Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) on Thursday introduced the Start Advancing Firearms Enhancements and Technology (SAFETY) Act which provides tax breaks and incentives to gun manufacturers for developing smart gun technology, like using fingerprints to unlock a gun's trigger.
If passed, the bill would provide gun manufacturers with a tax credit that reimbursed them for 100 percent of their research costs. Himes also proposes removing the federal firearms tax on smart guns, should they ever be introduced into the market, something he believes would open up competition to smaller mom and pop manufacturers while saving consumers money.
“Those of us who have made it our mission to end gun violence in this country know that there is no one solution that can prevent every gun death. We’re committed to a comprehensive, all-inclusive approach, which is what the SAFETY Act represents," Himes said in a statement. "If we can incentivize manufacturers to invest in smart gun technology and encourage consumers to buy those products, we can prevent more accidents, reduce violence committed with stolen guns, protect children and bring overall fatalities down. And, let’s be very clear, saving lives is the absolute top priority.”
The Problem With Smart Gun Technology
Gun rights activists have issues with smart gun technology for a number of reasons.
Fight or flight. When you're in a stressful situation and your body is trying to decide whether or not it's worth it to stay and fight in a situation or flee, your heart rate increases and you sweat. In order to unlock a smart gun, you have to have a clean, dry palm, otherwise the fingerprint reader doesn't work. In the two seconds it takes for you to wipe their hands on your pants, you could be dead.
Temperature. If you're someone who lives in an area with colder temperatures, you're more likely to wear gloves than someone who lives in California or Florida. What happens if you need your firearm while you're outside with your gloves on? You have to take your gloves off, unlock the gun and then use the firearm.
Timing. When you need to defend yourself, one to two seconds can be the difference between life and death. Those “short” few seconds it takes to ‘unlock’ the smart gun are the same two seconds a traditional gun could be used to fend off a would-be attacker.
“No one has solved the technology challenges to make the smart gun work as reliably as existing technology,” Larry Keane, general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation told Bearing Arms. “If you’re using it [smart gun] for self-defense and it doesn’t work, you’re not inconvenienced. You’re dead.”
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