A smart gun, also called a smart-gun, or smartgun, is a firearm that can detect it is being used by authorized user(s) or in an authorized location. Various designs have been proposed to prevent accidental discharge and criminal misuse of firearms. The term is also used in science fiction to refer to various types of firearms with self-aiming capabilities or which use smart bullets.
User-specific smart guns typically employ RFID chips or other proximity tokens. They are intended to prevent accidental shootings (e.g. by children), gun thefts, and criminal usage by persons not authorized to use the guns.
Location-based guns implement geofencing via GPS; a wireless signal from a base station or a motion-activated time lock to prevent usage if the firearm is stolen or otherwise removed from its authorized location.
Related to smart guns are other smart firearms safety devices such as biometric or RFID activated accessories and safes.
Commercial availability No smart gun has ever been sold on the commercial market in the United States. The Armatix iP1, a .22 caliber handgun with an active RFID watch used to unlock it, is the most mature smart gun developed. It was briefly planned to be offered at a few retailers before being quickly withdrawn due to pressure from gun-rights advocates concerned that it would trigger the New Jersey Childproof Handgun Law.
As of 2019, a number of startups and companies including Armatix, Biofire, LodeStar Firearms, and Swiss company SAAR are purportedly developing various smart handguns and rifles, but none have brought the technology to market.
Operating Principles User-specific guns User-specific smart guns cannot be fired unless unlocked by an authorized user. Proposed mechanisms are mostly proximity-based, where the firearm activates in the presence of a corresponding RFID tag contained in a watch, bracelet, ring or other jewellery worn by the user, or embedded in the user's skin.
Miniaturised electronics have raised the possibility of firearms which activate based on a biometric challenge, such as a user's fingerprints.
Location-based guns Since the 1980s, several patents have been filed describing firearms that can only be used within a location, or for a short period of time after being moved. The intention is that firearms can be held for home defense but will deactivate if removed from the home.
One patent describes a firearm that cannot be fired unless it has remained motionless for a relatively long time, e.g. 24 hours. Following that time period, there is only a relatively short time period that it can be fired after being picked up for use, e.g. 5 minutes.US Patent 5192818, John M. Martin, "Means for reducing the criminal usefulness of hand weapons", issued 1993-3-9 After its firing time period expires, it must undergo its motionless period again to allow firing. Consequently, the usefulness of this gun is restricted to locations relatively close to where it is kept, e.g. its owner's property. A demonstration model having timing and movement sensing circuitry was produced in 1989 but not marketed commercially.R. A. Lesmeister "A Cordless .38" American Firearms Industry, April 1989 p. 24, 25.
Later patents describe locationized guns that cannot fire unless they are in range of a signal that enables the gun,US Patent 5068989, John M. Martin, "Means for reducing the criminal usefulness of dischargeable hand weapons", issued 1991-12-3US Patent 5168114, Jerome M. Enget, "Automatic gun safety device", issued 1992-12-13 US Patent 6314671, Armand Gering, "Fire arm equipped with an enabling system", issued 2001-11-13US Patent 6412207, Caleb Clark Crye, Dmitry Yavid, Efrain Luke Rodriguez, "Firearm safety and control system", issued 2002-7-2Barry Gross. New Handgun Could Be Used For Self-Defense, But Not Crime. The Washington Post. p. WB19. 28 May 1984. or else using a system of radio frequency triangulation such as GPS or cell phone signals to determine its location.US Patent 6438887, John M. Martin, "Dischargeable hand weapons having reduced criminal usefulness", issued 2002-8-27<US Patent 6415542, Cary Lee Bates, Eric John Nelson, John Matthew Santosuosso, "Location-based firearm discharge prevention", issued 2002-7-9 Firing is allowed only if the gun's location is electronically determined to be within the area stored in memory of where its firing is allowed, such as a home, business, or hunting area.
Reception Reception to the concept of smart gun technology has been mixed. There have been public calls to develop the technology, most notably from President Obama. Gun-rights groups including the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) have expressed concerns that the technology could be mandated, and some firearms owners are concerned that the technology wouldn't be reliable enough to trust.
National Rifle Association of America The NRA and its membership boycotted Smith & Wesson after it was revealed in 1999 that the company was developing a smart gun for the U.S. government.
The official position of the NRA-ILA (the lobbying arm of the NRA) with regards to smart guns, is: "The NRA doesn't oppose the development of 'smart' guns, nor the ability of Americans to voluntarily acquire them. However, NRA opposes any law prohibiting Americans from acquiring or possessing firearms that don't possess "smart" gun technology."NRA-ILA Issues. "'Smart' Guns/Personalized Firearms" . NRA-ILA. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
Law enforcement Some smart gun proponents have called for federal, state, and local police organizations to take the lead on adopting smart gun technology, either voluntarily or via purchasing mandate.5 NBC Chicago. "Demonstrations Continue Outside Police Chiefs Conference in Chicago". 5 NBC News Chicago. Retrieved April 28, 2016. There has been scattered support for voluntary test programs from some law enforcement leaders, including San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr, who has said, "Officer safety is huge, so you wouldn't want to compel that upon officers. But we have so many officers who are so into technology, I am all but certain there are officers that would be willing to do such a pilot.".BENNY EVANGELISTA. "San Francisco Police Chief Offers to Pilot Smart Gun Tech". GT: Government Technology. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
Richard Beary, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said there would be "plenty of agencies interested in beta testing the technology" and that "[a smart gun] can't be 99 percent accurate, it has to be 100 percent accurate. It has to work every single time." James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents 325,000 officers nationwide, has stated, "I don’t think that police officers, or anybody for that matter, should be guinea pigs for untested, deadly weapons,"
New Jersey mandate
In the United States, New Jersey passed the Childproof Handgun Bill into state law on December 23, 2002, which would have required that all guns sold in the state of New Jersey have a mechanism to prevent unauthorized users from firing it, taking effect three years after such a smart gun is approved by the state.ASSEMBLY LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE STATEMENT TO ASSEMBLY, No. 700 with committee amendments Weapons used by law enforcement officers would be exempt from the smart gun requirement. In July 2019, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a bill which repealed substantially all of the original Childproof Handgun Law and replaced it with a requirement that after the state Attorney General approves a production model each firearms retailer in the state would be required to carry and display at least one smart gun on their shelves with "a sign... disclosing the features of personalized handguns that are not offered by traditional handguns".
The potential effects of New Jersey's smart gun law has also influenced opposition to the technology in the United States; two attempts to sell the Armatix iP1 smart gun in California and Maryland were met with opposition from gun rights groups, who argued that allowing the gun to be sold in the United States would trigger the law. In December 2014, the Attorney General of New Jersey determined that the Armatix iP1 would not meet the legal criteria sufficient to trigger the mandate.
Reliability concerns Many firearm advocates object to smart guns on a philosophical and regulatory basis. Gun ownership advocate Kenneth W. Royce, writing under the pen name of "Boston T. Party", wrote that "no defensive firearm should ever rely upon any technology more advanced than Newtonian physics. That includes batteries, radio links, encryption, scanning devices and microcomputers."
TechCrunch technology and outdoors journalist Jon Stokes summarizes the reliability concerns with smart guns stating,Jon Stokes. "Why Obama's Smart Gun Push Will Misfire". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
Potential advantages
Gun owners User-specific firearm safety technology is intended to prevent the accidental use and misuse of firearms by children and teens, as well as reducing accidental discharges or the use of a firearm against its owner if the firearm is stolen or taken away. Smart guns may also reduce incidents of suicide by unauthorized users of a firearm.
Location-based guns are argued to satisfy the right to possess arms for defense of homes and businesses while being useless for the commission of crimes away from those homes and businesses, or in gang-related violence. Theft of firearms is deterred by the firearm's being deactivated on removal.
Law enforcement Law enforcement applications also hold promise; San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr went on record supporting smart guns for their potential to reduce the risk of having a law enforcement officer's gun used against him or her, and for rendering stolen guns unfireable. Richard Beary, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, was quoted in the Washington Post as saying there would be "plenty of agencies interested in beta testing the [smart gun] technology."
In October 2013 the European Commission published a document by commissioner Cecilia Malmström, stating that "the Commission will work with the firearms industry to explore technological solutions, such as biometric sensors where personal data is stored in the firearm, for ensuring that purchased firearms may only be used by their legal owner. It will carry out a detailed cost-benefit analysis on the question of making such 'smart gun' security features mandatory for firearms lawfully sold in the EU."European Commission: Firearms and the internal security of the EU: protecting citizens and disrupting illegal trafficking, published October 10, 2013
An advantage of proposed location-based guns depends on them having electronic circuitry and electronic control over firing. Those technologies make it relatively easy to design them to communicate with a Cellular network or other communication system to provide discharge information or to be externally prevented from firing regardless of location. This could allow Police to disable firearms in an area during operations and locate stolen firearms.
Potential disadvantages