“I then had the biggest development in smart-gun technology coming together at my facility in Utah — the Intelligun” says W. P. Gentry, president of Kodiak Arms. The Intelligun uses scanners on a pistol’s grips. If a person’s biometrics — essentially, the patterns of his fingerprints — have been added to the gun’s software, the pistol will activate within one second of being touched.
“This interested Eric Holder,” Gentry says. “He wondered how we might be able to control who was or wasn’t authorized. I stopped him right there. I looked right across a table at Eric Holder — yeah, the attorney general of the United States — and told him, ‘If you try to mandate my smart-gun technology, I’ll burn it down.’ The Intelligun is designed to save lives, not restrict freedom.”
via The Smart-Gun Maker Who Told Holder Off | National Review Online.
Go read the whole article. Although Intelligun is eons better than the rest of the “solutions” out there (it is the user who gets to define how the system will work of if it is activated at all) the potential for legal abuse is still too high. Under the excuse of “sensible regulation” anti-gun legislators may impose onerous taxes or demands for insurance to gun owners with weapons that do not have the technology installed. Read it as Obamacare for Guns and you will get the idea.
IMHO, until all 50 states and at Federal level we have Strict Scrutiny deeply rooted, we are better off keeping this particular genie safely bottled.
Nevertheless, Mr. Gentry gets mucho kudos for telling Eric Holder off. Well done, sir.
Hat Tip to Jay H.
I see a Kimber used in the photo in the linked article. Has Kimber supported or endorsed this technology?
If they have I may have to reconsider some things.
It is an aftermarket device for 1911s. No support from any major company as far as I know.
Ah ok so its “a 1911” not “a Kimber endorsement”.
Maybe I’m overly sensitive but if any major firearms maker starts pushing smart gun stuff I’m going to stop buying or stop endorsing their products.
Kimber is very very good about supporting the Friends of the NRA. Their help lets the Friends fund real gun safety programs like Eddie Eagle and Women on Target. I was concerned that they might be jumping the shark by signing on with smart gun garbage.
I can see it as an aftermarket device for a home gun if you have kids….if it is as reliable as indicated. And no mandatory crap ever.
I have a kid (2 years old if it matters). If its not on my belt its locked up. I’m just coming into the “oh wow he can do that?” stage. He helped load a dozen rounds of .40 last week and pointed to my Glock in the holster and said “wots dat?”
The real danger in depending on smart devices, rather than smart kids, is that sooner or later he’ll be at my friends’ places and come across a gun or find at one of his friends’ homes. This is the same wether its guns, dogs, swimmin pools, Jarts, power tools, whatever. An over reliance on devices makes my son LESS safe than if I teach him how to be safe. I might have those widgets but if he learns dads gun won’t go off without dads watch then he finds a gun and assumes the same thing… bad things happen.
I am echoing what I have learned from Mas Ayoob and Cathy (Cornered Cat). I am a shooter but did not grow up in a house with guns so this is as new to me as it is to someone with no kids!
In short, use cabinet locks but teach your kid to not drink bleach at the same time.
Great point. Education is always the priority and the more we educate, the safer we are. If we can add (voluntarily) another layer of protection, I am for it also.
Yup, derfreiheit,
Gun proof (and drown proof, power-tool proof, etc.) your kids because you can’t kid proof the universe. Since your Special Snowflake will encounter hazards, teach them to be safe, don’t count on the Universe giving a damn.
The Universe hates you (and your kids) and wants to kill you (and them); don’t let it succeed. This is the First Rule of Engineering.