Personalized smart guns, which can be fired only by verified users, may be arriving to U.S. markets, USA Today reports. Smart guns are meant to prevent unauthorized people from firing guns, in the hopes of keeping someone like a child or a convicted criminal from using them. Smart guns achieve this by either radio frequency identification (RFID) tokens, such as bracelets, watches, rings and other wearable devices, that verify gun users based on proximity to the token, or biometric recognition technology that activates a gun after identifying biological features like a fingerprint, palm print or grip. While the National Rifle Association doesn’t oppose the development of smart guns, it objects to any law prohibiting Americans from acquiring or possessing guns that don’t have smart gun technology.
Biofire, a company based in Colorado, is developing smart guns with fingerprint authentication technology. Gun company LodeStar Works plans to launch a smart gun with RFID technology. LodeStar Works unveiled its 9mm smart handgun for shareholders and investors in Boise, Id., last Friday and claimed RFID works reliably indoors and outdoors under all conditions. Household guns are often used by young people in violence against themselves or others. About 380,000 guns are stolen from gun owners each year, according to the Giffords Law Center. The National Shooting Sports Foundation has raised concerns about the reliability of the technology and says gun owners may be placed in a life-and-death situation that requires quick deployment.
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