Looking forward to buying a smart gun? You must be searching like anything, how to buy a smart gun? Or what are the features on the table? Well, if you are a US citizen, there is a good chance that a smart gun is already scheduled to launch in the US market in short.
After two decades or more of dependability issues and worries they would spark a new wave of government control, consumers in the United States may soon be able to purchase personalized smart weapons, which can only be shot by certified users.
Smart gun safety technology aims to reduce accidental firing and the use of a firearm against its owner if it is stolen or taken away, as well as the accidental use and misuse of guns by children and teenagers. Smart guns may also lessen instances of unauthorized gun users committing suicide. This article will walk you through all the details you wish to know about smart guns.
A Smart Gun – in a Nutshell
- Price: $895
- Seller: LodeStar
- 3 states have adopted the Smart Gun policy: Massachusetts, Maryland, California
- Features:
- People with the proper authorization can shoot them.
- Fingerprint-sensitive or radio-frequency identification technology is used.
About the Manufacturer
For shareholders and investors in Boise, Idaho, four-year-old LodeStar Works debuted its 9mm smart handgun in January 2022. Moreover, a Kansas-based business, SmartGunz LLC, claims that law enforcement officers are beta testing its device, a related but less complex design.
This year, both businesses want to have a product on the market. Gareth Glaser, a co-founder of LodeStar, claimed that he was motivated after hearing too many accounts of young children being shot while tinkering with an unattended firearm. By utilizing technology to confirm a user’s identification and disable the gun should others try to fire it, smart guns could prevent such tragedies.
Additionally, they might lessen the number of suicides, make lost or stolen weapons useless, and provide security for jail and police personnel who worry about gun grabs.
Smart gun development has slowed, however, as a result of a boycott against Smith & Wesson (SWBI.O), the hacking of a German company’s product, and opposition to a New Jersey statute to promote smart guns from Second Amendment supporters.
Price and Features
The selling price of the LodeStar pistol is $895.
According to the report, LodeStar co-founder Gareth Glaser remarked, “We finally feel like we’re at the point where … let’s go public.”
However, it’s not certain if American gun owners truly desire these models of weapons. According to a poll of American gun owners, around 79 percent of those who were aware of smart guns believed they should be allowed to purchase both standard and smart guns from their certified dealers.
Technology is built into smart firearms to guarantee that only people with the proper authorization can shoot them. This technique would turn guns that were inappropriately accessed into harmless shards of steel, similar to the fingerprint scan or password present on many devices.
The LodeStar gun’s test-firing in front of the Reuters cameras has not been covered anywhere. The weapon, a third-generation prototype, was successfully shot by a range officer in all of its configurations.
While acknowledging that there may be more difficulties in manufacturing on a wide scale, Glaser expressed confidence that the technology was sufficiently advanced and the microelectronics inside the cannon were well-protected after years of trial and error.
The majority of the earliest smart gun prototypes either used fingerprint unlocking or radio frequency identification technology, which allows the gun to fire only when a chip in the gun connects with another chip that the user is wearing in a ring or bracelet.
On January 7, 2022, in Boise, Idaho, the United States, Rob Regent of SGW Designworks explains the inner workings of the 9mm smart gun, which only functions for the chosen user. LodeStar included a near-field communication chip that was activated by a phone app and a fingerprint scanner.
In addition to a PIN, pa LodeStar included a near-field communication chip that was activated by a phone app and a fingerprint scanner. More than one user may be permitted to use the gun. The PIN pad is a backup for the fingerprint reader, which unlocks the pistol in microseconds but may not function in wet or adverse conditions.
The near-field communication signal, which LodeStar did not show, would serve as a backup, enabling the gun as soon as customers open the app on their phones. Which law enforcement agencies are testing SmartGunz’s radio frequency-secured firearms is a secret, according to the company. According to Tom Holland, a Kansas Democratic state lawmaker and co-founder of the business, SmartGunz created a model retailing for $1,795 for law enforcement and $2,195 for consumers.
The Problem and Solution
In a similar vein, tens of thousands of weapons are stolen annually from homes, cars, and shops. Gun thefts frequently reroute stolen weapons to an unregulated black market where individuals with risky backgrounds can easily buy weapons. Due to this, stolen firearms are frequently found at crime scenes, such as those of homicides and other violent crimes. Smart guns could help minimize the significant threat that stolen guns provide to public safety by rendering firearms unusable to unauthorized users.
Semiautomatic handguns can also be equipped with additional life-saving safety mechanisms to help avoid accidental firing. A round could remain in the gun’s firing chamber even when a magazine is empty or removed. A magazine safety disconnect stops a pistol from firing if the magazine is taken out, while a loaded chamber indicator visually shows that a cartridge is in the chamber. To help avoid accidental firing, all new semiautomatic handgun models ought to incorporate a loaded chamber indicator and a magazine safety disconnect. Now, these features can be considered for the next-gen smart gun.
Related: Smart Shorts: Where to Buy and How to Use?
Why Do We Need a Smart Gun?
A customized, or “smart,” gun is a weapon that uses authorized-use technology, such as the thumb scan or password found on many smartphones, to render stolen weapons and weapons obtained by children into inert bits of steel. It would revolutionize efforts to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals and youngsters if broadly adopted.
More than 3,500 children and teenagers are among the more than 40,000 Americans who are killed by guns each year. Over one-third of houses in the United States have at least one firearm, and there are an estimated 393 million civilians who own firearms.
New models of semiautomatic handguns should include authorized-use technology as well as fundamental safety features like magazine safety disconnects, loaded chamber indicators, and other features intended to prevent a child from operating the gun to help prevent firearms from being accidentally fired.
Guns are immune from regulation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission even though they are inherently harmful. Additionally, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) shields gun makers from liability for failing to innovate and make firearms safer. A smart gun can definitely bear the solution to the issue.
Related: 10 Smart Bathroom Technology Trends in 2022
Final Thoughts
In America, there are more than 110 gun-related fatalities per day. Despite the fact that the United States has 26 times higher gun homicide rate than other developed nations, evidence indicates that sensible public safety measures can reduce gun violence and save lives. Adding a smart gun is one of the possible solutions to address or mitigate the situation. It’s time to build a safer world for the youth in a ‘smart’ way.
FAQs
Q1. What would a smart gun do?
Smart guns, often known as “personalized firearms,” use technology to stop unauthorized users from shooting the weapon, such as radio frequency identification (RFID) or biometric recognition technologies, including fingerprint readers.
Q2. Can a smart gun be hacked?
One of the safest gun systems on the market is the Armatix iP1 pistol with an accompanying RFID watch. However, a hacker going by the handle “Plore” discovered holes in the Armatix that completely circumvent its security mechanisms.
Q3. What is an RFID smart gun?
Only the authorized user has the ability to fire the weapon in a user-unique RFID gun. A radio chip enabling gun access is installed in the handle of the firearm, and a corresponding chip is affixed to a watch, ring, bracelet, or even implanted in the hand of the authorized user.
