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US government releases official guidelines for smart guns
Back in June, the US Department of Justice proposed a list of specifications for manufactures of smart guns: a preliminary outline of the baseline features law enforcement agencies wanted to see in the future of pistol safety technology. This included a slew of safety features, failsafe countermeasures and requirements for rechargeable and replaceable batteries. Now, the government has made that draft official.
US government releases proposed guidelines for smart guns
Federal authorities have just released a set of recommended guidelines to define the minimum technical requirements that law enforcement agencies expect from smart guns. The proposed baseline specs cover just pistols for now, and are open for public input from now till September 13.
Yardarm will tell dispatchers when and where police fire guns
With the exception of maybe old Andy Taylor, most police officers in the United States carry a firearm as part of their standard equipment. Wouldn't it be nice to know when those sidearms are drawn, and why? A Silicon Valley startup called Yardarm seems to think so -- it's testing a new gun accessory that can notify police dispatchers when officers draw and fire their weapons. It's a small Bluetooth-enabled sensor that attaches to the officer's pistol and interacts with a companion smartphone. In addition to tracking the gun's action (if it's been fired) and location, it can also sort out which direction the weapon was fired and even if it has simply left its holster.
Watch a sniper nail his target from 500 yards without even 'looking' at it
Smart-weapon company TrackingPoint seems pretty intent to make real-world guns act like the virtual firearms we use for offing video game villains. The latest demo of its ShotView targeting system showcases live video being transmitted from a rifle's scope to a set of off-the-shelf Smith Optics I/O Recon goggles via WiFi, enabling the marksman to hit an explosives-filled pop bottle from 500 yards down-range without even looking at it. While the previous concept clip used Google Glass, a TrackingPoint spokesperson tells us that the Smith goggles don't lag like Google's wearable does in this scenario. Speed might not make a huge difference at the firing range, but, for soldiers in the field, we'd imagine that keeping pace with a mobile target is somewhat important -- especially if they aren't physically looking at it. For a gander at an advanced warfighter's possible arsenal, make sure to peep the video below.
What you need to know about smart guns
It's increasingly difficult to have a rational discussion about gun violence. Thankfully for us, we're not here to do that. We're here to explain what the concept of a smart gun is, beyond what you've seen in hit Sylvester Stallone film Judge Dredd. Lost amid the shouting and hand-wringing of American politics are a bevy of technologies that aim to skip the argument, instead aiming to decrease gun violence through advanced technology. Barring a dramatic shift in American culture or politics, however, it seems the smart gun concept may wither and die. So, what are smart guns?
Armatix pistol / wristwatch combo tells time... to stay put
Armatix has apparently been working on its so-called "smartgun" concept for quite a while, but it's now finally shown up at the Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT, naturally) with its first actual product: a .22-caliber pistol that relies on a wristwatch as a safety. As you can probably figure out, the gun will only unlock itself when its in close proximity to the watch, which sends a "wireless arming signal" that, of course, also activates some green LEDs for good measure. Previous incarnations of the company's concept also relied on a fingerprint ID as an additional safety, but that seems to have been left off this production model, which will run €7,000 (or $9,700) when it starts shipping next month.
