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Posted by: Southside

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A new computer chip promises to keep police guns from firing if they fall into the wrong hands.

The tiny chip would be implanted in a police officer's hand and would match up with a scanning device inside a handgun. If the officer and gun match, a digital signal unlocks the trigger so it can be fired. But if a child or criminal would get hold of the gun, it would be useless.

The technology is the latest attempt to create a so-called ``smart gun'' and could be marketed to law enforcement agencies within a year, according to Verichip Corp., which has created the microchip.

Verichip president Keith Bolton said that the technology could also improve safety for the military and individual gun owners.

``If you let your mind wander to other potential uses, you can imagine the lives that could be saved,'' he said.

Verichip, which has marketed similar microchips for security and medical purposes, announced Tuesday a partnership with gun maker FN Manufacturing to produce the smart weapons. The companies have developed a prototype and are working to refine its accuracy, Bolton said.

Similar developments are underway at other gun manufacturers and research firms. The New Jersey Institute of Technology and Australian gun maker Metal Storm Ltd. are working on a prototype smart gun that would recognize its owner's individual grip.

``We're at an interesting age where all sorts of science fiction is becoming real technology,'' said Donald Sebastian, NJIT vice president for research and development and director of the project.

The technology could also eventually have an even bigger impact on the illegal gun trade, Sebastian said.

The FBI estimated that 67 percent of the 16,204 murders in 2002 were committed with firearms.

``You have a long-term benefit of making it much more difficult for a handgun to have any value to anyone other than the original owner,'' Sebastian said.

But until the smart-gun technology is repeatedly proved to be reliable, some law enforcement authorities remain leery.

The scanning device could malfunction, the officer's hand with the computer chip could be smashed during a fight or an officer might need to use a partner's gun, West Palm Beach police training Sgt. William Sandman said.

``We have power outages, computers crash. Would you risk your life knowing all those things that could go wrong?'' Sandman said.

Verichip's Bolton said those concerns already are being addressed. He said the guns can be designed to work for an officer, his partner and a supervisor. Departments could set routines where the scanning devices in guns could be checked before every shift.

The chip needs no battery or power source. It works much like those that have been implanted in pets over the past decade so they can be identified if they get lost. Verichip, a subsidiary of the Palm Beach-based technology firm Applied Digital Solutions, developed a ``more intelligent'' version two years ago for humans and estimates that about 900 people worldwide have been implanted with them.

The chips can be used instead of security key cards at office buildings or to use global positioning satellites to keep track of a relative who might suffer from Alzheimer's. It can store medical information that emergency rooms could read or financial and identification information to prevent fraud.

The chip, about the size of a grain of rice, is inserted into an arm or hand with a syringe _ much like a shot is given.

Bolton said the company has seen no medical complications and that the technology will only improve with time.

Once the technology is accepted, legislation could follow to encourage the use of smart guns. New Jersey already has passed legislation that will require smart gun technology on all handguns sold _ three years after the state attorney general certifies that smart guns are available in the marketplace.

The National Rifle Association opposes the legislation because of potential problems with smart-gun technology, but gun safety advocates argue that the technology could encourage gun ownership with the newfound sense of security.

``It seems that guns are the only product that haven't followed a path of development that leads to greater safety for the user. The only real change we've seen is to make them more lethal and smaller so they can be more easily concealed,'' said Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. ``This is one of the steps that hasn't been taken and we think this debate is one that needs to take place.''

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Posted by: Wolfman

You gotta be shittin' me.

Don't know about you, but there's no way on the face of this earth that I'll let the job embed a chip in my hand (or anywhere else for that matter).

Quote:

Verichip president Keith Bolton said that the technology could also improve safety for the military and individual gun owners. ``If you let your mind wander to other potential uses, you can imagine the lives that could be saved,'' he said.

Can you imagine the outcry if we wanted to embed an ID chip in say, welfare recipients or convicted sex offenders, or maybe a "driver license" chip we could scan to identify properly licensed drivers? I think more people get killed by cars than by guns, so you could argue a public safety aspect there. Cops are being laid off left and right and millions is getting sunk into foolishness like this crap. It absolutely boggles the mind.

Quote:

``It seems that guns are the only product that haven't followed a path of development that leads to greater safety for the user. The only real change we've seen is to make them more lethal and smaller so they can be more easily concealed,'' said Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. ``This is one of the steps that hasn't been taken and we think this debate is one that needs to take place.''

The worst part is that there are those who take this lunacy seriously. Un-be-friggin'-lievable.

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Posted by: Southside

The part I question is....What if shit hits the fan you draw your weapon to fire on a nutjob who is about to kill you and your microchip malfunctions and gun wont fire.

I can't wait till photon guns arrive....then the real fun begins.

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Posted by: Killjoy

1. I don't trust the so-called new technology....I shudder to think how many times my laptop crashes....just what I need for my gun to "crash"...
2. They can implant a chip in my hand when it is cold and dead.
3. How easy would it be to bypass this technology...criminals are nothing if not inventive.

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Posted by: LeadDog17

I think we all have excellent points here. I can't imagine what fools would really consider making this sort of technology into policy. It is undoubtable that some "assclown" is going to make a serious drive to implement this without carefully considering the ramifications.

Quote:

Verichip president Keith Bolton said that the technology could also improve safety for the military and individual gun owners. ``If you let your mind wander to other potential uses, you can imagine the lives that could be saved,'' he said. Verichip, which has marketed similar microchips for security and medical purposes, announced Tuesday a partnership with gun maker FN Manufacturing to produce the smart weapons. The companies have developed a prototype and are working to refine its accuracy, Bolton said.

I have let my mind wander. I found myself in a very scarey place.

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Posted by: texdep

I don't trust the technology or like the idea of an implanted chip.

The part of the concept that does appeal is that in every incident we are involved in deadly force is present, ie. the weapon we carry into the incident. If the technology worked and was realible, it would be nice to know that the only party who could access that deadly force is the officer.

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Posted by: dfc2502

Just to feed the flame a little more. It would have to be two chips implanted. I for one have two hands and have been trained to shoot with both if the sh!t hits the fan.

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Posted by: JP64

I can hardly play a video game without the system glitching on me, never mind Windows…who wants the equivalent to a “Blue Screen of Death” when they have to use their firearm…

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Posted by: mpd61

Hey!

I just went down or my partner is wounded, hope no fellow soldier or cop needs to use my gun or his! Forget about weak-hand tactics! What friggin bozo's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!-


What a senseless solution to a perceived non-problem!

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Posted by: dcs2244

kmf294 is right! I believe that the era in question was also the first time for wide spread gun control: think Warsaw Ghetto. The potential for abuse of the technology is staggering: satellite tracking, etc...kinda like Brave New World or 1984 !

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