Hey fun! A PIN for your gun!

[just Warren]

Nope. Nopenopenopenope.

http://newatlas.com/smart-2-gun-pin-safety/44750/

[dm1333]

I'm in the "nope" category.......... but

Why not?  Just playing devils advocate.

[just Warren]

There's no upside to adding a battery and and electronics to a gun.

[griz]

Why not?  Just playing devils advocate.

1. Target shooting aside, if you NEED a gun, you need it NOW, not a couple seconds from now.
2. A motion sensor alarm?  Doesn't that mean you can't carry it in a holster?
3. It adds another failure mode to the gun.

If this thing works, and that's a big if, I can see it being useful for something like a bedside gun where kids or other people could get to it.  But as with most of these ideas, if you can't get the police to use these "safety features", then I don't want to use it either.

[BlueStarLizzard]

I'm in the "nope" category.......... but

Why not?  Just playing devils advocate.

KISS

Electronics are often stupid, but rarely simple.

Also, as Facebook often demonstrates, if it ain't broke, DON'T FIX IT.

[MechAg94]

Even a bed side gun, the reason it is at the bed side is so it is ready to use at a moments notice, not after the number sequence is punched in.  You might as well just get a pistol safe with a quick opening lock of some kind.  IMO, the safe and the gun would both be more reliable than this pistol.

http://www.libertysafe.com/handgun-vault-hd-200-quick-vault-ps-36-pg-125.html
It seems to me that pads like this designed to use even in the dark are much better anyway.

[dogmush]

Also playing Devil's Advocate:

Insert Quote
Even a bed side gun, the reason it is at the bed side is so it is ready to use at a moments notice, not after the number sequence is punched in.  You might as well just get a pistol safe with a quick opening lock of some kind.  IMO, the safe and the gun would both be more reliable than this pistol.

Why do you think a safe is better?  Same cheap Chinese electronics. (Or conversely same great reliable electronics) You have a point in the "Tactile use fingerpad if it's dark" but that could pretty easily be worked in to the grip of the gun if it was designed by someone who had ever shot.  It would be as fast and reliable as those quick safes, and bunches of those get sold.

There's no upside to adding a battery and and electronics to a gun.

Crazy Talk. 
Flashlights and electro-optical sights are just two of the obvious places to add electronics and batteries. NODs.  If the ATF wouldn't *expletive deleted*it themselves an electro-mechanical trigger like a paintball gun would be sweet in a lot of ways.  Tank main guns have used sensors and computers to adjust for added accuracy for 30 or 40 years.  That would be sweet on a LR bullseye gun.  The market will find new and interesting ways to add electronics, I'm sure.


All that said, I wouldn't buy this because 1. my bedside gun just sits on my nightstand, and I'm fine with that, 2 it's not designed very ergonomically in the keypad area, and 3. I would want to see some testing that the electronics were as rugged as something like an Aimpoint.

But I also think it'd be neat to see some kind of self locking gun on the market for those that wish to buy it.  It's just a shame that as soon as that happens some places and people will try to make it mandatory.

[cordex]

The safe also helps keep the gun from being stolen and has more room for the keypad/locking mechanism which means it is easier to design and build it to be reliable.

Flashlights and electrical sights don't usually leave a gun disabled if they fail.

[dogmush]

True, and I think one of the issues with "Smart Guns" as we've seen them is that they aren't really designed by the type of people that keep loaded guns around and think about how to secure them.  They tend to be designed by folks that read media stories about unlocked guns.


Were I to design a smart gun (and I'm not) I would think one with something like Springfield or Smith's Internal lock to activate it's "smart-ness" Turn the key one way, normal gun.  insert key and turn the other way, internal lock is engaged.  To unlock, type four (or less?)digit code in on buttons placed in the grip (ala crimson trace).

I personally still wouldn't buy one as my situation doesn't make me feel like I need to lock my HD pistol at all, but if something like that were an option, I could see some folks buying it.  You could even add the "motion sensitive alarm" part the OP's gun has for theft protection.

Some folks would complain and grumble, like they did with Smith and Springfield*.  Some folks would buy it.  As long as it's an option, not a requirement, more choices are better.


*Does Springfield still do an ILS system? I haven't heard about it in years.

[Jamisjockey]

I actually think it is a good idea.  For sporting arms, this is an added layer of security against children using them or having them stolen and used in crimes.  If the market bears out a demand, let it come.
Anyone who suggests it to be mandatory can take a long walk off a short pier. 
For defensive arms it's a horrible idea.

[Ben]

But I also think it'd be neat to see some kind of self locking gun on the market for those that wish to buy it.  It's just a shame that as soon as that happens some places and people will try to make it mandatory.

This is 99% of why I'm against it. With a safe (and we have seen in CA) they can also make it "mandatory", but I can easily circumvent the unjust law by not using the safe. Once the feature is built into a gun, it makes it much more difficult to circumvent.

I have one of the Barska "corner safes" that are meant for a defensive long gun and defensive pistol. I got it mostly due to my niece visiting with her toddler, otherwise my guns are out. However, because (for "Chinese crap") the fingerprint reader has been so fast and reliable, I tend to keep my defense shotgun in it, and lock my defensive handgun in it when I leave the house for errands, etc. instead of going through the trouble of opening the combo on the big safe.

Again though, I have the option of using the safe or not. Once features are built in to a gun, I only have the option of buying a gun with or without the feature. If nannys come along, then I may no longer have the option to forego the feature.

[Viking]

They should first have a mandatory trial period of, call it half a century, where they are the only guns allowed to be used by the security details of anti-gun politicians. If these are successful, they can be marketed, but not mandatory.

[HankB]

. . .  3. It adds another failure mode to the gun.

Exactly why I dislike "The Lock" on most of S&W's current revolvers.

But as with most of these ideas, if you can't get the police to use these "safety features", then I don't want to use it either.

Amen. 

I'll go farther and say I won't use something that police SWAT teams and - most importantly! - the executive protection agents of the United States Secret Service won't use.

[MechAg94]

Also playing Devil's Advocate:

Why do you think a safe is better?  Same cheap Chinese electronics. (Or conversely same great reliable electronics) You have a point in the "Tactile use fingerpad if it's dark" but that could pretty easily be worked in to the grip of the gun if it was designed by someone who had ever shot.  It would be as fast and reliable as those quick safes, and bunches of those get sold.

Why do you want to get a cheap Chinese safe electronics?  Lots of countries make cheap electronics. 

If you combine a reliable safe locking pad to a reliable gun, the combination is not necessarily reliable.  No, none of that can be "easily" worked into the grip of a gun.  You are welcome to depend on it if you choose.  I choose not to.

[KD5NRH]

Where is the muzzle pointed while you're fiddling with a keypad on the side of the gun?

[BlueStarLizzard]

Also, tactical issue.

What happens when you have more than one SD/HD pistol scattered about and multiple potential users (each with personal guns, but with the understanding that you grab whatever is closest to go) and multiple pins to remember?

We've got multiple loaded guns around here and while I'd hope to be grabbing my XDS, I'll grab whatever is fastest to get my hands on and Dad would be doing the same.

And I can see that translating to some of you guys as well. Middle of the night, you and your wife ended up on different sides of the bed and the gun in the nightstand is hers, not yours. All of a sudden you're scrambling with a gun that is not *yours* (already at a disadvantage) and trying to remember *her* pin.

[dm1333]

Use the same pin for all of them.  1 2 3 4   

[freakazoid]

If the ATF wouldn't *expletive deleted*it themselves an electro-mechanical trigger like a paintball gun would be sweet in a lot of ways.  Tank main guns have used sensors and computers to adjust for added accuracy for 30 or 40 years.  That would be sweet on a LR bullseye gun.  The market will find new and interesting ways to add electronics, I'm sure.

I believe it was Remington that had once made a rifle with an electronic trigger. They didn't sell well.

[freakazoid]

And I can see that translating to some of you guys as well. Middle of the night, you and your wife ended up on different sides of the bed and the gun in the nightstand is hers, not yours. All of a sudden you're scrambling with a gun that is not *yours* (already at a disadvantage) and trying to remember *her* pin.

Don't worry, it's your anniversary. 

[MechAg94]

Use the same pin for all of them.  1 2 3 4   

Yeah, same pin as I use on my luggage!

[dm1333]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6iW-8xPw3k

That's amazing, the same combination I've got on my luggage!

[Perd Hapley]

Does this gun have the stripe or the chip?

[just Warren]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6iW-8xPw3k

That's amazing, the same combination I've got on my luggage!

Shhh! Don't tell ISIS!

[HeroHog]

Does this gun have the stripe or the chip?

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