Among the four new gun-control laws recently signed by N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy is a requirement that firearm retailers must sell so-called “smart guns” despite the current technological unreliability of these nascent firearms.
The new law, Senate Bill No. 101, requires firearm retailers to have available for purchase at least one personalized handgun approved by the state’s Personalized Handgun Authorization Commission and listed as eligible for sale.
The idea behind smart guns is to have a firearm that is technologically able to detect/recognize the person who is authorized to fire it before the gun can be discharged. However, reality so far has demonstrated no such feasible firearm.
Firearm experts say Gov. Murphy is trying to introduce a product into the marketplace by the adoption of this new law.
According to Mark Oliva, director of Public Affairs at the National Shooting Sports Foundation, this latest gun-control law from New Jersey regarding smart guns is an unworkable mandate. He noted that trying to authorize the operation of a gun using a computerized fingerprint (as some cellphones use) is unreliable because micro-fingerprint stamps can be sanded off a firearm.
“The National Institute of Justice could not find one viable smart-gun candidate to test to see if one actually works,” Oliva noted. “People don’t trust these guns to work each and every time. They need to work as intended to when you are counting on them to protect and save lives.”
Even surveys indicate that consumers aren’t even interested in smart-guns in the marketplace, he added.
“Gov. Murphy is trying to push regulations to choke off the firearms industry,” Oliva declared.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, which has over 12,000 members, is the trade association for the firearms industry. Founded in 1961, it works to promote, protect and preserve the firearms industry and shooting sports.
