{"id":78847,"date":"2022-03-18T15:03:37","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T20:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=78847"},"modified":"2022-03-18T15:03:58","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T20:03:58","slug":"78847","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=78847","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

DON\u2019T BELIEVE THE HYPE. SMART GUN TECH STILL NOT READY FOR PRIMETIME<\/a><\/p>\n

By Larry Keane<\/p>\n

There is a media blitz afoot, pitched by developers of authorized user recognition technology equipped firearms; what the media refers to as so-called, \u201csmart guns.\u201d Several of these companies herald that this is the year when they will finally bring their product to market. It might be a little premature to start popping corks, though.<\/p>\n

Despite reports praising companies preparing to launch options for consumers, and polling showing Americans may be open to considering this concept, one critical question remains: Are buyers willing to risk their life on authorized user recognition technology?<\/p>\n

So long as the answer from firearm purchasers remains \u201cNo,\u201d retailers will not sacrifice shelf space for an unreliable product consumers don\u2019t want to buy.
\nProve It
\nMorning Consult released polling of Americans\u2019 relative \u201cacceptance\u201d of \u201csmart guns\u201d and pitches a rather optimistic outlook.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter decades of delays and controversy over smart guns, 2022 could be the year that the new weaponry is brought to market.\u201d<\/p>\n

The article reports Americans are \u201cinterested\u201d in \u201csmart\u201d gun technology and \u201csupport the development\u201d of the firearms. Less than half, 43 percent, of those surveyed say they are \u201cvery interested\u201d or \u201csomewhat interested\u201d in personalized guns equipped with authorized-user technology, while more than half, 54 percent, aren\u2019t. NSSF\u2019s polling in 2019 showed that just five percent said they were inclined to purchase a so-called \u201csmart gun\u201d with 70 percent saying they still had concerns about reliability.<\/p>\n

Firearms equipped with authorized-user technology involves adding electronics that in theory only allows a gun to be fired by a verified, authorized user after unlocked by using either a fingerprint, a pin code or through embedded field communication (RFID) connected to a smartphone or other Bluetooth device. Firearm owners know that guns must work as designed each and every time. There\u2019s no room for failure. Adding in electronics to guns adds points of failure and could have horrific consequences for those who rely on them for self-defense.<\/p>\n

LodeStar Works Inc., is one developer working to hit the market this year. President and CEO Gareth Glaser is hopeful. Glaser said, \u201cIt\u2019s been around a long time now. Everybody uses one form or another of authentication technology on their smartphone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem for developers lies in the fact that support for \u201ctechnology development\u201d does not equate to, \u201cI will buy a smart gun.\u201d Not to mention a firearm is incomparable to an iPhone or Bluetooth speaker. Phones and guns are completely different products and equivocating them is beyond tone-deaf to the firearm market that has seen elevated sales largely driven by concerns for personal safety. If the facial or fingerprint recognition on your iPhone doesn\u2019t recognize you, you\u2019re inconvenienced. If your firearm doesn\u2019t unlock in a time of need, you could be dead.<\/p>\n

Failing Track Record<\/p>\n

The hype for \u201cThe Year of the Smart Gun\u201d began early. Leading up to SHOT Show\u00ae 2022 in Las Vegas, these new companies were pitching their products as the \u201chot\u201d new thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cExclusive: Smart guns finally arriving in U.S., seeking to shake up firearms market,\u201d read a Reuters headline. \u201c\u2018Smart Gun\u2019 Companies Aim For 2022 Commercial Release,\u201d said another. \u201cAre \u2018smart guns\u2019 finally arriving in the U.S.? Here is what we know,\u201d was the headline from The Deseret News. The article began, stating as fact, that \u201cSmart guns\u2026will finally become available to American consumers after decades of questions regarding reliability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Reload was the most measured and accurate. \u201c\u2018Smart Guns\u2019 Come to the Industry\u2019s Trade Show Amid Hype and Skepticism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The history of this technology is not one of success, including hacked and failing test runs. A demonstration by LodeStar prior to SHOT Show\u00ae 2022 failed too. A demonstration to show off the technology to shareholders shows an individual loading, chambering and clicking the fingerprint keypad on the side of the 9 mm handgun equipped with the authorized-user technology<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlright, ready? Everybody got ears? Alright. Two rounds coming,\u201d he says before firing. Only one round successfully fired while the demonstrator is visibly seen and heard pulling the trigger multiple times for the remaining round before the video abruptly ends. That\u2019s during a controlled test under ideal conditions and in front of the media.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gareth described LodeStar\u2019s $895 public model, saying. \u201cWe finally feel like we\u2019re at the point where \u2026 let\u2019s go public. We\u2019re there.\u201d A second \u201csmart\u201d gun manufacturer, SmartGunz LLC, is offering a $1,700 model for law enforcement and a $2,200 model for public consumers. During the span of COVID record firearm sales, firearm industry survey data pegged the average purchase price consumers paid for their firearm at less than $600. SmartGunz exhibited at the SHOT Show but didn\u2019t display a working prototype. SmartGunz claims it will be equipping an unidentified law enforcement agency with its product, to test its reliability. We\u2019ve seen other developers go that route only to have the prototypes quickly pulled from the field.<\/p>\n

Testing reliability on law enforcement is interesting since the concept of \u201csmart guns\u201d was to reduce officers being shot by their own firearm in a struggle where they lose control of the gun. In the 1990s, the Sandia National Laboratory surveyed law enforcement about their needs in a smart gun. Cops said the number one issue was reliability under all circumstances. The firearm must work when they need it to.<\/p>\n

LodeStar believes Americans would prefer to purchase their gun and forego purchasing a handgun safe to go with their normal, reliable firearm. That advice, though, runs counter to what the firearm industry and firearm safety experts advocate. All firearms not in use should be locked and beyond the reach of those who shouldn\u2019t have access to them. That also runs counter to laws in some states, including Connecticut, which requires firearm owners to lock their firearms in the home.<\/p>\n

Glaser told Morning Consult the $900 price tag is only, \u201cmarginally more expensive than buying a regular firearm and a biometric safe to store it in.\u201d Either he has faith buyers will shell out an additional $300 minimum on a gun safe or completely forego safe storage altogether.<\/p>\n

Problematic Mandates
\nTo be crystal clear, the firearm industry doesn\u2019t now, and has never, opposed the research and development of \u201csmart\u201d gun technology. What we believe is that the marketplace should decide if this technology is truly ready for market.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirearms are tools that are used in the defense of someone\u2019s life and must work as designed each and every time. There is no room for failure,\u201d NSSF\u2019s Director of Public Affairs Mark Oliva told The Reload.<\/p>\n

There are many issues surrounding this concept that I have discussed in the past. For a general overview of the subject, check out NSSF\u2019s fact sheet.<\/p>\n

What the industry opposes are \u201csmart\u201d gun mandates. President Joe Biden\u2019s campaign website proclaimed his intentions on the fallible firearms, saying, he \u201cbelieves we should work to eventually require 100% of firearms sold in the U.S. are smart guns.\u201d Mandating that firearms must be equipped with so-called \u201csmart\u201d gun technology raises liability concerns for manufacturers. Manufacturers must know that the firearm will work as designed each and every time. The technology, so far, isn\u2019t able to show that will work, when taking into effects electronics, chamber pressures, recoil and the thousands of pounds of energy generated at the muzzle.<\/p>\n

State-level efforts are also problematic. In 2002, New Jersey passed a law requiring that once a \u201csmart handgun\u201d is sold anywhere in the country, they will be the only handguns legal to sell in New Jersey. The supporters of this mandate later acknowledged the law set back research and development on \u201csmart guns\u201d by more than a decade. The law was rescinded in 2018, only to be replaced by a different mandate that requires New Jersey retailers to carry the product if it ever comes on the market. It\u2019s important to note that none of the companies that have tried to bring a safe and reliable authorized user recognition equipped firearm to market \u2013 and many have tried over the past quarter century \u2013 support mandates. They, like the firearm industry, believe the market should be allowed to work. If the considerable technological challenges can be solved and someone can bring a safe product to market, then consumers \u2013 not the government \u2013 should decide if that product meets their needs.<\/p>\n

Learn more about so-called ghost guns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DON\u2019T BELIEVE THE HYPE. SMART GUN TECH STILL NOT READY FOR PRIMETIME By Larry Keane There is a media blitz afoot, pitched by developers of authorized user recognition technology equipped firearms; what the media refers to as so-called, \u201csmart guns.\u201d Several of these companies herald that this is the year when they will finally bring … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,36,75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deceit","category-gun-schtuff","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78847"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78848,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78847\/revisions\/78848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}