Opponents Point Out Dangers of Proposed Firearm Technolgy

Smart gun technology is highly endorsed by President Barack Obama and some are calling this a good move. As humans, we depend on advanced technology for many things in our lives. As with anything else, scrutiny soon follows. With the wave of enthusiasm over smart guns, critics are taking a closer look at the concept.

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, there are some worrisome caveats to relying on smart guns.

The author explains that smart guns and be “jailbroken” in various ways. One such suggestion is that sealed electronic devices can be tampered with and guns are even more “hopeless” as far as that goes.

“Once a gun has been broken down, any component that prevents it from firing can be filed off, taped over, replaced, or otherwise circumvented,” the report reads. “Smith & Wesson users, for instance, routinely remove the integrated mechanical locks that the Clinton administration convinced the gunmaker to add to its popular family of revolvers.”

The report adds that smart guns that are made to “connect to another device, either to obtain permission to fire or to alert authorized users to the gun’s location.”

Technology companies say that if they create a “back door” in their encryption products for government agents, this opens a possible “back door” for criminals. In other words, whatever capabilities authorized gun users are given, unauthorized users will find a way to intervene.

Weapon malfunctions do occur and the article is pointing out the worst-case scenarios — which all responsible gun owners consider to begin with. There are arguments that traditional guns are strictly mechanical and the added complications of modern technology to the gun will do nothing but add more danger to the mix.

The trend of smart guns is still in the infancy stages at this point and firearm manufacturers are keeping on top of the game.