Is America Finally Ready for Smart Guns?
Read the full article from PEW Charitable Trusts here.
iGun Technology owner Jonathan Mossberg demonstrates his smart shotgun, which will only fire when in close proximity to a ring he is wearing. He would like to develop a smart handgun for the public, and so would some gun safety advocates. Credit: Associated Press
Jonathan Mossberg has already made a smart gun — a shotgun that can only be discharged by someone wearing a ring that communicates with a chip inside the weapon, unlocking it.
The gunmaker’s smart guns, there are about 25 of them, are nearly 20 years old. They have been tested repeatedly and kept in the homes of his friends and family for self-defense. But Mossberg’s Florida-based company, iGun Technology Corp., has never scaled the high-tech components to a handgun. And cultural and political barriers have stood in the way of selling the guns commercially.