Interesting technology here on using RFID to control who can use a gun.
The tiny chip would be implanted in a police officer’s hand and would match up with a scanning device inside a handgun. If the officer and gun match, a digital signal unlocks the trigger so it can be fired. But if a child or criminal would get hold of the gun, it would be useless.
Which is kind of a clever idea (though it would drive the intersection between “gun nuts” and “Apocalyptic Christian” bonkers with its visions of the Number of the Beast being necessary to own guns — but I digress).
My immediate thoughts are (a) how difficult will it be to determine the sought-for frequency on a gun, allowing an override, and (b) how difficult will it be to jam the gun’s signal? Both thoughts are very high-tech and cinematic. Actual cops have more prosaic concerns …
The scanning device could malfunction, the officer’s hand with the computer chip could be smashed during a fight or an officer might need to use a partner’s gun, West Palm Beach police training Sgt. William Sandman said.
“We have power outages, computers crash. Would you risk your life knowing all those things that could go wrong?” Sandman said.
Verichip’s Bolton said those concerns already are being addressed. He said the guns can be designed to work for an officer, his partner and a supervisor. Departments could set routines where the scanning devices in guns could be checked before every shift.
I dunno. Still sounds pretty sketchy to me. Adding complexity usually adds points of failure, too. And while I tend to be less of a privacy-fanatic than some I know, the idea of actual chip implantation for positive ID still strikes me as a tad … creepy. Especially since it would clearly become the norm beyond cops and their guns …
Once the technology is accepted, legislation could follow to encourage the use of smart guns. New Jersey already has passed legislation that will require smart-gun technology on all handguns sold — three years after the state attorney general certifies that smart guns are available in the marketplace.
Expect a burgeoning black market in “unchipped guns” and, eventually, “spoof chips” …
(via BoingBoing)