Stopping weapons from falling into the wrong hands is a major problem for law enforcement agencies all over the world. But if keeping weapons out of the clutches of the criminal element proves too difficult, the next best thing is ensuring that such weapons can’t be used if they do. That’s just what the Armatix SmartGun concept does by disabling the pistol unless it's in the hands of someone wearing a custom wristwatch that sends a signal to arm the gun.
To ensure criminals can’t just steal the watch along with the gun the user must first have their fingerprints verified. The fingerprint is read by a sensor on the watch, which compares it against an internal database of stored prints. Once the print is verified the watch is then activated for a definable period of time – a police officer’s work shift for example – or until manually deactivated.
Once the authentication procedure has been completed the weapon’s integrated locking electronics and actuators unlock the weapon automatically when it is within a predefined distance of the watch. In this way even if the gun is lost in a scuffle, it will be useless if it is not close enough to the watch. Also, if the watch is ripped off or removed, both the watch transponder and weapon are deactivated immediately.
Armatrix has chosen the handgun/wristwatch combination instead of building the biometric sensor into the gun itself to ensure the gun can be used while wearing gloves or if the user’s hands are dirty. Also the biometric transponder within the watch can be used to activate any number of weapons. Similarly, several users, such as all members of a police unit, can be authorized to use a single weapon. A record is also made every time the weapon is activated.
The current SmartGun concept is a .22 pistol, but Armatrix say that in principle it could be fitted to all types of handgun or long gun.
Via DVICE.
Ed
Rare situation though: if the officer/soldier injured their dominant shooting hand with the watch, and had to fire the weapon with their injured hand... would it work? Is there a short radius for firing? Or the shooter just be trained to hold the injured wrist near the weapon as the opposite hand fired the weapon?
Since this product is more intended for those who employ a gun in their line of work, I don\'t think mandating wearing the watch will be a problem.
The problem *I* see is this, however... all this tech sounds so dang cool now I want to go out and buy some weapons! I\'m barely able to resist adding one of those Metal Storm virtual minefields to my Amazon Wish List. Let your dogs walk on my lawn will ya? KA-BOOM!
OK, so maybe I should not have a weapon. Fare enough. But what happens when an officer needs to access his shotgun in a hurry? Anything that slows down access by an officer in an emergency is not a help.
As others have pointed out: what happens if the user, whether officer or not, needs to use his off hand? what happens if someone kicks in my door in the middle of the night? what happens if I am not home and my wife needs to defend herself from someone who kicks in the door? what happens if the officer\'s partner needs to pick up his gun and use it? What happens if the officer needs to transition to his backup gun? What happens if the watch breaks? or there is Electromagnetic interference?
WHat will the increase in cost involved in conversion to a \"smart gun\"?
I believe the real reason behind the push for smart guns is that the anti-gunners will use their existence in the marketplace to push for a ban on all guns that are NOT \"smart.\"
The combination of banning the pre-existing guns and dramatically increasing the cost of the legal guns will effectively disarm the poor and (possibly)middle class, leaving only the wealthy and the government armed. Now, I realize that some people believe that is the way it should be, but I disagree.