First-ever ‘smart gun’ with fingerprint and facial recognition unlocking system hits the market

[DeepSouth]

Okay, we’re all discussing pro’s and con’s about the electronic features of this gun, but what about the rest of it?

Does the company manufacturing this item actually have any background in firearms technology? Will this actually be a decent gun, not just an electronic toy?

Will it be well made? Will it be reliable, accurate, etc?

Lots of unanswered questions…

it would be interesting to know the “life expectancy” so to speak… I wouldn’t be surprised if the electronics are destroyed by recoil in a fairly low round count.

This is where I would normally say “Time will tell” but in this case I kind of doubt that’s true.

 

[Hartkopf]

it would be interesting to know the “life expectancy” so to speak… I wouldn’t be surprised if the electronics are destroyed by recoil in a fairly low round count.

This is where I would normally say “Time will tell” but in this case I kind of doubt that’s true.

I’m sure they’ll have a good warranty until they go out of business. The only thing that’ll help their cause is most of their customers won’t hardly ever shoot the guns. These guns will be nothing but security blankets for the ignorant.

 

[DeepSouth]

Just to say something positive about the gun, I do like the light up front sight.

Now we just need to make it a uranium battery that want die for 127 years that’s no bigger than a normal front sight.
That’ll happen

 

[kwguy]

It looks amazingly like the Lawgiver pistol from Judge Dredd.

 

[wally]

Since all the recent in the news killers legally bought their guns, how would this help in anyway?

 

[bdickens]

Since all the recent in the news killers legally bought their guns, how would this help in anyway?

It wouldn't. But that's not the point.

 

[Styx]

Since all the recent in the news killers legally bought their guns, how would this help in anyway?

You're trying to use logic. Even if a mass shooter uses a handgun, the first thing the current President, Democrats, and the antigun community does each and every time is to call for an AWB. They want to ban the weapon that's only used in 3% to 5% of homicides as a way to fix the "gun violence" problem, and to save the children. The goal is to ban all guns and/or to restrict as many people as they possibly can from owning them. The rest is just them starting from low hanging fruit and working their way up from there. AWB, bump stocks, pistol braces, rifle and handgun features, etc..

 

[N555]

No iGat for me.

 

[Sudden Thunder]

….. and after three failed attempts at recognition it automatically locks down until factory reset!

 

[American_Fusilier]

Nobody should buy this thing. I certainly would never own a "smart" gun.

This product is an excuse to not take gun ownership seriously. The best practice is teaching your kids and having a safe.

Plus for $1500, I could buy the next three guns on my list.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

Yeah, people don't want a smart gun due to all the potential problems that can keep it from firing but they'll buy a smart lock box (fingerprint biometric or RFID thingy) to keep their defense gun in for "ready" access.

 

[kwguy]

No iGat for me.
View attachment 1146584

IGat

Perfect!

 

[kwguy]

Yeah, people don't want a smart gun due to all the potential problems that can keep it from firing but they'll buy a smart lock box (fingerprint biometric or RFID thingy) to keep their defense gun in for "ready" access.

Those are trash too.

 

[mcb]

I said I was done but I found this article that I thought was too good not to share in this thread.

https://opensourcedefense.substack.com/p/osd-217-a-fire-control-api-the-bull

Remember if the ATF allows this firearm on the civilian market it will be the first time they have allowed a semi-auto fire by wire gun on the market. The only previous gun I am aware of was the Remington EtronX but that was a bolt action. The Biofire handgun is fire by wire. We can go from biomarker locked handgun to programable fire (semi, full, burst and anything else we can imagine) with a simple change of the software.

From the article:

In all the discussion of the details and implications (both technical and legal) of a biometric-locked gun, folks missed the tech development here that, if it’s pursued, is actually going to have the biggest impact on the future of guns. To make the authentication more robust to someone simply opening the gun up and removing a physical lock, Biofire implemented a fire-by-wire system. The gun has no mechanical link between the trigger and the sear. When you pull the trigger, three things happen:

1. An onboard computer detects that the trigger has been pressed.
   
   
2. The computer runs some code and decides what to do.
   
   
3. The gun fires.

Pay attention to step 2. Guns just became software.

In this particular case, Biofire has built a piece of software whose job it is to fire a bullet if and only if an authorized user says to. Yeah, biometrics are controversial, etc etc. That’s beside the point. Remember the properties of software — it’s flexible. Once fire-by-wire works, sure you can use it to do biometric auth. But you don’t have to use it for that. Alternatively or additionally, you can use it to do, oh, anything you want.

If you thought bump stocks and pistol braces and the way the ATF handle those had them painting themselves into awkward corners you have not see anything if they let fire by wire guns on to the market.

 

[wayneinFL]

it would be interesting to know the “life expectancy” so to speak… I wouldn’t be surprised if the electronics are destroyed by recoil in a fairly low round count.

This is where I would normally say “Time will tell” but in this case I kind of doubt that’s true.

They last hundreds of thousands of miles in an automobile, with all that heat and vibration.

 

[kwguy]

I’ve no doubt the electronics can be made to last. That’s already been proven in countless applications throughout the world. Even MRD’s on pistols is commonplace. Depends on design build and quality. It’s the reliable application of that stuff that’s the issue. Things like fingerprint and facial recognition aren’t as reliable. Even when their electronics are 100 percent in working order, those methods aren’t 100 percent reliable.

 

[Aim1]

I’ve no doubt the electronics can be made to last. That’s already been proven in countless applications throughout the world. Even MRD’s on pistols is commonplace. Depends on design build and quality. It’s the reliable application of that stuff that’s the issue. Things like fingerprint and facial recognition aren’t as reliable. Even when their electronics are 100 percent in working order, those methods aren’t 100 percent reliable.

Even with MRDs don't most if not all pistols still have their iron sights as co-witness/backup?

 

[DeepSouth]

They last hundreds of thousands of miles in an automobile, with all that heat and vibration.

True, but recoil is a different animal. You can throw a box of shells in the trunk for decades and nothing will ever happen, but bullet setback can happen under recoil, admittedly rarely. Nevertheless, to your point if it is a problem I’m sure it’s a solvable one.


Another thing
I can’t believe it’s taken me 6 pages to remember it, but I believe I remember a big stink 15, maybe 20 years ago when someone… I think H&K put a RFID in a pistol.

It’s been a long long time so the details may not be right, but I definitely remember a stink about a chip in a handgun. It was a big deal at the time.
Funny how times have changed, and stayed the same. Lol

 

[kwguy]

Even with MRDs don't most if not all pistols still have their iron sights as co-witness/backup?

Yeah. I don’t know the failure rates, but I know it’s better than it used to be. I’m just saying that the weak link isn’t really the electronics per se, it’s the whole concept of operation. Durable and reliable electronics today are simply a matter of good design and manufacturing, and they’re in use everywhere. But using those in this application? Meh. Even in fingerprint readers that are used thousands of times per day, the actual circuits work just fine. But the actual use of fingerprint readers isn’t 100 percent first time reliable. Automotive key fobs are almost ignored in how reliable they are, but putting one in a lead box or trying to use it from too far away will lead to failure. Not of the electronics, but in the concept of use.

 

[Madman1]

If my Biofire pistol fails to unlock in time in a criminal attack or bear attack and I get killed or eaten, can I sue Biofire?

Well, you'd be dead, so no.

 

[Hunter 08]

I watched Ian's video on it. Part of me likes it, considering its supposedly all "offline" and "secured". I'm not thrilled about the price tag of it. Those who want it will buy it. Firearms by themselves already have their own mechanical issues, adding electrical components that are not optics, lights, or lasers, is just added complexity that could compromise use in an urgent setting.

 

[FlSwampRat]

Question. If this new pistol had been the weapon of choice of ANY of the many mass shooters in the last half century would it have made a difference?

That's exactly my argument on any sort of infringement they want to enact.

 

[jar]

That's exactly my argument on any sort of infringement they want to enact.

Please don't misunderstand.

I think the idea of such firearms is great but realistically at that price point it's unlikely to get to the folk where it might do the most good.

I think a better route would be education, teaching, preaching, exhorting, encouraging keeping firearms disabled except when they are in the direct possession and control of an adult, preferably an adult who has also had some training of the laws, responsibilities and practices for safe firearm use.

 

[Bcwitt]

The time you need it the battery will fail. No electronics in my guns, thanks anyway.

 

[old lady new shooter]

if the thing works as well as the biometrics on gadgets like cell phones, then people are going to die as a result of being locked out of their own guns.