Should you be wary of ‘smart’ guns?

Paul Barrett (author of GLOCK) wrote an interesting piece on ‘smart’ guns for Business Week where he argued companies getting into that product will likely fail due to lack of consumer interest and NRA concern over how they’ll be abused.

The question, really, is whether you should be wary of smart guns the way the NRA seems to be. The answer is undoubtedly yes.

Anti-gun activists don’t use stats to make their case for pushing gun control laws — they use emotions. They can’t win on facts because, even though Charlie Rangel thinks millions of kids are being mowed down by guns on our streets, statistics routinely show less gun deaths. So they appeal to emotions.

And a great emotional appeal is to say we’ll be safer from gun violence thanks to ‘smart’ guns — as opposed to, you know, stupid guns. We see in NJ and CA that local governments are trying to legislate use of these guns — which could track locations and only be fired by certain folks.

I think the NRA folks are right to be wary about potential for abuse when lawmakers may be more likely to legislate on feelings than facts. What do you all think? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and let’s have a civil, substantive discussion!! -Rantz