealed carry handguns like the Glock 43X or the Sig P365. All are easily concealed, accurate, and have ten round or more magazine capacity.
Most importantly, they’re reliable. They fire when the trigger is pulled, and don’t rely on batteries or other technologies.
The primary purchaser of this firearm that I can imagine is wealthy people with children in the home that want the firearm quickly at the ready for home protection without the worry of small children being able to fire the weapon.
But the drawback of the weapon is the battery.
As the article states, all the power necessary for a conventional hand gun to operate is contained in the fired cartridge, which have years long shelf lives.
Does the smart gun chirp when the battery is in need of recharging.
A home defense pistol is often neglected for long periods. Maybe years.
How many people are going to want this ugly pistol sitting in its charging dock on the kitchen counter 24/7 so that they don’t have to worry about a dead battery when the stuff hits the fan.
” piece of steel, a drill and a bunch of firecrackers (powder & fuses) can be used to make a gun.”
a piece of pipe the right diameter, a drill for hole for firecracker fuse, firecrackers and marbles. That is what I heard about one time when I was a kid.
Exactly. Even better would be two-step authentication. The gun computer sends a 16 digit code to your cell phone for guaranteed verification. Yes, the home invader has already come, killed you, ransacked the place and escaped. But the gun is secure!
My design is a wrist band with a RFID chip and a chip reader in the firearm. The technology is well developed and cheap.
I’d rather stick with Colt’s original point click, point click, point click, point click, point click, point click user interface
No need. The old fashiond ones put holes in targets just fine.
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