New Jerseyites, kiss your handguns goodby 3 years!

[RavenVT100]

NJ had better pass a law exempting the company from any liability lawsuits (for product failure). Otherwise they will be sued out of existance. Then what happens to the law if the "smart" gun is no longer commercially available?

NJ's Smart Gun law has verbiage in there that exempts the state from any and all liability arising out of injury or death caused by the smart gun, or caused by the fact that you were forced to use it.

Police wanted no part of this law, for obvious reasons (i.e., the thing is viewed as a total safety hazard) and they're exempt. No one else is, including off-duty police who have to buy firearms on their own dime.

failure rate of 1 in 100 trigger pulls

Unacceptable.

You people are analyzing this thing far too deeply. This is a backdoor handgun ban; it really is as simple as that. NJ has banned handguns, and the "Smart Gun" is merely a distraction.

 

[Manedwolf]

Not if we don't buy them, they won't...

Exactly. What, are they suddenly going to declare "illegal" the millions of fully functional firearms already out there?

And if grandfathered instead, all this is going to do is end sales of NEW guns...and encourage ever-higher prices of all the "conventional" existing and older guns already out there.

I would never, ever, EVER trust my life to a gun that required a battery and some sloppy programmer's possible mistakes to fire.

 

[K-Romulus]

Exactly. What, are they suddenly going to declare "illegal" the millions of fully functional firearms already out there?

And if grandfathered instead, all this is going to do is end sales of NEW guns...and encourage ever-higher prices of all the "conventional" existing and older guns already out there.

The Johns Hopkins University Firearms Ban Department (aka Center for Gun Policy and Research) has a Model Smart Gun Law (http://www(DOT)jhsph.edu/gunpolicy/Model_Law_2ed.pdf).

The "Model" law includes this tidbit:

SECTION 9. LIABILITY
(a) Any person who discharges a handgun that does not meet the
Commission’s standard, and does not fall within the exemptions stated in this Act,
and thereby causes personal injury to any person, shall be absolutely liable for such
damages that resulted from the handgun not meeting the Commission’s standard.

(b) Any person who owns a handgun that does not meet the Commission’s
standard, and that is discharged by an unauthorized person, and does not fall within
the exemptions stated in this Act, and thereby causes personal injury to any person,
shall be absolutely liable for such damages that resulted from the handgun not
meeting the Commission’s standard.

(c) This section shall apply whether the discharge of the handgun was legally
justified or not, except when the discharge of the handgun was by a law enforcement
officer in the line of duty or when the discharge is for self-defense as defined by
state or federal law.

(d) Compliance with any safety standard issued under this law, does not
exempt any person from liability under common law.

Sooo . . if you own a "non-smart" gun, then you are on the hook for any injuries caused by the gun "going off," , even though it was someone who stole your firearm who pulled the trigger.

I think NJ left this liability part out (for now), but copied everything else from the Model Law.

 

[BADUNAME4]

"Smart guns" were originally discussed to prevent law enforcement officers' guns from being used against them. How ironic that they want nothing to do with them. Glad I moved to a smart state.

 

[CoachVince]

I found an article (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,73763,00.html) that states... The smart gun concept first started to receive attention in New Jersey when Jacob Locicero of Hawthorne, whose daughter Amy was murdered in 1993, approached Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, about it six years ago.\
Then I found THIS page (http://www.northjersey.com/page.php...lRUV5eTY0NTk3OTYmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk5) that says... Ten years ago today, a man with a Rugar 9 mm semi-automatic pistol he bought in California by just giving a motel address took out his anger on innocent commuters aboard the Long Island Rail Road. It was a Tuesday, just before 6 p.m. As the train pulled into a station only blocks from Winthrop Hospital, Colin Ferguson opened fire.

Before he was tackled a few minutes later by other commuters, Ferguson wounded 19 people and killed six. Locicero's daughter, Amy Locicero Federici, , 27 and an interior designer in Manhattan, was the last one shot.


How dows the smart gun law protect against illegal use of of a legally purchased weapon, by the legal purchaser, IN ANOTHER STATE? Even if there are questions about the legality of the purchase, IN ANOTHER STATE, does that justify endangering the lives of those who may legally purchase guns, and further strengthening NJ's black market in handguns, to prevent murders in Long Island?

On Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Ferguson), you find that
Gun rights advocates frequently cite the Ferguson attack on the commuter train as an example of the danger of disarming the population, arguing that Ferguson was able to shoot as many victims as he did because no other person on the train was able to return fire.
Packing.org states (http://www.packing.org/state/connecticut/) that while CT is a shall-issue state, you may "questioned" about your need for a gun, and your background and "reputation" may be considered.

The death penalty was reinstated in New York following the massacre.
So, deadly force is more acceptable if used by the government, after the fact?

 

[RavenVT100]

As I said, it isn't about product liability, it's about the Democratic Party's strategy to use every slimy and dishonest tactic they can to outlaw firearms without being up front and honest about it. Assemblywoman Weinberg is one of the most anti-rights people in the NJ legislature. She has openly declared that she doesn't know much about firearms, yet she consistenly pushes legislation that restricts ownership of them.

You guys are really reading too much into it. Here's a much easier way of judging the intent behind these types of laws. First, determine if the following is true:

1. Does it involve guns?
2. Does the person footing the bill have a (D) next to their name?
3. Does it contain the buzzwords "public safety" or "public health?"

If all three are true, you would win money if you were to bet on it being yet another Democratic Party initiative to restrict your right to own firearms, with the eventual goal of outlawing them entirely.

Now wasn't that easy?

Now here's the solution: If you value your right to own firearms and care anything at all about the Second Amendment, don't vote for a Democrat. While it's true that representatives of other parties have come out against gun rights, no other party but the Democratic Party has been more steadfast in its determination to deprive you of your rights under 2A. NJ is a great example of what happens when they get what they want. If this is what you want for your state, then by all means, vote Democrat. Vote for your local "pro-gun" Democrat, and then watch as the party gains strength on the national level and you find that one day, your rights are gone.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

Manufacturer liability for gun that fails to fire? Wishful thinking...

I'm not sure this would REDUCE civil liabilities. First time one of these things fails to fire, the manufacturer is in deep doo doo from a product liability standpoint

You know, that argument comes up a lot, but has there ever been any documented case in which someone sued a gun manufacturer because the gun didn't work when it was needed?

Ironically, tons of folks have sued, claiming a gun was defective because it, horror of horrors, shot bullets out of it when the trigger was pulled. But I've never heard of anybody suing because a gun didn't fire. The absurdity is amazing, but truth is stranger than fiction.

I imagine it going down this way:

Homeowner pulls his registered/licensed/bonded NJ Safe-T-Gunn(tm) on a burglar with an unregistered Bryco, mechanism on the gun fails, and Homeowner gets ventilated by said burglar. Homeowner's family sues NJ, Safe-T-Gunn, etc for product failure.
--Safe-T-Gunn will point out that the firearm was never guaranteed to work under all circumstances, and that the manual specificially tells you not to point it at people, etc.
--State of NJ will say that Homeowner should have called 911 rather than causing his own death by going vigilante, and that the Safe-T-Gunn was successful because it saved the life of the Misguided Youth, who was actually looking for human compassion and respect, in the form of a DVD player.

Do you honestly think that a state demanding smartguns would be inclined to let folks sue for a gun that _doesn't_ work?

-MV

 

[countertop]

The worst thing about this is that someone in the MD legislature will see this as a good idea and put it up to be enacted here.

Thats why I live in Virginia.

 

[Graystar]

Does anybody else see the irony in New Jersey and smart gun in the same sentence?

Actually, no. The concept and the government asking for it seem well suited.

 

[armoredman]

Abandon NJ now, declare it a LIEberal haven, and force all the Commiefornian LIEberals to move there.

 

[Thefabulousfink]

While I think that this concept is flawed with the technology that we have available now, I can see one possible use.

If you could enable/disable the sensor as a safety lock, that would let you store a loaded gun without having to worry about children or un-authorized users. Plus, in an emergency you could grab your gun and not have to fumble with a safe or trigger lock.

Other than that, I would never rely on a computer to fire my gun.

 

[Master Blaster]

If you could enable/disable the sensor as a safety lock, that would let you store a loaded gun without having to worry about children or un-authorized users. Plus, in an emergency you could grab your gun and not have to fumble with a safe or trigger lock.

There is no substitute for the four rules of firearm safety.

Know them, LIVE by them.

 

[GEM]

I hear it will have red dot sight and you will get a pop up ad from Geico before you can shoot anyone.

 

[allmons]

New Jersey politicians can be removed, guys

Get out the vote and shut these idiots down. If all else fails, MOVE. Taking tax dollars away from these jerks is the ONLY thing they understand.

Any New York, New Jersey or Connecticut firearms related business: come to Tennessee. Low crime rate, cheap electricity, no state income tax and pistol carry by individuals is allowed with permit. Don't forget, an eager work force and very few unions. Get away from all the Northeastern crap. Hell, we've even got better weather!

 

[Nathaniel Firethorn]

My take on it is that NJIT is just fishing for funding from Cor$lime.

- NF

 

[Pilot]

You people are analyzing this thing far too deeply. This is a backdoor handgun ban; it really is as simple as that. NJ has banned handguns, and the "Smart Gun" is merely a distraction.

Bingo! Listen to Raven guys, this is the real issue. Its a defacto GUN BAN period.

I'm sorry, but I hate New Jersey.

 

[WT]

allmons - I have been looking at Scott County. Much snow there? I am getting to hate snow.

 

[BADUNAME4]

Get out the vote and shut these idiots down. If all else fails, MOVE. Taking tax dollars away from these jerks is the ONLY thing they understand.

Any New York, New Jersey or Connecticut firearms related business: come to Tennessee. Low crime rate, cheap electricity, no state income tax and pistol carry by individuals is allowed with permit. Don't forget, an eager work force and very few unions. Get away from all the Northeastern crap. Hell, we've even got better weather!

Most who understand and value freedom have already moved. Resistance is futile.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Hasn't NJIT "unveiled" this same not-quite-ready-for-primetime "smart gun" about 3 times already?

Incidentally, the national academy of engineering considers the technology to be rubbish at this point:

http://books.nap.edu/catalog/11394.html


Additional notes:

Existing fully functional handguns are "grandfathered" in to their current owners, but aren't transferable.


Lorretta Weinberg is the queen of NJ Gun bigots. Smart guns was her lifetime achievement. Other bills she's introduced:

-A .50 cal ban that unintentionally included shotguns. (She withdrew it when the duck hunters got upset)

-An "armor piercing frangible ammunition" ban. (She withdrew it when someone pointed out that "armor piercing" and "frangible" are mutually exclusive concepts)

 

[Standing Wolf]

Its a defacto GUN BAN period.

It was never intended to be anything else. I predict it's going to be a sterling success for both the state and its criminals.

 

[Highland Ranger]

old news . . . .

 

[G36-UK]

The handgrip sensor sorta reminds me of Judge Dredd's Lawgiver, although this thing seems more like Judge Judy than Judge Dredd.

I dunno about you guys, but I'd only use it when/if the technology was fully perfected, including all of the potential power supply problems.

Of course, that's as likely as Britain regaining its senses about guns. And that'll probably happen when a paper dog sucessfully chases an asbestos cat through Hell.

I hope you guys in NJ can get this crappy law repealed, or at least get the exemption for LEOs removed (AFAIK, the technology was designed for LEOs, so it may as well be used for it's "proper" purpose, no?).

 

[Stebalo]

Hillbilly:

But the US Army has been "just a couple of years" away from making the Objective Individual Combat Weapon "standard issue" since the early
1980s.........
...
Only they can't quite get the technology right.

I really doubt that this technology is only "three years away."

"Three years" doesn't refer to how far away the technology is. The smart gun law specifies that three years from the day that the first commercial smart gun comes out on the market, all non-smart guns can no longer be sold in New Jersey.

It doesn't matter if the technology works or not. As Raven has said many times, it is nothing but a gun ban. Work or not, once someone starts selling it, after 3 years, that is all we are allowed to buy. Time to start stocking up.

G36-UK:

I hope you guys in NJ can get this crappy law repealed

Fat chance of that ever happening, now with Corzine as governer. Judges in New Jersey are all appointed, not elected so he can continue to pack the courts with whatever anti-gun bigots he pleases. On top of that, Loretta Weinberg, the motivator behind the smart gun law has just received a promotion from the NJ State Assembly to the NJ State Senate--with Corzine's backing.

Pilot:

I'm sorry, but I hate New Jersey.

You and me both. Just be glad you can do it from afar.

 

[orangeninja]

Personally I can't wait for the smart gun to develop. I've already started to work on a Windows 98 style software. Soon I can corner the market, buy out all competition and corner the market. I'll make billions I tell you....


...only one snag...when the gun freezes, you'll have to hard boot it.

 

[Ermac]

why is it when I heard the word smart gun, I was thinking of Aliens when the character Vazquez was shooting the smart gun saying "LETS ROCK!"