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"...trying to force an unreliable and complex feature onto a product that needs to work every time." This. This is my biggest problem with smart-gun tech. We s

by fouric 11y ago

"...trying to force an unreliable and complex feature onto a product that needs to work every time." This. This is my biggest problem with smart-gun tech. We still haven't managed to figure out how to write software for hundred-million-dollar space projects that doesn't crash (the Japanese Hitomi satellite[2] being the latest of many); how on Earth are we going to implement smart gun technology correctly? (actually, I would argue that we still can't write durable software in general, and as such we should avoid integrating it into important things such as guns and cars until we can improve our development skills) [1]: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2086422-japanese-satellites-death-spiral-linked-to-software-malfunction/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2086422-japanese-satell...

tootie 11y ago
The plan is not to ban non-smart guns next week. Obama is calling for a push to improve the technology until it becomes reliable. Despite the Hitomi failure, we have sent a few hundred things into space pretty successfully. Half the systems in your car are under computer control. Opposing technology that could save thousands of lives a year because it doesn't work perfectly yet is bullshit.
- cloakandswagger 11y ago
  But opposing it because of the political ramifications isn't. See California's micro-stamping bill: politicians mandated a technology which was literally infeasible to implement.
- schismsubv 11y ago
  I think what most opposition to smart guns centers on is the assertion that the technology could "save thousands of lives". It would be great to see hard numbers of exactly how many people are killed with immediately stolen guns, and I doubt it would be in the thousands. As the author's prior article in the series notes, such technology will almost invariably be easily bypassed. Criminals will, unfortunately, remain criminals, and will disable the technology or continue to buy guns underground. None of this even addresses the fact that many murders are perpetrated by legal owners of said guns, which this technology would do nothing about. As is usual with such things, if smart-gun technology were legislated its only measurable effect would be on law-abiding citizens, adding yet more potential felonies to the maze we traverse daily.
- zaroth 11y ago
  There is unbounded amount of technology which could "save thousands of lives a year" which even if it did work perfectly would be widely opposed. I think we should have mandatory breathalyzer ignition locks before electronic gun locks. Which is to say, I think both are bad ideas for approximately the same reasons.
- joesmo 11y ago
  Tell that to the families of the people who will die because of unreliable technology. I'm sure they will be consoled by the fact that their loved one died so others in the future, when we figure out how to create a 100% reliable smart gun mechanisms, some strangers might not die. I'm sure that will bring smiles at their loved one's funeral.

by fouric 11y ago

tootie 11y ago

The plan is not to ban non-smart guns next week. Obama is calling for a push to improve the technology until it becomes reliable. Despite the Hitomi failure, we have sent a few hundred things into space pretty successfully. Half the systems in your car are under computer control. Opposing technology that could save thousands of lives a year because it doesn't work perfectly yet is bullshit.

cloakandswagger 11y ago
But opposing it because of the political ramifications isn't. See California's micro-stamping bill: politicians mandated a technology which was literally infeasible to implement.
schismsubv 11y ago
I think what most opposition to smart guns centers on is the assertion that the technology could "save thousands of lives". It would be great to see hard numbers of exactly how many people are killed with immediately stolen guns, and I doubt it would be in the thousands. As the author's prior article in the series notes, such technology will almost invariably be easily bypassed. Criminals will, unfortunately, remain criminals, and will disable the technology or continue to buy guns underground. None of this even addresses the fact that many murders are perpetrated by legal owners of said guns, which this technology would do nothing about. As is usual with such things, if smart-gun technology were legislated its only measurable effect would be on law-abiding citizens, adding yet more potential felonies to the maze we traverse daily.
zaroth 11y ago
There is unbounded amount of technology which could "save thousands of lives a year" which even if it did work perfectly would be widely opposed. I think we should have mandatory breathalyzer ignition locks before electronic gun locks. Which is to say, I think both are bad ideas for approximately the same reasons.
joesmo 11y ago
Tell that to the families of the people who will die because of unreliable technology. I'm sure they will be consoled by the fact that their loved one died so others in the future, when we figure out how to create a 100% reliable smart gun mechanisms, some strangers might not die. I'm sure that will bring smiles at their loved one's funeral.