Lots of movement on the “smart gun” front in recent days. First, he New Jersey legislature sent a bill to the Governor’s desk that would ostensibly repeal the state’s poison pill law that’s been stymying investment and development of so-called smart guns for more than a decade.
As NJ.com reported,
The most high-profile bill (A1016/S101) deals with so-called smart guns, or childproof guns that can only be fired by their designated owners. It passed the state Assembly, 51-23, with 2 abstentions and the state Senate 24-13 at the Statehouse in Trenton.
The measure would repeal a 2002 smart gun law and replace it with one requiring every retailer in New Jersey to offer a personalized handgun model for sale.
When it comes to dictating how firearms retailers and gun owners conduct their business and live their lives, Garden State legislators just can’t help themselves.
In the mean time, two of the Senate’s biggest foes of firearms freedom and the right to keep and bear arms have collaborated on a bill to encourage development of “smart gun” technology. It’s actually a re-introduction of a bill they pushed a year ago that went nowhere. Oh, and they’ve given their opus one of those catchy, acronym-based names that sounds all warm and fuzzy.
From homelandprepnews.com:
The Start Advancing Firearms Enhancements and Technology [SAFETY] Act was introduced by U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT). A companion bill was introduced in House of Representatives by Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT).
Any time the Connecticut congressional delegation gets together to draft legislation regarding firearms, keep and eye on your gun rights. And your wallet.
Looking at the bill’s text, we see that the bill would provide firearms manufacturers with a tax credits for coming up with technology that would,
“(A) to prevent a firearm from being fired by any individual other than an authorized user of the firearm, and
“(B) to convert the firearm from the inoperable condition to the operable condition in less than 2 seconds after the authorized user makes contact with the firearm, the firearm’s arming device, or an external safe or locking device.
Here’s Senator Murphy’s press release trumpeting this great legislative achievement:
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) this week introduced the Start Advancing Firearms Enhancements and Technology (SAFETY) Act, legislation that would provide tax incentives to small businesses and firearm manufacturers for the development of smart gun technologies. The bill also encourages consumers to buy firearms that utilize new breakthroughs in safety to reduce gun violence. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is a co-sponsor of the legislation. U.S. Representative Jim Himes (CT-4) introduced the companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Smart guns are an innovative way to control who has access to your gun. If I can use my finger or face to unlock my cell phone, then firearm manufacturers can be innovative in using technology to secure guns. We know that safely securing guns will cut down on suicides and accidental deaths, especially among children. I’m going to keep doing everything I can to offer proposals that can help save as many lives as possible,” said Murphy.
“Our bill incentivizes advancements in safe gun technology that will save lives. Safe gun technology has already created locks that prevent accidental shootings and fingerprint scans that disable firearms for anyone but their lawful owners. The firearm industry and responsible gun owners should already be embracing these kinds of innovations. With our bill, small businesses and manufacturers will have even more incentive to harness the power of American innovation and create smarter, safer firearms,” said Blumenthal.
Since his time in the Senate, Murphy has been a vocal critic of our nation’s gun laws. In January, Murphy reintroduced the Background Check Expansion Act to expand federal background checks to the sale or transfer of all firearms by private sellers, with certain reasonable exceptions. Murphy also joined U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to introduce the Automatic Gun Fire Prevention Act, a bill to close a loophole that allows people to use bump-stocks to turn semi-automatic weapons to automatic weapons, and the Assault Weapons Ban of 2019, a bill to ban the sale, transfer, manufacture and importation of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. Murphy also co-authored the bipartisan Fix NICS Act with U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), which improves federal and state reporting of relevant criminal history records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and was signed into law last year.