(Aussie) Company, (NJ) Institute (of Tech.) Sign Smart Gun Deal

[Romulus]

from Yahoo news.com:

" Australian gun maker Metal Storm Ltd. and the New Jersey Institute of Technology in the United States said Friday they had signed an agreement to manufacture a "smart gun" that can only be fired by its owner.

In a joint statement the company and the New Jersey Institute, which is based in Hoboken, N.J., said under the agreement they would combine Metal Storm's electronic handgun known as the O'Dwyer Vle, with the institute's "dynamic grip recognition" technology."

*snip*

"He said the gun would meet standards under New Jersey laws passed last year which require smart gun technology to be used in all new handguns sold three years after the state attorney general determines a smart gun prototype is safe and commercially available.


The owner would have his or her grip programmed at a gun shop or police range by practice-firing the weapon. A microchip in the weapon would remember the grip and determine in an instant whether the authorized user was holding the weapon. If not, the gun would not fire.


Metal Storm's Australian general manager Ian Gillespie said the new handgun would go into production in the next couple of years."

*snip/end*

While I agree with this "smart gun" idea in principle, I do not agree with the referenced NJ law that exempts NJ law enforcement from this smart-gun mandate. Goose-Gander, et al.

I just hope this O'Dwyer Vle is sold in the "affordable" price range, because Maryland will be the next state to pass this smart gun law.

The Hopkins Firearms Center's model smart gun law (Section 9) on which the NJ law was based imposes absolute liability on the owners of "non-smart guns" for any misuse of their handguns, even if stolen. NJ didn't seem to include that tidbit in their law, but Maryland's legislature is beholden to the Hopkins crowd and will pass whatever they are told.

[Romulus]

1. kick

does no-one care about this?!

[Tinfoil]

2. I care

and I'm not surprised, either. I'm sure the price of this will be astronomical. So much for the people of NJ being able to defend themselves.

Isn't it odd that the PDs in NJ are exempt from having to use the smart gun technology, yet the average citizen has to? Seems like a double standard (as usual), and I have a feeling the cops don't want to have to trust their life to such untested technologies.

[slackmaster]

4. Of course it's a double standard

They had to exempt police in order to get the silly law through the state legislature. It's the equivalent of what Mexicans call "la mordida".

Cops want reliable weapons, weapons that can be used by their partners in case they are disabled. Weapons without batteries. Wespons that work every time.

Those in power in NJ don't believe ordinary citizens are smart enough or honest enough to be trusted with weapons. Their attitude reminds me of the California legislature, only worse.

[slackmaster]

3. About the NJ law

As soon as the technology fails to allow an authorized person to fire a gun when he or she really needs it, the state and the gun's manufacturer will be open to a major liability suit.

I think "smart" guns will be useful in situations like prisons where there are a lot of bad people who want to take your gun and use it on you, but any such system limits a gun's utility. Not everyone buys a handgun exclusively for his or her own personal self-defense, and I think it's fundamentally wrong of the state to impose such a restriction on its citizens.

In general the more complicated a system becomes, the more likely it becomes to fail.

[DoNotRefill]

7. Yup....

when convicts take an officer's gun away from him, they can't be expected to know to take the key ring, too... ;-)

[DoNotRefill]

5. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Metal-Storm....

the same people who have been promising us a million-round-per-minute machinegun, but has been unable to deliver?

What products exactly do they actually PRODUCE?

[slackmaster]

8. Check out their Web site

http://www.metalstorm.com

They have some cool animated videos.

[DoNotRefill]

9. Animated videos and prototypes...

ain't necessarily a finished production weapon, knowwhatImean?

[slackmaster]

10. Yeah, but the sure do LOOK cool

The animations are AWESOME!

[DoNotRefill]

11. the problem is....

that the company seems to be coming out with all of these outrageous claims, and yet doesn't produce ANYTHING despite having been in business for years. NONE of their systems have been adopted by ANYBODY, in either the military or civilian market. In other words, if you want to buy their product, you can't, regardless of who you are.

If I was an investor, I'd be DAMNED concerned that it's a scam. They report that they've taken in over 100 million dollars in investment money so far, and have yet to go beyond the prototype stage.

[DoNotRefill]

6. Ah. I see.

It's odd how they mention NOTHING about reloading. Considering that you'd have to replace the entire barrel assembly to reload in any kind of timely manner, I have to say that this looks pretty useless as a weapons system, unless officers are expected to carry multiple handguns like they did in the Civil War. That seems to be weight prohibitive.

Looks like practice is going to be a thing of the past... ;-)