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Smart Guns: How Smart Are They?: What Is A Smart Gun?
Smart Guns: How Smart Are They?: What Is A Smart Gun?
Smart Guns: How Smart Are They?: What Is A Smart Gun?
they?
By Nicholas TufnellTechnology reporter
23 May 2014
Image captionThe Armatix iP1 is a smart gun that can only work within 10in of
its accompanying RFID-enabled watch
Few smart guns are currently available to purchase, but numerous unreleased
prototypes are in development by weapons manufacturers such as Colt,
Mossberg, TriggerSmart and Australian defence company Metal Storm.
Can it be hacked?
We don't know. Very few people have used these weapons and as such they
have not been exposed to enough external threats to determine whether
hacking is a serious issue.
However, what we do know is that some RFID tags can be hacked. A video
from BoingBoing in 2008 demonstrates how Pablos Holman, a self-described
hacker and inventor used equipment worth $8 to read personal data from
credit cards. Whether similar methods could work on certain smart guns is not
entirely clear.
Biometrics can be even less secure. For example, fingerprint scanners can be
compromised with a simple glue-mould hack, as demonstrated on the
Galaxy S5.
The NRA went on to say that "smart gun" was a made-up term and that the
devices were prone to failure and had not been proven to increase firearm
safety.
Image captionSome US gun lobbyists are against the use of smart guns
In a survey produced by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, 74% of
1,200 respondents said that they would not buy, or would not be very likely to
buy, a smart gun.
According to The Verge, gun rights activists have a surprising ally in The
Violence Policy Center, a gun control group that believes smart guns
"would affect a very small percentage of gun violence".
The Identilock is a device that might please both the NRA and the gun control
groups. It is a detachable device that locks the gun's trigger, preventing the
weapon from use.
"Using fingerprint technology, it allows for split-second access to a loaded gun
when you need it while keeping it safe from other hands when you don't,"
explains their website.
As the device is not embedded into the gun, it will not be affected by the New
Jersey mandate.
Watch more clips on the Click website. If you are in the UK you can
watch the whole programme on BBC iPlayer.
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