Smart-Gun makers say the market, tech isn't ready
In his January gun control address, President Obama asked, "If we can set it up so you can't unlock your phone without a fingerprint, why can't we do the same thing for our guns?" The answer is complicated.
Digitally equipped firearms have been around since the 1990s. They are designed to prevent accidents and criminality by working only for authorized users. They employ biometric technology, like fingerprint scanners, or a radio-frequency device such as a ring or bracelet that sends a signal to unlock the weapon.
Colt's Manufacturing dropped a smart-gun project in the late 1990s after a severe consumer backlash.
Jonathan Mossberg of O.F. Mossberg & Sons gun manufacturing company says his company has a smart gun ready for the marketplace, but the market doesn't seem ready for it.
Margot Hirsch, president of the nonprofit Smart Tech Challenges Foundation, reports that the technologies aren't ready for the market yet. They need more R&D.
