Smart Guns on 60 Minutes

[jason812]

Until my tv works in a storm, no way I would consider this. Firearms already are not always 100% reliable and adding electronics doesn't seem to add to the reliability factor.

[C-dub]

Don't need one. Don't want one.

The only ring I wear is my wedding ring. I don't wear bracelets and only rarely wear a watch.

And the only "smart" gun I'm aware of only comes in .22lr.

[Rrash]

And the only "smart" gun I'm aware of only comes in .22lr.

True, but if there were a market, it would be made in the calibers we desire. I think I'm with everyone here is saying I have concerns about:
1. Reliability
2. Cost
3. Interference - could these RIFD's (or whatever technology would be used) be manipulated, hacked. etc.?
4. Practicality

Call me crazy, but my present firearms work just fine, and as previously mentioned, aren't 100% reliable already. And being from Texas, I could see a few of us simply duct taping the RIFD to the gun. What good is a gun with a watch taped to the grip, other than an expensive, less reliable tool that also tells time? Frankly, it comes down to the user regardless of the technology.

[JALLEN]

What is the claimed improvement, supposedly?

[The Annoyed Man]

What is the claimed improvement, supposedly?

Supposedly renders it unable to fire without being paired via BlueTooth or some similar technology to a bracelet, or key fob, or whatever they sell along with the gun. The bracelet/fob must be paired to the gun so that the gun can fire. So if your gun is stolen, it can't be fired because you have the "electronic key" that enables firing. Here's what I know. I wear a FitBit everyday. It will resist sweat, but not immersion. You can't wear it in the shower. Water fries it, rendering it ineffective, AND preventing it from communicating with the FitBit app on my mobile device. Now, imagine that the FitBit is the bracelet you have to wear to enable the gun, and you get robbed or assaulted during a heavy downpour, or thrown in a creek during an assault, or you simply accidentally whack the bracelet against a door frame as you walk through it. Imagine that it can then no longer pair with the gun, and the gun can therefore no longer be fired.

IF......and that is a BIG if....... somebody gets to mass-producing this kind of nonsense, the Secret Service's presidential detail should be required to be the first to beta-test it in an operational environment, before the testing program gets passed on to the Capitol police for further testing, BEFORE congress ever passes any legislation mandating this crap.

[Jim Beaux]

There is also the probability that the gun could be hacked or intentionally rendered inoperable. Show me a radio wave & someone else will show up with a way to interfere with it.

[dale blanker]

I'm wondering if a smart gun might be worthwhile for OC(?). Then if the OCer were overcome and their gun was grabbed, at least it could not be used against them. Better yet how about one that backfires if the owner was not firing it? (kidding)

Apparently the smart gun is mainly intended for those who are not comfortable with owning a gun. It's not clear why there is strong objection having them for sale. Caveat Emptor?

[Jago668]

Imagine trying to predict the technology we have now, 100 years ago. So I can't say that the technology for it will never exist. However I can't see how you'd make it work to my satisfaction right now. I'm opposed to the idea in general, but I guess it is theoretically possible to make one that might interest me. Though I wouldn't replace my regular guns with it. I also can't imagine trusting my life to it. So without some drastic change in technology I have zero interest in one, and either way I have zero interest in a law mandating their use.

[dale blanker]

...
I also can't imagine trusting my life to it. So without some drastic change in technology I have zero interest in one, and either way I have zero interest in a law mandating their use.

In general mechanical problems are much more likely to fail than electronic component ones. Next time you drive your car think about what some little microprocessor is doing for you. Everything! Try finding a car that doesn't have one.

[G.A. Heath]

I am a big fan of technology and making things better, but when you add complexity you add points of failure and eventually you will see it fail. Where I work we have a fingerprint scanner for our time clock, it's not unusual for users to be misidentified or for someone to be unable to clock in. I use the finger print scanner on my smart phone for security, sometimes it takes three or four tries to unlock it (on rare occasions I actually have to use the password to get into it). If I was using a firearm for fun I would not care if it took a few tries to enable it before a day of shooting, but on a self defense weapon I want it to be point and click simple and it must not require me to try again to unlock it. Smart guns are not the way to go, not because they would be more expensive or other reasons, but because the technology is not reliable enough.

[Jago668]

...
I also can't imagine trusting my life to it. So without some drastic change in technology I have zero interest in one, and either way I have zero interest in a law mandating their use.

In general mechanical problems are much more likely to fail than electronic component ones. Next time you drive your car think about what some little microprocessor is doing for you. Everything! Try finding a car that doesn't have one.

The thing is unless you are using a direct energy weapon there will still be mechanical components. The way the guns stand now the only electronic part is a safety, all the rest is still the same guts as before. So you aren't even upgrading a less reliable mechanical bit for a more reliable electronic bit. You are just slapping electronics on top of the same mechanical you have now. So you are getting all the failure of mechanical, plus all the failure of electronic. While it may keep someone from stealing your gun and being able to shoot it later somewhere else. Most of the ones I've seen still work within a few feet of you. So you're gun can still be used to shoot you. So more unreliable, and not any more safe.

I don't see any benefit to them now. Like I said though, the right tech comes along I'd probably pick one up. I can't imagine it being awesome enough to trust my life to, but you never know. I still stand by my statement that I as they are now I have zero interest in one. I still stand by my statement that I have zero interest in a law mandating their use, ever.

As to what a little microprocessor is doing for me in my car. At least when an old car broke you could halfway work on it yourself. Though if someone can make a smart gun that works as well as my old toyota tacoma did that'd go a long way to selling me on them.

[txhighlander]

Doesn't that just mean when they steal the "smart gun " they steal the electronic component as well? What good would it truely do? Just make crooks think a little more. I know technology is wonderful when it works and terrible and costly when it breaks. The best and worst thing to happen to the world of big trucks is the smart component. Shop time went up a great deal. It went up so much that company's who use to keep the trucks to the million mile point and rebuild then go another million now look at them as throw away trucks. They dump them when the warranty runs out due to less reliability. My boss does it. Shop time is staggering. If you could keep your smart gun in a perfect environment then maybe it might work, but what about life is perfect? Not for me.

[bmwrdr]

Until my tv works in a storm, no way I would consider this. Firearms already are not always 100% reliable and adding electronics doesn't seem to add to the reliability factor.

I am 100% with you. There is a reason why many police officers carry a backup gun.
I think the given technology (mechanics) could be perfected before we talk about advanced technologies.
A classic example is the 9 mm parabellum cartridge, it just took many years until it wqas accepted as an effective caliber.
So far we went from steel, to SS, to aircraft grade alloys like scansdium, to polymer as an essential material and one of these days ceramics may be used to manufacture gun parts. The benefits of technology were weight savings, longer maintenance intervals and most important the lower prices for the end consumer.

[bmwrdr]

What is the claimed improvement, supposedly?

Supposedly renders it unable to fire without being paired via BlueTooth or some similar technology to a bracelet, or key fob, or whatever they sell along with the gun. The bracelet/fob must be paired to the gun so that the gun can fire. So if your gun is stolen, it can't be fired because you have the "electronic key" that enables firing. Here's what I know. I wear a FitBit everyday. It will resist sweat, but not immersion. You can't wear it in the shower. Water fries it, rendering it ineffective, AND preventing it from communicating with the FitBit app on my mobile device. Now, imagine that the FitBit is the bracelet you have to wear to enable the gun, and you get robbed or assaulted during a heavy downpour, or thrown in a creek during an assault, or you simply accidentally whack the bracelet against a door frame as you walk through it. Imagine that it can then no longer pair with the gun, and the gun can therefore no longer be fired.

IF......and that is a BIG if....... somebody gets to mass-producing this kind of nonsense, the Secret Service's presidential detail should be required to be the first to beta-test it in an operational environment, before the testing program gets passed on to the Capitol police for further testing, BEFORE congress ever passes any legislation mandating this crap.

Unfortunately the most absurd ideas are usually a hit and supported by too many politicians for a well known reason.
Take the cyber security spending of our government and compare it to the security breaches recently reported in the news. Cyber criminals have access to personal information of millions of government employees. In other words, we are not even able to secure our personal information but some brilliant thinkers already added Obamacare and now the idea of the electronic monitor for a gun.
One can imagine having something like an RFID device paired with a gun and personal information stored on a government system.