Jan 12, 2022: According to a report by Reuters, personalised smart guns, which can be fired only by verified users, may finally become available to US consumers after two decades of questions about reliability and concerns they will usher in a new wave of government regulation.

Four-year-old Lode Star Works unveiled its 9mm smart gun to shareholders and investors in Boise, Idaho on Friday. And SmartGunz LLC, a Kansas-based company, says law enforcement agents are beta-testing its product, a similar but simpler model.

Gareth Glaser, co-founder of Lode Star, said he was impressed after hearing so many stories about children when she was shot while playing with a gun. Smart guns can use technology to verify a user’s identity to prevent such accidents and deactivate the gun if someone else tries to fire it. They can also reduce suicides, dispose of lost or stolen guns, and offer protection to police officers and prison guards who fear gun grabs.

The LodeStar gun, aimed at first-time buyers, would retail for $895. Aknowledging that there will be additional challenges to large-scale manufacturing, Glaser nevertheless expressed confidence that after years of trial and error the technology was advanced enough and the microelectronics inside the gun are well-protected.

Technology wise, LodeStar integrated both a fingerprint reader and a near-field communication chip activated by a phone app, plus a PIN pad. The gun can be authorised for more than one user.

Smart Gun skeptics have argued that smart guns are too risky for a person trying to protect a home or family during a crisis, or for police in the field. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearms industry trade association, says it does not oppose smart guns as long as the government doesn’t mandate their sale.

Earlier in 2014, German company Armatix put a smart .22 caliber pistol on the market, but it was pulled from stores after hackers discovered a way to remotely jam the gun’s radio signals and, using magnets, fire the gun when it should have been locked.

Smart guns have been the source of debate. On one hand, household guns are often used by young people in violence against themselves or others, and data shows that about 380,000 guns are stolen from gun owners each year, according to the Giffords Law Center.

The National Shooting Sports foundation has raised concerns about the reliability of the technology and says gun owners may be placed in a life-and-death situation that requires quick deployment.

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