Ready, Aim, ID Check: In Wrong Hands, Gun Won't Fire

[Trei, Peter]

Justin wrote:
> On 2005-01-11T10:07:22-0500, Trei, Peter wrote:
>> Justin wrote:
>>>
>>> I don't believe the article when it says that smart guns
>>> are useless if stolen.  What do they have, a tamper-proof
>>> memory chip storing a 128-bit reprogramming authorization
>>> key that must be input via computer before allowing a new
>>> person to be authorized? And what's to stop a criminal from
>>> ripping out all the circuitry and the safety it engages?
>>
>> The 'stolen gun' problems most of the so-called 'smart gun'
>> proposals are trying to address are the situation when a
>> cop's own gun is taken from him and immediately used against
>> him, or a kid finding one in a drawer. A determined and
>> resourceful person can, given time, defeat them all.
>
> from the article:
> "Guns taken from a home during a robbery would be rendered
> useless, too."

That statement, in the OA, is not a quote - it's either
something the author dreamed up, or (in context) BS fed
her by a NJ cop

So, we've established that a NYT journalist, writing on
a subject she probably knows nothing about, will regurgitate
any naively plausible bullshit she's fed. What else is new?

My statement that there are a significant number of cops
killed by their own guns, and a small but tragic number
of people killed accidentally playing with improperly stored
guns they find, remains true. These 'smart guns' could
reduce that problem, but making them mandatory is a
threat to freedom.

>>> The South African Smart gun...
>> http://www.wmsa.net/other/thumb_gun.htm

> Totally useless.  Failure modes and various other complaints:

I laughed when I saw this (my first thought was "How
could anyone practice enough to maintain proficiency?")
I was later appalled when I found a colleague using
it as an example in a presentation on biometrics.

I also strongly expect that Mr. van Zyl does not
have a functioning device - this is vaporware of
some kind.

Peter Trei