PHILADELPHIA -- "As police in Philadelphia struggle to stop a scourge of shootings, some New Jersey engineers say they are closing in on a 'smart' solution: a gun that can be fired only by its owner.
The prototype, developed at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, has pressure sensors embedded in the gun handle that recognize a person's unique grip.
The team says a commercial model is up to five years away, but if it works, it will trigger a singular -- and controversial -- state law. Within three years, all handguns sold in New Jersey would have to be personalized, with this or some other recognition technology.
Michael Recce, who dreamed up the grip-recognition concept in 1999, said the only obstacles are time and money.
'It's an engineering problem, not a scientific problem,' he said.
However long it takes, it's safe to say the university has embarked on a product-development quest like no other -- wading into a contentious issue on the fault line between red and blue America.
Various smart-gun efforts have flamed out in the past, amid vocal skepticism by the National Rifle Association. Many gun owners chafe at the notion of any restrictions on their Second Amendment right to bear arms and warn that any such modifications would make guns more expensive.
"Gun-control advocates, meanwhile, are split, with some warning that personalized firearms would give owners a false sense of security.
*Most see New Jersey's 2002 law as a common-sense safety measure, but they are starting to run out of patience.
'These guns should have been developed 20 years ago,' said Bryan Miller, executive director of Ceasefire New Jersey.
Duke University economist Philip J. Cook estimates that if all handguns were personalized, more than 4,000 lives would be saved each year from fewer murders, accidents and teen suicides."
"Personalized" gun tech has been rearing it's ugly head for years now, but the fact remains that it doesn't work, and is simply too risky to contemplate with regards to today's technology, or the military and law enforcement would be behind it 100%.
Think the police are going to go to work each day with a weapon that might not recognize them?
Fat chance.
But guess what. Law abiding citizens will be forced into switching to such abject nonsense should the "inventors" of this atrocity scam the scamable Jersey legislature just a teensy bit longer. By and large, PEOPLE are strong and smart enough to take care of themselves, and the ones who wish to do harm will still get their wish. And pity the poor homeowner the day his dumb-gun throws a hissy fit just about the time the front door is being battered down by gremlins a' plenty.
*And by the way, MOST people do NOT believe New Jersey's folly to be anything remotely resembling a common-sense safety measure, but that's what we're here for. To shoot this messenger by reminding everyone that 45 other states believe it to be the usual suspects longing to disarm the American people, one cruel cut at a time. Raising the price of owning a gun takes them from the hands of those who can barely afford costly modern weapons. Harkens back to the days when Democrats outlawed Nigger-Night-Specials to disarm the Southern blacks, and in doing so created a flourishing market for even cheaper, illegal weapons to begin flooding the streets much as prohibition funded the Mafia.
Flashback to other such stupidities: Once upon a time an old friend purchased a very expensive watch and had an impregnable band installed to assure it remain attached to his wrist. And attached it did stay. Until his hand was chopped to pieces to remove it during a particularly gruesome robbery.
"Sure pal, I'll sell ya the gun on the cheap, but the hand what woiks it is gonna cost ya..."
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