"Let’s head further in this direction"

In the direction of a gun that can only be used by its owner or by those the owner authorizes:

Intelligun^® is a fingerprint locking system which completely locks your gun, unlocking it immediately only for you and for your authorized users.

No keys, watches, or codes are needed. All you do is pick up and hold your gun normally, and Intelligun^® reads your fingerprint, authorizes you, and unlocks your gun right away, allowing only you to use your gun. Right when you let go of your gun, Intelligun^®relocks your gun, rendering it completely inoperable.

Seems sensible.  If it works.

Mark Shea is credited for the find and adds:

If it’s crap then nobody will buy it and that will be that. On the other hand, if it turns out to be a good reliable weapon that can’t be used by bad guys, then the market will (aside from some giant gun comglomerate doing something shady to destroy it) probably help make such weapons proliferate over the older versions. Seems like a good idea to me. Let’s head further in this direction.

Readers, what are the drawbacks?

Leave them in the comments.

Here's a video that explains the concept:

Comments

[CitizenScribe]

The short answer is, this is a bad idea.

I have pistols that haven't been fired in more than two years. As it stands now, I don't have to worry about battery failure, loss of saved biometric data, or any of the other common failures of high-tech devices. If an emergency occurred, I could grab one of these and know that -- because it's a purely mechanical system -- I could depend on it to function and protect myself and the lives of my family.

If it got dunked in a flood, it would still function. If it was dropped hard, it would still function. EMP? Still function. And, if it came down to it, I could hand my pistol to a law enforcement officer -- or even a neighbor -- whose own gun had failed or run empty.

The idea that a machine whose mission is to be reliable, dependable, and available AT ALL TIMES can somehow be improved by introducing yet another point of failure? Sorry, no sale.

One final thing: armed resistance. That last desperate measure to preserve liberty over tyranny. Wouldn't it just be awesome if a rogue government, after declaring dissent to be illegal, decided to activate their firearm neutralizers as part of the disarmament process?

Let's not move any father in this direction.

[Mr. Bob]

Bad Idea.

Gun control is not about saving lives. Gun Control is about disarming the public.

Getting rid of all guns will not prevent murder. One does not have to go back for in history to understand this.

There is a contrdiction within todays american political and cultural values.

If americans were concerned about lives abortion would be unacceptable. It is not a stretch to see that if all these victims of school shootings were instead aborted in the womb, the political outrage we see today over lost lives would not be the topic of the day.

The issue is a condition of the human heart. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

[tim aka The Godless Heathen]

Seems like a great OPTION for some people. Let any adult decide to use this than fine, I have no problems.

Make it mandatory then all bets are off.

A few things to consider, only one person can use the gun after installation. If the wife or girlfriend or even an older child needs to use it…either they’d be out of luck, and possibly dead, or there would need to be multiple firearms in the home.

Also, the cost would be prohibitive for people. I can’t imagine this is cheap (didn’t watch to whole vid.) and may hinder someone from accruing a firearm with the added expense of this contraption. (Shall not be infringed…)

The reliability factor. How well does it work with greasy/dirty, even bloody hands? Also it looks like it can only be used with the owners primary shooting hand. If my hand/finger that allows me to activate it becomes disabled, say due to a struggle/fight/gunshot with intruder, I can’t merely switch hands and fire? Not good.

Otherwise…yeah sure. For people who want to use it. Don’t tell me I have to. I’ve go enough to worry about here in NY, the land of gun laws. And you know they’ll want to make this mandatory…

[CV1]

As long as it is presented as "optional equipment", I am fine with it.

[Pierre]

Absolutely terrible idea...awful idea. The government would have an off switch on my guns...well isn't that perfect. Right at the moment that we have a President who hangs around with people who dream of killing 25 million of us, we unilaterally disarm.

The problem isn't the guns it is the nuts behind the guns. Take the nuts off the street and get them care.

[Jimmy]

Ill get rid of mine when the govenrment gets rid of thiers. Why are they always looking for that power advantage?