courtesy Identilock
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The Las Vegas Sun cherry picked one single purveyor of a safety device at the SHOT Show and implies that their small presence is evidence that the firearms industry doesn’t care about safety. Somehow, though, they missed all of the dozens of sellers at SHOT hawking all manner of gun locks, secure storage devices, biometric security devices, gun safes and much, much more. Let alone the NSSF’s own Project ChildSafe program.

But the media never let details and facts get in the way of advancing an anti-gun narrative.

At a small booth tucked away at the massive annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas, attendees could find an example of what could happen if the gun industry devoted the same effort to making its products safer that it applies to making them more powerful, accurate and lethal.

The booth was for the Identilock, a gun lock that uses fingerprint-recognition technology to allow gun owners to instantly access their weapons while also controlling who can and can’t use them.

Meanwhile, the show offered booth after booth of such accessories as laser sighting systems, silencers, high-capacity magazines, long-range scopes and more — and this in a community where 58 people died and more than 500 were injured less than two years ago by a man using some of those products.

The money in the gun industry is clearly in areas other than theirs, as evidenced by the giant displays by major gun manufacturers and the National Rifle Association at the SHOT Show. But unlike those far bigger players, the providers who specialize in safety equipment are doing the right thing.

– Editorial in the Las Vegas Sun, Cheers to Those Who are Taking Safety Seriously in the Gun Industry

Oh, and you can see our review of the Identilock here.

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49 COMMENTS

    • Why get all in a lather about this kind of crap?

      Someone in Clarke CO should write a Letter to the Editor of LV Sun and have them sponsor an industry show on Firearms Safety. See how many people show up, what kind of economic impact does it have on the community, how effective is it nation-wide? In same letter one might ask The Sun exactly what, other than offering criticism of a trade show that annually brings millions into their “fair city” are they doing to promote firearms safety since they brought it up?

      The Shot Show is about the industry selling products. DUH…

      • The Sun is, and always has been a communist rag. I’m pretty sure the Review Journal includes it for comic relief. The real problem is the locusts from blue states who believe that crap.

        • “The Sun is, and always has been a communist rag. …”

          Can you name a large metro newspaper that isn’t??? Again- I don’t see the bother.

        • That’s the funny thing though, the RJ is the large paper of Vegas and has a mixed editorial staff. The Sun is a fraction of the size and is included with the RJ as some sort of pity-distribution, or perhaps cruel joke.

  1. ‘But the media never let details and facts get in the way of advancing a… narrative.’

    Try wearing a MAGA hat while smirking at an aboriginal American banging a drum in your face. It’s not just the anti-2A agenda they lie about.

        • He also missed the follow-up articles that exposed this story as fake news. When you play the whole video showing the old man was the aggressor trying to intimidate the kid, the press went quiet. At least my Native American family who were quick to jump on that train realized this and apologized for their mistake.

    • Oh don’t even go there white man.. if my ancestor’s DHS had been on the ball they would have sent your European illegal immigrant boat people back where they came from…

      • that was a no win situation, like cops, they just keep comming. Story time;(0h god no).. A mezkin working with me ask, “Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?” . My answer was” A long time ago the whites where starving to death and the Indians fed them, then the white immigrants slaughtered the whole damned bunch of them, that’s why we celebrate Thanksgiving.” He looked at me like WTF.

        • Hahahaha… I love it.. In my case, my white illegal immigrant ancestor married a native born citizen and they started having anchor babies.

        • It’s disinge to compare early immigration to today’s invasion. Before we became a welfare state, legal immigrants came here for the purposes of integrating, making their lives and the country better. Since the creation of entitlement programs, criminal invaders are coming here for those handouts. The terrorists on the left enable them, not because of humanitarian reasons, but to expand their voting base. The only viable solution is the complete closure of our borders to illegal entry. The draconian prosecution of those that employ them. The criminalization for their advocacy. And the physical removal of all that are here illegally, even if that includes creating a bounty system for the Citizen Militia to round them up and SAFELY deliver them to newly constructed DNA collection and deportation centers. Legal immigration going forward must be based solely on a meritocracy. What can an applicant bring to the table that makes America better must be the standard. Student visas must be issued and accepted on the premise that those that overstay are subjected to a minimum 10 year federal sentence and immediate deportation. By accepting the visa, they waive their right to a trial and incarceration must be mandatory as a deterrent.

    • All news sources have a bias, there are no exceptions. They are staffed by humans, so it is unavoidable. Includes Fox, MSNBC, CNN, make a list and leave none out. Doesn’t make any of them Nazi propagandists or left wing agent provocateurs.

      The trick is if the news you decide to watch matches your bias and makes you happy, or conflicts with your bias so you change the channel.

      Perhaps if they all had less bias we wouldn’t have had that godawful 2016 election year. Imagine that, if both Clinton and Trump had lost, along with a bunch of other idiots, morons, charlatans, incompetents and con artists.

    • The LV Sun loves to give editorial space to any wanker that has something to say about banning standard capacity magazines, EBRs, etc. They also love to let Sheriff Lombardo soap box in editorial space to advocate for the same. During the last election cycle he had the standard ‘I support’, then immediately after the ‘but’ came.

      “The Founding Fathers could never have imagined…”

      “2nd Amendment and all, but my officer safety comes first…”

      “No civilian needs high capacity magazines…”

      (all on interviews on AM840 KXNT)

      He is, without a doubt, a star member of the ‘More equal animals’ club, and a top salesman of the ‘rule for thee but not for me’ narrative.

  2. “Safety?”

    The gizmo does what you intend is safety. Maybe the operator shouldn’t intend that – says the editorializer – is something else.

    These anti-people are constantly about making the machinery, and you, less capable. That only makes sense if you lack the judgment to use at need, the skill to do as you intend, or the value to be worth preserving, or, of course, all three.

    The hidden claim is that .5 to 2 million gun owners each year — per the suppressed CDC reports that came out wrong — maybe shouldn’t be trusted to use a gun to preserve themselves. At the least, let’s cut down on all those prosecutions n prison time, because, you know, these people were bad, wrong, and stupid. That’s why they’re all in jail.

    Wait, what?

    They’re not in jail? Mostly never prosecuted? Mostly nobody got harmed? Mostly never even fired the thing during their successful DGU?

    Those numbers don’t count the unreported times a present gun unwound something worse … unreported because they worked.

    Nevermind.

    • We do not need a wall. We need a hell of a lot of work done to improve security at ports of entry all around the country. We need to fix the Visa system that illegal aliens use like the joke it is. The physical border used to be the number one problem but now it is down to number three. It still needs work but not at the expense of the top two problem areas for smuggling hard drugs and illegal alien entry.

      • Wrong, the border is still the biggest problem where 60% of illegals enter. Overstaying the visa accounts for only 40% of the criminal invaders. We need to build the wall with machine gun towers every 200 yards and a 100ft deep mote filled with acid on the Mexico side.

      • “It still needs work but not at the expense of the top two problem areas for smuggling hard drugs and illegal alien entry.”

        A wall will help cut down on illegal entry. Stop it? No, but it will reduce it and funnel those that try to areas that can be better policed.

        As for drugs, this whole thing is a pipe dream. At absolute best enhanced border security will increase the price of drugs a bit and thereby increase the the rates of peripheral crime related to the drug trade.

        If you want to stem the flow of drugs and reduce their use you apply the same logic that has been applied to cigarettes. Make the drugs legal, regulate and tax them.

        • “Make the drugs legal, regulate and tax them.”

          Read a couple of articles recently where California and Washington State auditors are complaining that their projected tax revenues from “legal” dope was about half of what they projected…it appears that most people are still purchasing black market dope because it is cheaper and easier…

          As a side note: there are numerous news reports where the increased availability of dope and decriminalized [sic] harder drugs have led to an increased exposure and subsequent overdosing of many children in the homes and places where the $#!t is laying around.

        • “Make the drugs legal, regulate and tax them.”

          Read a couple of articles recently where California and Washington State auditors are complaining that their projected tax revenues from “legal” dope was about half of what they projected…it appears that most people are still purchasing black market dope because it is cheaper and easier…

          As a side note: there are numerous news reports where the increased availability of dope and decriminalized [sic] harder drugs have led to an increased exposure and subsequent overdosing of many children in the homes and places where the $#!t is laying around.

          Not to get way off on a tangent here since this isn’t The Truth about Narcotics Public Policy but nearly everything you might read in the media about this is fucking horseshit.

          First off, tax revenues are not really the point. The issue is that this topic is emotional for a lot of people so that argument gets used as a justification for which it really isn’t a very good argument. Yes, the projections often fall short because the people hyping them are… hyping them. The point is that there is a two-fold benefit to legalization and taxation. There is some revenue produced by the tax and the legalization results in a dramatic decrease in costs for interdiction, prosecution and incarceration. The latter benefit of cost reduction is never really addressed. However, it’s also a function of where the taxes are set. Setting them too high always results in a black market because there’s still a profit to be made illegally by undercutting the legal price. We see this with cigarette smuggling to NY.

          The other issue with this is that legalization isn’t even across jurisdictions. Many people here in Colorado opt for buying pot from a dealer because the “legal” stuff might get them on a list that gets them in trouble with another LE agency. You think a guy who owns guns is going to risk going to a pot shop when he can do it all the same way he did for decades before? Sure the shop is cheaper and convenient but the dealer is anonymous and runs less of a risk of you ever being caught because he or she doesn’t keep a customer database or have security cameras. He’s also small time so a the DEA isn’t going to come after him the way they might go after a chain of pot shops in the future. Many people are willing to pay the higher price because they’re purchasing additional anonymity and protection from prosecution.

          Second, the issue with children has always been there. It simply hasn’t been reported in cases where the possession was already a crime. “Child of junkie overdoses on junkie’s dope” isn’t a story because the public doesn’t expect a high level of personal responsibility from someone already breaking the law to get high. “Child overdoses on legal drug” is a story. The first generates a big “Eh” while the other gets soccer mom’s panties in a twist and therefore generates revenue for the company publishing the story. It’s click-bait. We just saw the same basic argument here in Colorado over expanding the sale of “full strength” beer to gas stations and grocery stores. The people against the expansion argued that increasing the availability of beer would cause problems. Those problems already exist because people can already buy beer. The only difference is that before the liquor stores had a lock on the profits whereas now they have to share with grocery stores and gas stations but drunk driving was a problem before and will remain one in the future.

        • Looks as if I hit a raw nerve with my post…defensive about drugs arn’t cha Mr. Strychnine.

          Sounds like a great idea for Society…more people with unfettered access to dope, heroin, Oxy, PCP, meth, coke and all the rest…what could possibly go wrong?

          Oh, BTW, you forgot (or choose to ignore) the money…whether the drugs are “legal” or otherwise the end user still has to come up with the $$ to purchase their habit of choice…no matter the price, dopers, by their nature – incessantly nagged by their bodies / brains to feed their addiction, typically do not work well (or long) in the workplace to earn the money to fund their own highs…they will continue to prey on their families and Society to provide them quick and cheap access to their poisons.

          Property and personal crimes will continue to fund most druggies habits.

        • Hit a nerve? Hardly. I don’t even drink anymore.

          What I find obnoxious is the fact that all this bullshit is taken as gospel by people who “read some news” articles written by morons with no credentials rather than bothering to do any research.

          Public policy needs to be dictated by facts and logic not feelz and nonsense. Often we have to pick the lesser evil.

          The simple fact is that logic, facts and research are not on the side of prohibition. It doesn’t work for guns, alcohol or porn so why is it going to work for blow and heroin? It’s not.

          If you bother to research this at all you find that people actively seek altered states on consciousness and always have. For example Coptic Christian Bibles are adorned with images of magic mushrooms and it’s well known that Copts long believed the drug was a way to commune with God. Even Islam seeks altered states of consciousness through Sufi rituals in some sects and ritual prayer in others.

          Drugs, meditation, repetitive prayer and other things all release the same neurotransmitters. They’re just different ways of getting high.

          Further, addiction is known to be extremely rare in people with good social and family support. Research on rats shows this as well. The old test on rats was fundamentally flawed in that it removed the rats from their social network and gave them no stimulation other than cocaine. Giving the rats the same access to cocaine but leaving them in a social group and with access to things they like results in non-nuerotic and very occasional use of drugs.

          Marilyn Manson was absolutely right when he said “There’s a hole in our soul that we fill with dope”. Research has pretty well conclusively shown this to be true.

          The question, based on what we know about addiction, human behavior, history, economics and current events all suggest that the social and economic impact of narcotics I’d made dramatically worse by our current way of dealing with drugs.

          Of course, if you want to go to basic philosophy on the subject we can always ask what right you have to dictate what other people put into their body, or in general what they do so long as they don’t harm anyone else.

          We can point out that you either believe in freedom or you don’t. We can talk about how the root thought process behind the War on Drugs is 100% identical to the ideas behind gun control.

          We can talk about how the whole concept behind prohibition is based on the bullshit notion of “group rights”, a hellish idea invented by the Left specifically to destroy individual rights and freedoms.

          It’s sad to see how many 2A supporters scream about individual liberty but then turn around when they find an idea they don’t like and adopt the exact same ideas and tactics as gun-controllers.

        • They are not. And those that adopt the positions of the domestic enemy party are terrorists as well. The primary function of the federal Govt, according to our Founders, is to provide national defense/security. Those that undermine that Constitutional mandate, (including those that enable them), in an effort subvert our national sovereignty, must pay the ultimate price

        • “How about, we build the wall, and do those other things?”

          Not because they are easy, but because they are hard? 😉

  3. The author seems pretty hung up on one particular variation.

    There’s no accounting for taste, really, but obsession like that only counts as a kink if it’s fun (& not harmful.)

  4. It’s not about “safety”. It’s about mixing technology that has the propensity for failure, with a life saving device. Smart tech and guns don’t mix.

    • If the role of a firearm is IMMEDIATE deployment for self-defense:
      — smart technology firearm locks are a bad idea
      — battery-powered firearm locks are a horrific idea

      And the reason that smart technology and battery-powered locks are bad/horrific ideas respectively: they are far too failure prone for a lifesaving device.

  5. OK, I might not be the most knowledgeable person about biometrics but…

    “His high-tech lock can be opened with the touch of a finger — actually the touch of up to eight of a user’s fingertips. It can also be programmed to recognize the fingerprints of up to three different users.”

    What? It will recognize up to 24 unique fingerprints but somehow only from three different people? I call bullshit on that.

    “It had to work instantly, reliably and safely, and needed built-in redundancy — in this case a traditional key lock that can be used to open it if the fingerprint system were to fail.”

    If you look at the picture in the original article a few questions come to mind.

    First, what exactly is that person supposed to do if the gadget fails? Pull their keys from the ignition, immobilizing their car, so they can get the key? Use a QD swivel? Seems like if you need the gun immediately and you also need a key you’re pretty well screwed.

    Secondly, why is the gun locked like that in the car? This thing isn’t a safe that tried to prevent theft. If someone breaks into the car they can steal the whole thing and work on the lock to remove it at their leisure. So either they should have a safe in the car or they should have the gun on them. Either way this gadget is fucking pointless.

      • Perhaps. Personally I’d just leave the gun in the bedside table and unload it.

        That way I can go get the mag if I need it but I don’t have to worry about batteries failing. Batteries failing mean that now I have to find and use a tiny little key in the dark while I’m not every awake at 0300 while Home Invader McFuckface is trying to find me.

        Generally speaking I’d rather have my life depend on relatively gross motor coordination at that point as opposed to fine motor coordination being required to overcome an unexpected problem.

  6. The Las Vegas Sun is ignorant as a box of rocks on this. Nothing new about biometric locks, been around for years. Maybe this is an improvement, but that’d be all.

    I could maybe be more interested if I still had youngsters in the house, but I do not. So my boomsticks, hand cannons and smoke wagons will do without, thank you very much for trying.

  7. Las Vegas Sun Proves Journalism Not Focused on Truth.

    FIFY.

    Almost all the @sshats in the news industry should be called “journaliars,” not journalists.

  8. Of the hundreds of thousands parts that go into making an airplane, seatbelt is just one part. Obviously, the aircraft industry doesn’t give a damn about safety.

  9. Real simple. Move the SHOT show to a different location and them bitch how much money they lost of the local economy.

  10. The problem isnt Paddock’s AR-15s which had barely 250 Joules of remaining projectile energy at 500+ meters. The problem was the members of of the Los Vegas Police Department who caught oncamerra cowering in the hallway outside his room while they waited for the shooting to stop.

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