The US Releases Proposed Guidelines For Smart Guns

When it comes to technology, its a side effect that everyday devices get smarter. As more and more technology gets smarter, as do the risks that come with them. One piece of “smart” technology that could see use very soon are smart guns, firearms with controls put in place to avoid them being misused. As such the US have released the proposed guidelines for smart guns which are open to the public to read and discuss.

The baseline specs are just for pistols at the moment and are open to public discussions till the 13th September. The main difference and perhaps the most important would be the addition of a “security device” a mechanism designed to prevent unauthorised firing of the weapon.

The security devices would be included as a core part of the pistols and would also include external devices, enabling a user to be identified by rings, wristbands and tokens. The devices new measures are designed not to alter the operation of the pistol, meaning that the time to draw or fire the weapon won’t be any different from that of a non-smart weapon.

Should the device have any difficulty identifying the reader, the user would be able to still fire the weapon “when an attempt to block the authorization process is detected”. With lots of options and areas covered the proposals could be the first step in smart weapons reaching the public.