Speaking of the ongoing National Rifle Association (NRA) annual meeting and exhibits, one of the firearms technologies I have been interested in seeing develop is “smart guns.” As many gun people know, a New Jersey law mandating the sale of smart guns once the technology was brought to market seriously impeded developments in this area.
But as Stephen Gutowski notes in a recent analysis on The Reload — “Are ‘Smart Guns’ About to Change the Market?” — that law was reformed in 2019. (Gutowski’s article is a member exclusive, but why aren’t you already subscribed to The Reload already?)
I am hopeful that allowing the market to operate unencumbered by such mandates will hasten the availability of smart guns to those of us who may want one and also help drive the prices down more quickly.
The key here is to those of us who may want one. I see the primary market for smart guns (initially, at least) as those who want to have a firearm readily available at home but who also want to prevent unauthorized use of that firearm. I.e., responsible gun owners.
According to Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons, this is precisely the point of the Biofire Smart Gun (h/t again to Stephen Gutowski’s The Reload).
It is not a general-purpose firearm. It is a specific-purpose firearm. Check out his review of the Biofire on the Forgotten Weapons YouTube channel.
As someone who only recently converted to biometric identification on my smartphone and struggles mightily to get either fingerprint or face recognition to work the first time, I was a bit skeptical of the dual fingerprint and face recognition technologies on the Biofire.
But McCollum’s testing of a prototype suggests the technology to be reliable. Hopefully as bugs get worked out on the way to market, it will become even more so.
The $2,500 founders edition shipping in Q4 2023 is said to be sold out. No information on how many units that includes. Initial pricing for the “launch edition” in Q1 2024 is $1,600 and the regular gun shipping in Q2 2024 is $1,500. For what the technology provides, that actually seems quite reasonable to me. I guess I need to start pushing my merch store and Buy Me a Coffee page harder over the next 6 months so I can get in line.
There will no doubt be skeptics of the Biofire (and smart guns more generally) in the gun community. People not just concerned about the technology itself (which is understandable), but of the possibility that legislation like New Jersey’s will make a comeback once the technology hits the market (which is also understandable and unfortunate).
As someone who has relationships with people on all sides of the great gun debates in America, I could not in good conscience tell a gun rights supporter that they don’t have to worry that gun control advocates will not use smart gun technology as a reason to further regulate firearms. Some in the self-proclaimed gun safety movement are their own worst enemies sometimes.
Gun Culture 2.0 
Long run for a short slide.
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So I live in NJ (yeah I know but until I retire in a few years) originally when NJ proposed the “smart” gun laws, no other type of gun could be sold/ registered in NJ (all handguns must be registered). So I do Bullseye and some steel plate competitions. I could keep what I have but never buy another pistol suitable for those types of competitions. The proposed law was modified to allow the continued sale of other types but the intent if quite clear, like California, you can only buy what we approve of.
As another example of NJ thinking. They wanted to pass a law saying that you had to have a background check to purchase ammo. Originally any ammo but finally only ammo that could be used in a handgun. You would have to do it in person, show your FID, have a background check and only buy a small amount at a time, Again they were looking to limit it to two magazines worth, (NJ law limits magazine size to 10 rounds). Besides bullseye I do small-bore rifle. Since my bullseye pistols are .22LR between the rifle and the pistol I shoot about 5,000 rds a year in competition. A typical bullseye competition uses 90 rds. A small-bore competition anywhere from 100 to 250 rds.
I could not but enough for a competition. Fortunately it did not pass in that form but what did pass was any purchase had to be reported to the NJ state police, if purchase in person or online. If online you had to provide a copy of your FID and Driver’s license and FID. Many of the online retailers will not sell to a J resident as they do not want to be bother with the paperwork.
I have to buy my ammo online because I use Eley at $20 to $35 a box of 50. Retailer in NJ do not carry it as it is too small of a market. I usually buy two cases (10,000 rds) at a time. Look at the Shotgunner Kim Rhodes – she usually buys a palette at time she practices so much and it comes from her sponsor.
The up shot is they will do anything they can to prevent law abiding citizens from shooting but do not do anything to limit criminals.
The smart gun is just another opportunity for them to screw us over.
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CA’s microstamping requirement — in two places, no less, which is physically impossible — was intended as a gradual, tacit ban on semi-auto handguns. Fortunately, the Roster has just been struck down.
We still have background checks for each and every caliber in a purchase. Since ammo is both fungible and consumable, it’s of no use whatsoever. Again, the purpose is to: 1) punish gun owners with an inconvenience; 2) create manyfold more opportunities to trip up FFLs with a clerical error.
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People are also skeptical because smart guns are by definition battery powered and while people use battery powered sights, they are usually cowitnessed with iron sight for backup. If a smart gun battery fails, yet alone the biometric recognition, then it is a piece of plastic with metal parts. Can one produce a jammer that makes an electronic gun inoperative, quite possibly. Will gun control advocates create laws that mandate these “safe” guns? Absolutely. Will they make mechanical guns illegal? They will definitely try.
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The only actual use case for so-called Smart Guns is to prevent them from being taken away from you and used against you. Since the people who have that happen to them with a fair amount of regularity are cops, I’ll start paying attention to smart guns when they are generally issued to police officers.
I want my gun to be as dumb as possible. If my near vision hadn’t degraded so much in my old age I probably would still be running iron sights. I want to be able to hand my gun to anyone and have it work for them. I will never know who I will have to rely upon when something bad happens. I don’t want to have to go through an initialization and registration process just to let my neighbor borrow a handgun so he can keep watch during a civil disturbance.
If people want them, fine. I sure as heck don’t.
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Just one more thing to break.
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