New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Democrat state Rep. Hakeem Jeffries have called for arming NYPD officers with so-called “smart guns.” “New York City, through the police department, is the largest municipal purchaser of firearms in the country—they have the ability to use its leverage to push the gun manufacturers to do the right thing and bring smart-gun technology to America,” Jeffries announced in a press conference on the steps of City Hall.
His argument is that forcing police to be early adopters of the technology will force manufacturers—or “merchants of death,” as he called them—to enhance the functionality of the technology as well. Unfortunately, the “smart” gun technology already on the market is highly unreliable—hardly what officers should be forced to use to confront dangerous scenarios. Bottom line: Stringer and Jeffries should not gamble with police lives for the sake of their political agenda.
