As 'Smart Guns' Become a Thing, They Bring New Complexities
The gun industry has seen the future, and it's the iPhone. Or rather, the iGun. That's just our pet name for a new trend that is emerging in the gun world: Smart guns. These are guns outfitted with impressive technology that allows them to "think" and recognize its proper owner. The smart gun pace has picked up in recent years, as mass shootings — like what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut — are becoming almost commonplace. Of course, nothing is ever simple when it comes to guns. Not even something that is supposedly so smart.
The Armatix iP1 is the first smart gun to ever be available on a wide scale. The gun comes with a watch. If the watch isn't within a close range of the gun, the gun won't work. You could, we guess, hit a robber with it, but that's all. The iP1 is a game changer. States are already adopting pro-smart gun laws — New Jersey and California both have laws that say that within a few years of the tech coming to market, only smart guns can be sold there — so the iP1 is expected to be backed by impressive sales. There's also the TriggerSmart smart gun, which uses radio frequencies to unlock the weapon. The radio waves can be sent via a chip worn on a ring, or if you're feeling futuristic, imbedded into your skin.
Even entrepreneurs are getting in on the smart gun game. Ron Conway, an early investor in Facebook and Google (read: He's got plenty of cash) launched a contest promising $1 million to whoever can come up with the best smart gun design. "We need the iPhone of guns,” Conway told The Washington Post. "The entrepreneur who does this right could be the Mark Zuckerberg of guns. Then the venture capitalists like me will dive in, give them capital, and we will build a multibillion-dollar gun company that makes safe, smart guns." However, some of the winners of the challenge are afraid to come out publicly due to the controversy surrounding gun laws.
Gun control advocates are completely on board with the smart gun wave. Stephen Teret, who founded the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, uses the phrase "life saving technology" when talking about smart guns."We need to get it into guns," Teret explained to NPR. "There's politics that have prevented that from happening, but we've got to get beyond those politics."
Politics are definitely an obstacle, but they are just one piece of the smart gun puzzle. The most obvious concern? Will this really curtail gun violence? Most media-grabbing shootings are performed by the legal owners of the guns. Having to put a watch on won't stop them. Another thing to worry about is if making guns high tech will actually increase gun ownership. People love having the latest, greatest tech — why wouldn't they want a fancy gun, too?
For now, the smart gun movement is in its infancy. The iP1 though, has cracked the ice. It will be interesting to see where the smart gun trend is in 10 years. We doubt it will be any less complicated of an issue than it is now.
[Image via Flickr - M Glasgow]
