Can non-smart guns be educated?

[H.m.B]

Not wanting to hijack another members post, I'll ask the question here. In that post it was stated that 'Beginning on the date that is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, no person may distribute in commerce any handgun that is not a personalized hand gun or a retrofitted personalized handgun.'

In another thread on THR it was stated that smart guns may or may not be neutered to make them "dumb" depending on the engineering design. With regards to the above statement, is it feasible to retrofit a conventional handgun (semi-auto, revolver) to make them "personalized" to meet such a requirement if it should ever become a reality? While anything is possible, I highly suspect that the answer is no. If not, then how could such a requirement be enforced?

If this is addressed elsewhere, feel free to delete.

 

[rcmodel]

Yes, it is possible.

Perhaps 40 years ago when revolvers still ruled in law enforcement.
Somebody made a 'smart gun' safety that would only allow firing the gun if a magnetic ring worn by the rightful owner gripped it.

Retrofit conversions are still available today.

http://www.tarnhelm.com/magna-trigger/gun/safety/magna1.html

http://www.smartlock.com/smartgun_detail.htm

Whether or not the local or state government who made the law will recognize a retrofit would depend on the actual intent of the law.

If the intent is to outlaw all existing guns already there?
It is doubtful they would recognize them as meeting the requirement of the law.

Rc

 

[H.m.B]

I did not know this technology already exists for retrofitting. Thanks for the links RC. The cost of the conversion for a revolver at $350.00 and $60.00 for each ring is a bit pricey. I even think a $100 for a 1911 is slightly high. I noted that these systems are magnetically activated and not all guns can be modified. I wonder how reliable they are? I remember magnetic locks from the late '70's that were hit or miss.

 

[Tirod]

That's the problem with a magnetic lock - and the ring is pretty much a universal one. If you are wearing it, you will activate any gun with that lock. It's not personalized.

It's going to take an RFI chip with emitter, likely a wrist bracelet with the gunworks in a grip panel. A polymer gun could house the kit in a back panel, activating an internal firing pin or trigger block.

It can already be done, what some want to go with it is some kind of recording to time date stamp when every round was discharged. The next issue will be incorporating GPS to prove where you were. And then a rounds fired counter to know when to do maintenance. Plus a readable SN to track the gun and report it's presence within a building. And the ability to have local security turn it off and render it safe like it or not.

And the thugs will be able to do it with illegal transponders.

Entirely why we don't accept the "inevitability" of smart gun tech, because smarter people will use it against us, and hacks around it will abound anyway.

 

[deadin]

I would think that around 30 seconds in a microwave should do in most RFID chips.
(Just make sure there are no rounds in the gun...I don't know what microwaves would do to them)

 

[Carl N. Brown]

What's the purpose?

If the goal is crime control, it is ridiculous. Down in Oz (Australia) the "bikies" (outlaw motorcyclists) do a steady business of manufacturing knock-offs of MAC-10s in their garages. If there were a universal requirement for "smart gun tech", would they (or their American counterparts) comply?

If the goal is to prevent use of a gun by other than the authorized owner for domestic safety concerns, of the four self-defenses I know about by female family members, one was with a boy friend's gun and the other was with an employer's gun. Blocking use of a gun by a person other than the owner? It has been wondered about for decades why 40% of self-defenders in some defensive gun use surveys are women but only 20% of women say they own a gun in other surveys. One can easily have a legitimate reason to use a gun they do not own.

 

[ugaarguy]

I would think that around 30 seconds in a microwave should do in most RFID chips.

That wouldn't help you. Your RFID chip is what you would use to unlock the gun. The receiver would be built into the gun and keep it locked unless it was in range of your RFID chip.

 

[Strahley]

Guns (like anything else) represent the integrity or intentions of thier users. We can make guns "smart" by focusing on the users and not the guns. Educate people on safe handling and storage, help those who show obvious signs of acting out, etc

If these so-called "smart guns" make it big and become commonplace, I predict that negligence will rise. Not by those of us who are responsible owners, but by those who don't know any better/weren't educated or become lazy because they would rely on technology instead of personal responsibility

 

[1911 guy]

I'm, all for real technological advancement, but "smart gun" isn't an advancement. It's a non-solution to the "gun violence" problem. The real problem is one of human nature. Technology cannot cure that.

 

[Pointshoot]

The real question is "Can non-smart citizens & congress critters be educated ?"

It ain't about 'safety'. Both accidents and violent crime have been decreasing over the decades. And, your odds of being a victim of the type of mass shootings which get all the media attention are less than being struck by lightning. (Just look up the 10 year stats for both types of event.)

Its all about control & restriction.

If they can't outright ban - they'll do all they can to make it extremely expensive for people to own and use their firearms.

 

[H.m.B]

That wouldn't help you. Your RFID chip is what you would use to unlock the gun. The receiver would be built into the gun and keep it locked unless it was in range of your RFID chip.

In the links RC provided above, it appears that only certain handguns could be retrofitted. Given all the various makes, models, and variations currently in existence, I doubt that all these could be made "smart" if mandated as a requirement for sale. Even the 1911 referenced in the link indicated modification was necessary.

I just took a look at my Sig P232 as an example and was wondering what type of kit/mods would be needed to make it "smart." What mechanical interface would need to be incorporated into the existing design and where to place electronic and power source. Sure, some larger guns may have room, but the smaller ones may not be easily modified.

I don't dispute the stupidity of the intent of such a mandate, but if it actually became a law that all existing guns had to be retrofitted for personalization before they could be sold the well of available handguns that could be sold legally would eventually dry up. It seems we need to be vigilant that such a mandate not become a reality nationwide since a couple of states have already started down that path.