N.J. 'smart gun' research may get $1.1 million boost

The Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | Jan. 07, 2004 | Steve Strunsky (AP)

[neverdem]

NEWARK - New Jersey-based research to develop safer handguns will get a $1.1 million boost from the federal government if a grant contained in a national spending bill is approved.

Gov. McGreevey joined U.S. Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Jon Corzine and U.S. Rep. Robert Menendez, all New Jersey Democrats, in announcing the grant yesterday. The money is contained in an $800 billion appropriations bill that cleared the House last month and awaits action by the Senate.

The grant would go to the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, which has been working on prototype "smart gun" technology.

The money would be earmarked for refinements in the technology, which is being developed with a $1.5 million state grant. That grant jump-started smart-gun research after the Legislature enacted the nation's first smart-gun law.

According to the most recent timetable, New Jersey's smart-gun law could go into effect in five years.

Under the law signed by McGreevey a year ago, smart-gun technology would be required on all new handguns sold in New Jersey three years after the state attorney general certified that smart guns were available in the marketplace.

The technology refers to weapons equipped to be fired only by authorized users. Proponents say such technology would reduce suicides, accidental shootings, and handgun abuses, particularly among children.

The New Jersey Institute of Technology's prototype fails to correctly distinguish between authorized and unauthorized users once every 100 to 1,000 pulls of the trigger, those working on the research say.

Experts at the institute are aiming to reduce the failure rate to 1 in 30,000 pulls, adapt the technology to handguns, and bring smart guns to the marketplace within two years, Timothy Lang, an electrical engineer and professor who is working on the technology, said yesterday.

In addition to securing the state grant, the school has signed agreements with two companies to bring its patented "dynamic grip recognition" technology to marketable weapons. The technology uses sensors mounted in a gun's handle to recognize an authorized user's grip.

Other manufacturers are likely working on their own versions of smart guns.

"Every day, a million children live and play in homes where there are loaded guns that they have access to," said Menendez, who inserted the grant into the federal spending bill.

There is no federal requirement for smart-gun technology, and New Jersey is the only state to have approved a smart-gun law, said Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association in Washington.

The NRA opposes the New Jersey law, Arulanandam said, because of what it regards as bugs in smart-gun technology.

[Huck]

I would look to anti-gunners to insist that all non-smart guns be turned in as soon as the allegedly smart ones hit the market.

Yikes. What's harrowing about your comment is how easy it is to imagine. That would be the law that finally brought the 2nd amendment to the SCOTUS. Pray that the dingbat woman O'Connor is replaced with a conservative before that happens. I can hear that grating voice of hers...

"Well, it doesn't say you have the right to bear any arms at all.

[neverdem]

IIRC, the folks a NJIT are working on a technology that senses the supposedly unique grip of each persons hand. It doesn't recognize fingerprints.

That's problematic from a few examples:
1. It assumes very little variation holding the weapon each time it's fired.
2. It assumes that there's no difference from being at the range and being in a self-defense situation when the adrenaline is flowing.
3. In the latter situation, what happen's when a right handed person has to shoot left handed or the reverse.
4. Does the impression of the grip change when firing a handgun single handed versus supported single hand?
5. What if someone's hand is bandaged or wearing gloves?

IIRC, I posted the story not long ago. I'll try to find it.

[IGOTMINE]

The day that the president's security detail is exclusively armed with "smart guns" I'll consider buying one.

Until then it is a customized Colt 1911 for me.

[neverdem]

Well ah, I thought I posted one. I hope this will do.

http://www.news12.com/NJ/topstories/article?id=88980

NJIT members help develop new electronic gun safety device

(08/31/03) NEWARK - Guns could be safer thanks to new "smart gun" technology developed in New Jersey. Members of the Australian gun manufacturer Metal Storm and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have teamed up to make an electronic gun safety device.

The safety system is based on they way someone squeezes the gun while pulling the trigger. By putting pressure measurement devices on the grip of the gun, the mechanism is able to determine whether it is a grip pattern that was stored in, an authorized user or an intruder. It is in that process, during the moment of trigger pull, where the mechanism enables or disables the gun from firing.

NJIT officials say the biometric grip recognition system is potentially compatible with a conventional mechanical firearm. The new guns should be available in two to three years.

Many folks think the new technology is a good idea. Those against the "smart gun" technology say it does nothing to impact the 192 million firearms already in U.S. circulation.

[RightOnline]

What an amazing pile of steamy horses**t.

Hey, New Jersey.............a state that always chest-thumps about how tough you are, etc., etc., yada yada.................why do you put up with this barnyard matter?

[Constitutional Patriot]

"I wonder if the cops would use such a system after they get blasted by quicker bad guys because of delays in the recognition system?"

Actually, cops have been exempted from being forced to use handguns with this technology. The reason is because no cop would ever take a chance with his life with such "technology". So if the cops don't have to use "smartguns" for fear of malfunction, then why should private citizens?

Answer(s):

1 - Because this is just another step towards eliminating private handgun ownership.
2 - The trial lawyers are going to make a mint suing the firearms manufacturers when these "smartguns" fail and people begin to sue.
3 - Because if there is an electronic way to enable these "smartguns" to fire, then there is most certainly an electronic way to prevent these "smartguns" from firing. Imagine if the police (or criminals) got their hands on a device that can shut off your handgun?

[Constitutional Patriot]

"Police, of course, will be exempted from this "life saving" technology. Go figure."

Of course they are exempt, despite the fact that many cops are killed in the line of duty with their own firearms. The cops may need this technology, but your average American does not.

[supercat]

"Every day, a million children live and play in homes where there are loaded guns that they have access to,"

Really? How can that many children have been living in such households for years without them all dying off?

[paul51]

The day that the president's security detail is exclusively armed with "smart guns" I'll consider buying one

Good strategy. That's why I bought my Sig P229

[Fun Bob]

My comment remains the same. You go to a gun shop, buy an electronic gun that 'fingerprints' your grip pattern standing there in the shop. I would not trust that device to be 100% reliable under a high stress life or death situation. Not for a second.

Like someone astutely observed. The day the Presidents security detail carry these weapons is they day I might consider it too.

[Fun Bob]

Exactly. All excellent points.

So does that mean once we have smart guns, we will be allowed to conceal carry in NJ? I doubt it. If this were a compromise to allow concealed carry, that would be one thing. But this smart gun BS is a limit on any gun sold in the state. As is, I refuse to buy handguns in NJ. Why? You need to obtain a permit to BUY. That requires fingerprinting and a 3-6 month processing time. Then the permit is good for 30 days. If you want to buy a new gun, back to refingerprinting and another 3-6 month processing. Screw that, I'll drive to Scranton and buy one.

[Yo-Yo]

Wouldn't it be better for the person holding the gun to be smart?

Amen! If the Brady group and others really wanted to save lives, they would be crusading for mandatory sobriety test ignition lockouts installed on all new cars.

But they don't want to save lives, they want to get rid of their own personal boogey man, the gun. They are driven by irrational fear, not logic.

[Travis McGee]

You are rapidly becoming the JH2/Kattracks of gun stories! Good work!

[Fun Bob]

Popular Mechanics agrees.

smart guns are a Dumb Idea

http://popularmechanics.com/outdoors/firearms/2003/7/smart_guns/