It’s time for Smart Guns: The Sequel. This is because former Vice President Joe Biden keeps on hyping a technology whose time has not yet come. He likens smart guns to a James Bond-style weapon that is hot and ready to use.
Except that it’s not.
Far from ready-to-market, smart gun technology is a theory that simply hasn’t panned out. The idea behind such a device is that if you can use biometrics to access your phone, you can use this very same technology to lock and unlock a firearm. There are several issues with this hypothetical, as previously reported by Liberty Nation. But Mr. Biden isn’t listening. He is repeating a false assumption on the campaign trail that mass shootings can be stopped through smart gun technology. But they cannot.
There are several reasons, but the primary problem is that biometric technology is affected by moisture. If you’ve ever set your Super Big Gulp on the table and tried to open your smartphone, you understand. A wet finger renders biometrics useless. Now that’s not such a big deal when you are trying to unlock your phone because all you need to do is stop, wipe off your finger and try again.
Just Hold on a Second
In the case of a firearm, presumably, you only go for the trigger when in need. Let’s say someone is robbing your home, you go for your gun, and perhaps you begin to sweat. Uh oh. A little bit of wet could be your Waterloo. Are you going to tell the intruder to wait while you try to unlock your trigger and expect him or her to comply?
Logic renders this unlikely.
Someone needs to inform Uncle Joe that James Bond isn’t real, and smart guns aren’t developed to the point of being useful. In the not so recent past, Biden told a group of donors, “…we have the capacity now in a James Bond-style to make sure no one can pull a trigger unless their DNA and fingerprint is on it.” Just this weekend, he told people in Des Moines, IA, “We have the capacity right now to make sure that no gun can be fired unless it has your biometric print on it.”
No, Joe. A biometric that doesn’t work when you need to defend yourself or your family is not a functional technology. To illustrate the point, let’s say there is a mass shooting underway in your building. You have a smart firearm on your person, at the ready. But you lie in wait for the right moment to confront the shooter. Anyone in that situation is likely to perspire. So, you sit there wiping your trigger finger dry over and over to maintain a state of readiness? Then where is your focus? Why, it’s on unlocking your firearm, not on preparing to take down a shooter.
A Dangerous Master
This is not smart; it’s idiocy. As previously stated, “If technology worked 100% of the time, there would be no need for a mammoth business known as tech support. Firearms – if kept up to speed – are remarkably reliable devices. That constancy can be significant when your life depends on it. Turning a weapon into a complex piece of technology will undoubtedly lead to someone’s demise. And then who will take the blame when the gun doesn’t fire?”
Propagating a theory that doesn’t work isn’t usually a big deal, but when you are in a shoot or be killed situation, it’s irresponsible to keep trumpeting an ineffective theory. Perhaps Joe Biden would be wise to heed the words of Norwegian political scientist Christian Lous Lange, who said, “Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.” Or, at the very least, Mr. Biden could think before he speaks.
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Read more from Leesa K. Donner or comment on this article at Liberty Nation.com.
