Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

House Bill Would Mandate Smart Gun Tech By U.S. Manufacturers

Posted by Soulskill on from the powered-by-the-cloud dept.

Lucas123 writes "U.S. Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass) is pushing a bill that would require all U.S. handgun manufacturers to include 'personalization technology' in their weapons. Tierney said he got the idea for The Personalized Handgun Safety Act of 2013 from the latest James Bond film, Skyfall. In it Bond escapes death when his handgun, which is equipped with technology that recognizes his fingerprints, becomes inoperable when a bad guy picks it up. 'This technology, however, isn't just for the movies — it's a reality,' Tierney said. Tierney pointed to a myriad of cases where the smart gun tech could prevent children from being harmed or killed in firearms accidents. Jim Wallace, executive director of the Massachusetts Gun Owners Action League, the official state association of the NRA, said he knows of no gun owners who would want smart gun technology on their weapons. Wallace said any technology that may impede the proper function of a weapon is a problem. He pointed to the fact that any integrated processor technology would also require a battery of some kind, which could pose a system failure if it lost power."

4 of 750 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Movies are real! by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

    But. But.

    Instructional Videos!

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  2. SkyFAIL! by Bodhammer · · Score: 1, Funny

    There, fixed that for ya...

    --
    "I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
  3. Re:Movies are real! by TheNastyInThePasty · · Score: 3, Funny
    The technology would be better off if it had the opposite goal. Provide a 100% chance that the authorized firer can pull the trigger and then work on providing a > 0% chance that some unauthorized person cannot fire it. Even if the chance to prevent someone else from firing your weapon was low, say 25%, we would be better off than we are now.

    The only thing to worry about would be people becomming over-reliant on the technology and allowing anyone to access their weapon under the assumption that they couldn't fire it even if they tried. You could possibly end up with even more accidental or stolen gun shootings in that case.

    --
    The best thing about UDP jokes is I don't care if you get them or not
  4. Re:Movies are real! by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 5, Funny

    FTFY; some of us wised up to that some time ago, and thus only vote for third parties (if at all).

    Is that working out as well for you as my one-man air-travel boycott is for me?

    --
    I am not a crackpot.