Is the Smart Gun Technology there to make the President Obama’s Proposal Workable?

Smart gun technology has been a method that governments and the Gun Industry has been working on for years. In fact, more than a few people have noted in recent articles that it is a project that has been going on for the past thirty years. And unfortunately even after thirty years we are still not there yet. Believe it or not, government funding on the research of smart guns has dried up. In fact the last project that was funded by the government on this area took place in 2010. And because of that the private sector has only funded small amounts of research in this area. And because the camp of either pro-gun or anti-gun has become so fierce there really is no workable solution for what the President wants.

You see the problem with smart technology on guns is that it is in infancy. In fact you can argue that it is still being born. Armatix’s iP1 is one of the latest in the gun industry for a smart gun. But testing has not been done to see how it holds up. Now some of us are going to have to test new things but in general I would not suggest putting a smart gun that may or may not be reliable in the field. The reasoning is that in a controlled environment you have control. And in the field you have no control. And unfortunately in law enforcement and military settings you train in a control environment but you are practicing for a field where the rules can change in seconds.

One of the things that makes Armatix interesting is that it uses cell signals from a smart watch to actually allow one to use the firearm to fire. Now this is interesting but since the firearm and the smart watch both are using batteries this could have unintended consequences. In fact what might work in a law enforcement setting will be completely different in a military one, where prolong firing can cause heat and maybe even damage the battery in the firearm allowing it to fire. And since you need a signal from both to function, the loss of either battery makes it suddenly the most expensive paperweight (on a side note, if a gun is never fired the batteries in the gun only last for a year) And since this is for a 22 caliber hand gun there are some things that will need to change on the batteries. This is because the larger the caliber the greater the heat meaning that the Armatix will need to refigured how to make a smart gun work without worrying about excessive heat from larger caliber rounds.

One of the other worry about the battery operated smart firearm is water, and the basic maintenance of the firearm when cleaning it. Gun oil could probably effect the life time of the battery and one will need to test it extensively how it holds up to years of cleaning it daily. Because one of the basic tenets of owning a firearm is cleaning after it after every use. And if it degrades the battery how much and how long does it take before it is worthless. And while many people may think that water is a dumb thing to worry about with a firearm. I would like to point out that amphibious landings are still part of military training. Plus you have circumstances where law enforcement do occasionally work out in the water and open sea. It would be handy for them to know if their gun is reliable or if they are suddenly vulnerable if they find themselves going into the water.

One of the most dangerous things we find ourselves with these new smart guns is that they are using technology that we ourselves know is vulnerable. A smart gun that requires cell signals can suddenly find itself in a particular dilemma if cell jammers are being used. Plus we are finding hackers who are cloning cell phones which would not stop them from cloning the smart watch that Armatix is using to make their gun safe and smart. Even with those features being discounted. You also have the reliance on a watch that has to be within 10 inches of the gun to fire. Meaning that law enforcement that deals with the most people who may scuffle and struggle with them, can suddenly find their firearm still killing them.

This is not to say that we should not be looking at making guns smarter. This is just adding to the conversation. As you have probably noticed that I never mentioned price for the new smart gun that Armatix. This was done on purpose. Smart technology is developing and is still has a long way to go. And because it is still developing you are looking at unusally high prices. Think of when computers first came out. Remember when computers on the cheap were 10,000 dollars or more. Well smart guns are still at those kind of pricing. When the most expensive 22 caliber pistol is $389.99 when it is not a smart gun, and the smart gun is at $1,800 dollars it turns a number of gun owners off. It is not fair or right but it is what it is. And right now smart guns are a work in progress and it shows. And unless the federal government is willing to put money into research and development it will be a long time before smart guns are economical and ready for the public.

That is not to say that the Federal Government has not spent money on smart guns. They have. They have awarded three million dollars to research and development into smart guns, since 1997. Which is two percent of the budget that Apple put into creating the first iPhone. Now I understand that the Police Chief in San Francisco has said that smart guns are a “no brainer” but reality begs to differ. If you were to take Armatix and ask them to build a smart gun that fired a 45 caliber round they are going to back with a firearm close to 6,000 dollars (this is working back from what their 22 caliber costs verses the most expensive 22 non smart gun costs and using that to figure out what a 45 caliber costs). And when waking among criminals who are reading up on hand guns as much as everyone else who is a gun owner that raises red flags. Even if they can’t tell the make and model of the gun you still have a smart watch that looks remarkably like the Apple watch which is priced at $549. Which means that being a plains clothes cop can become remarkably hazardous to one’s health.

So the answer for right now is that the President is shooting for the moon. And I hope to one day see smart guns become available. But until we are seeing the level of money put into making a true smart gun, what the president has asked for will never happen in twenty years or longer. And I am not saying we should not shoot for the moon. But you cannot shoot for the moon if all you are using is a squirt gun. So in layman terms the President should have said I want to do research and develop a smart gun that actually works that is cheap, and has the ability to keep gun owners and the public safe. Because right now the research and the technology isn’t there to do what the Obama Administration wants. All Obama did was generate headlines for a moment, and did nothing to further his agenda than say a few words that will have no effect, and create a paper trail that will support that statement.