5 ms·

I don't think gun safety is the major issue, gun violence is the big killer. Biometric scanners and high tech safes may help save a few people but there are mo

• rdl 14y ago
  The question is, are the possessors of those (mostly handguns) in Chicago lawfully able to purchase them? If there were a 100% effective (no false positive or negatives) gun to legal owner biometric ID thing, then that should reduce Chicago gang violence as well. The problem is I don't believe it's technically possible to build even a 90% effective system like that (a trigger and firing mechanism is mechanically simple; I could just open the gun and replace the advanced biometric system with a traditional one, perhaps 3d printed), and the are the 200 million existing weapons. Biometrics are potentially good for preventing someone from taking your gun and shooting you with it (which mainly applies to police who open-carry in close proximity to felons), or potentially for keeping children from getting access (although a traditional safe or lockbox works fine for that).
  • dr_doom 14y ago
    All fair points. I guess I was looking at it from a criminal perspective. These same Chicago gangs are able to import cocaine from Colombia, ecstasy from Amsterdam, heroin from Afghanistan, hell even knock off purses and electronics from China, I don't see why they wouldn't just expand and sell Romanian AK-47's or bootleg Chinese glocks. Personally I wouldn't mind biometrics on my guns but would HATE any kind of registry.
  • koenigdavidmj 14y ago
    Until a Supreme Court ruling a couple years ago, all handguns were illegal in Chicago.