Picture from- http://www.ohgizmo.com/2006/01/16/a-biometric-smart-gun/
Groundbreaking
developments in firearm technology may set into motion a decade-old New Jersey gun
law. Several firearms manufacturers have
successfully created a “smart gun,” a gun that can only be fired when in the
right hands. In December of 2002, New
Jersey’s then governor James E. McGreevey enacted legislation requiring
all handguns sold in the state of New Jersey to be smart guns within three
years of the technology being readily available. Now, with smart guns (also known as
personalized guns) currently being manufactured and sold throughout Europe, it appears
that smart gun technology is in fact readily available.
While several companies have successfully
created smartguns, each uses different technology and processes. For example, Armatix, a Germany-based company
uses radio frequency technology in its .22-caliber pistol. The pistol only activates if the holder is
wearing a corresponding radio controlled watch.
As soon as the gun loses radio contact with the watch, the gun
automatically deactivates itself and cannot be fired. The gun’s safety mechanism can be activated
and deactivated with a PIN code entered through the watch, though the safety
mechanism can also be activated and deactivated manually. Similarly, an Ireland-based company called
Triggersmart has developed a comparable radio technology that they intend to
license to gun manufacturers. Like the
Armatix smartgun, the Triggersmart gun can only be fired if the holder is
wearing a corresponding radio transmitter, in this case a ring. However, the company also offers radio
frequency chips for subdermal implantation.
Another company, Kodiak Arms, an American company based in Utah,
manufactures a gun that uses a fingerprint locking system. The gun, dubbed the “Intelligun,” has a
thumbprint scanner on the gun handle, and can only fire when the owner’s
thumbprint remains in contact with the scanner.
The gun owner can authorize others to be able to use the gun as well. Kodiak Arms says the Intelligun will be in
full production by the end of 2013. Meanwhile,
researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology are in the process of
developing a smart gun that recognizes the size and shape of the hand holding
the gun, as well as the pressure applied by the hand.
For New Jersey’s ban on the sale of
ordinary handguns to go into effect, New Jersey’s Attorney General must report
to the Governor and the legislature that a manufacturer has delivered at least
one production model of a personalized handgun to a registered firearms dealer
in the U.S. According to New Jersey
statute a personalized handgun means “a handgun which incorporates within its
design, and as part of its original manufacture, technology which automatically
limits its operational use and which cannot be readily deactivated, so that it
may only be fired by an authorized or recognized user.” Also, “no make or model of a handgun shall be
deemed to be a ‘personal handgun’ unless the Attorney General has determined,
through testing or other reasonable means, that the handgun meets any reliability
standards…” Twenty-four months after this initial delivery, New Jersey’s
Attorney General must direct the Superintendent of State Police to compile a
list of smartguns that may be sold in the state. A copy of this list will then be made
available to registered and licensed firearms dealers in New Jersey. The Attorney General must also create rules
and regulations for establishing a process for future handgun manufacturers to
demonstrate that their handguns meet New Jersey’s statutory definition of a
personalized handgun. Six months after
the compilation of the list of personalized handguns which may be sold in the
state, no person, retailer, or wholesaler can sell non-personalized handguns in
the state of New Jersey. However, this
ban on non-personalized handguns does not apply to federal, state and local law
enforcement officers or members of the Armed Forces. Also, New Jersey residents who obtained a
non-personalized handgun prior to the enactment of this ban will not be
required to vacate their firearms.
Though personalized handguns are
available online from European manufacturers, they are not yet available
through U.S. distributors. However, with
both Kodiak Arms and Armatix claiming that they will have a personalized
handgun on the shelves at the end of this year, it appears that New Jersey’s
ban on non-personalized handgun may soon go into motion, possibly culminating
in 2016.
The entire text of New Jersey’s
personalized-gun legislation can be found here.
(Blog entry written by Alex Diamond, IBLT/Carter DeLuca Entrepreneurship Support Fellow for the Fall 2013 semester)
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