In a move straight from the James Bond film, “Skyfall,” Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a bill requiring all firearms to be equipped with personalization technology, such as a fingerprint scanner, so they fire only when used by designated owners.
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Called the “Handgun Trigger Safety Act,” Markey unveiled the bill in Boston, Mass., on Wednesday before a crowd of local elected officials, gun control activists and members of the clergy. The legislation requires all new guns to be equipped with “personalized” technology to ensure that only the owner can operate it.
“No one wants children to get access to a handgun and hurt themselves or others,” Markey said in a written statement. “In the 21st century, we should use advances in technology to our own advantage and save lives, and the Handgun Trigger Safety Act will help ensure that only authorized users can operate handguns.”
The Massachusetts Democrat’s bill would require all handguns manufactured in the United States two years from the law’s enactment to be personalized. Additionally, businesses or individuals selling a handgun would be required by law to retrofit the firearm with personalization technology three years from the enactment date. The cost of retrofitting the guns would be covered by a fund overseen by the Department of Justice.
“This is the type of gun legislation that everyone — regardless of political party or affiliation — should be able to support,” Markey said.
In addition to requiring firearms to be personalized, which includes technology such as a fingerprint scanner fixed near the base of the gun, the Handgun Trigger Safety Act calls on President Barack Obama to pledge $10 million in his next budget proposal for gun violence research.
The president lifted a 17-year freeze on federal funding for gun violence research last year.
Markey said his legislation would address the issue of stolen guns being used in crimes and reduce the number of accidental firearm deaths, as personalization makes it near impossible for children to get access to and fire a handgun.
Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives last year.
“This vital legislation, which I introduced in the House last year, harnesses the benefits of existing technology to make guns themselves safer,” Tierney said in a written statement. “Personalization technology would reduce accidental gun deaths and prevent stolen weapons from being used in crimes.”
In addition to adding fingerprint scanners to firearms, personalization, or smart-gun, technology also includes devices that communicate with handguns.
According to The Washington Post, Armatix GmbH, a German company, just unveiled the iP1 Pistol. The smart gun fires only if its user is wearing a watch that “makes the gun think.” If the shooter is donning the black waterproof device, a light on the grip turns green. But if the watch is separated from the firearm, it does nothing more than act as a scare tactic.
The concept of smart-gun technology is hardly new, though it looks like something out of the James Bond film, “Skyfall.”
In 2000, Smith & Wesson CEO Ed Shultz agreed to explore and implement such technology at the behest of the Clinton administration. But the company faced backlash from gun owners and the National Rifle Association, and sales fell.
“Sen. Markey should focus on serious solutions such as improving the records in the National Instant Check System and fixing our broken mental health system to make sure that criminals and those adjudicated mentally incompetent don’t have access to guns in the first place,” Jacqueline Isaacs, a spokesperson
for the NRA, told Red Alert Politics.
While the organization’s Institute for Legislation Action does not object to the developments in personalization technology, the group is opposed to a government mandate that requires the use of such technology.
Further, the “NRA recognizes that the ‘smart guns’ issue clearly has the potential to mesh with the anti-gunner’s agenda, opening the door to a ban on all guns that do not possess the government-required technology,” the organization wrote in a post on its website.
While Markey’s bill will likely be lauded in the Democrat-controlled Senate, it could face strong opposition in the House.
The Senate failed to pass a background check bill in 2013, which was filed in response of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
This piece has been updated to include new information.
