Interesting piece on gun control locks in today's Washington Post:
washingtonpost.com
Here's the best excerpt:
"The task force, led by Maryland State Police Superintendent David B.
Mitchell, is charged with reviewing a variety of gun-safety measures, from simple mechanical combination locks to "smart gun" technology. Smart guns rely on fingerprint sensors, radio transponders and other high-tech devices to keep anyone except the owner from firing the weapon.
"High-tech smart guns are not available on the open market, however, and most gun manufacturers argue that the technology is unproved and economically unfeasible. They and other critics paint smart-gun legislation as a backhanded way to restrict handgun sales.
"'What's really going on is that [Maryland Governor Parris] Glendening wants to ban handguns, and he wants to accomplish this by requiring that they be sold with a technology that does not exist,' said Bob McMurray, chairman of the Maryland Committee Against the Gun Ban. 'The Colorado incident is a convenient excuse.'
"Although no state has adopted smart-gun measures, the idea is gaining currency among gun-control advocates as a way to pressure manufacturers to find new ways to improve the safety of their product, much as automakers were pushed to install air bags...." |
