With at least two companies set to release a “smart gun” this year, a new poll from Morning Consult claims that 56% of gun owners support developing the, thus far, unproven and unreliable technology.
This is a greater percentage of support than that from all U.S. adults (49%) and those who don’t own a firearm (46%). Nineteen percent of gun owners do not have an opinion on smart guns while 24% oppose their development.
“Smart guns” use a variety of mechanisms, but they all attempt to restrict functionality of a particular firearm to a particular person. Some have tried to incorporate fingerprint technology into a pistol’s grip while others use RFID or Bluetooth communications that allow a gun to be used by a person with the “key.”
SmartGunz is set to release their 1911 Sentry to the consumer market in April of this year for $2,195, according to GunsAmerica reporting from SHOT Show 2022. Another company, LodeStar Works Inc., is also planning a release of their smart gun by the end of this year. That gun, a 9mm handgun dubbed the LS9, will be available for $900, company CEO Gareth Glaser told Morning Consult.
Based on our conversations with gun owners and industry leaders, support for smart guns depends on whether that technology will be used to ban traditional firearms. If the anti-gun lobby tries to force gun companies to sell smart guns exclusively, we expect support for the technology to fall through the floor.
SEE ALSO: Biden-Harris Plan Would Ban Online Gun Sales, Force Adoption of Smart Guns
There is a historic precedent for this assumption. In the 1990s, Smith & Wesson cut a deal with the Clinton administration to develop a smart gun with an eye towards phasing out traditional firearms, and gun owners were so incensed that the company nearly went bankrupt.
More recently, New Jersey passed a law that would have banned traditional firearms by requiring gun stores in the state to sell smart guns exclusively. The backlash to that law was so intense that even New Jersey lawmakers repealed it.
Our conversations with smart gun companies indicate that they also oppose mandating smart gun technology. SmartGunz founder Tom Holland said the government should “never mandate” smart guns, and Glaser told Morning Consult he also opposes those measures.
“I think that as soon as you start trying to regulate or mandate or anything, you risk a tremendous amount of resistance from the American public,” he said. “This should be a market choice.”
SEE ALSO: NJ Gun Stores Must Now Sell Smart Guns
Morning Consult tried to gauge the level of interest in smart gun mandates, but their question was too vague to draw any meaningful conclusions. They asked respondents whether they would support “regulated legalization,” “prohibition,” or “unregulated legalization” of smart guns.
They failed to define what they meant by “regulation.” Regulation could encompass laws like the now-repealed New Jersey law, but it could also mean regulations similar to those that control firearm purchases today.
Not surprisingly, gun owners opposed the prohibition of smart guns, supported regulated legalization, and were divided on unregulated legalization. If they were told that regulated legalization would ban traditional firearms, those numbers would doubtless look much different.
What a disgusting diatribe. No f ing way I’d use or trust a so called “smart gun”. I’ve hunted bears for over a decade in northern Idaho and have been charged more than a few times by bears weighing over 400 pounds who are plum nasty and beyond ferocious, black and Grizzlies! Absolutely no way will I ever trust any “jetson” garbage while being threatened, stalked, and if it’s a two legged animal? Give me a break, beyond ridiculous.
If “56% of gun owners” were asked ANYTHING, I would bet that at least one person on this website would have been questioned. Since no one has said they were queried, I’m hazarding a guess that the “56%” was 56% of the people in their office, not “gun owners. The other 44% wanted to know what a “smart gun” is. Libtard rag pulling numbers out of their ass. Every single ACTUAL gun owner I have talked to about this is 100% AGAINST “smart guns”.
I want a movie gun! No recoil, always hits it’s target, no reloading, and no noise. Smart guns no way, would be easy to regulate the battery’s that they use.
so far it seems every smart gun has been beat by a magnet ,last I heard
As soon as “smart guns” have gained more traction, they left will try to mandate them. We all know that, and if 56% support them, which I don’t believe, they may not need weapons to start with. Every computer my wife and I have have finger print logon, and non of them work. So I can’t wait for a gun that might know me or might not when I really need it.
Did you know where the survey was conducted?
They surveyed a Washington DC kindergarten class by asking which they would prefer: a smart gun or a dumb gun?
I’m having a difficult time telling the difference between a smart gun and a doorstop, which is what all smart guns eventually become when their electronics fail.
There is definitely a subset of the broader market that would want this…perhaps some lesser experienced/newer gun owners with children in the house? perhaps that would make them feel more comfortable about having a gun in the home if only the intended user could use it? it’s better than not owning a gun, I suppose…If it has the overall effect of increasing the amount of gun owners in the country and brings new people into the fold, why not?
personally, I would never own a smart gun because the technology simply isn’t time tested and I want my gun to be as reliable as possible in the event I need it. I am but one person, though so maybe smart gun tech works for some, but not me.
One other thing – 56% seems really high. My guess is those respondents either don’t own guns or are very inexperienced gun owners who don’t understand the implications of smart gun tech. My guess is the real number who support it is probably 10% or less.
And most people know most people are stupid!
New poll: “96% of firearms owners support the development of phasers.”
So, 56% of gun owners are ill informed and maybe downright foolish. A gun is only as smart as the person wielding it, and smart gun owners do not leave their guns unsecured.
I was and never have been polled for anything. Polls are another strawman tool used by the deepstate to fool the useful idiots.
My Bovine Excrement Meter is off the dial on this one. They must have polled Democrats who recently purchased a 22 cal pistol because they’ve come to realize that they don’t actually trust the policies they voted for.
These people are a day late and a dollar short and shouldn’t be allowed to own a garden trowel.
Didn’t even read the article just scroll down right to the comments not disappointed folks
If they sell for half the price of a “dumb” gun then I’ll buy one. He said sarcastically!
I strongly suspect the “ Morning Consult “ is a rousing left-wing ,
Neocommunist , TASS -type publication .
I would not put great faith in the accuracy of their polls , outside
of their readership/ subscribers of course .
This laughable at best, but if they insist than law enforcement and military first, I’ll keep my dumb guns until then.
Kinda’ reminds me of the vote count for biden’s presidency.
Really? How stupid do these people think we are?
I suspect that less than zero point five six percent of actual gun owners support ‘smart ‘ guns, even if they include blue dog turd (who probably isn’t actually a gun owner).
As others have suggested, there is nothing illegal about making, selling, buying or owning a gun that is designed to fail to work, all for 2-3x the cost of a ‘dumb’ equivalent, so have at it and let the market decide (without government coercion or mandates), and let’s see how long these companies survive.
Here’s a hint: if their product or concept was viable, customers would be beating down their doors trying to buy them, but I don’t see that happening, either now or in the future.
The following Quote used as a “title”for this Op-Ed IS a BLATANT LIE! This IS a LIE concerning all of the People I know DEMAND NO LIMITATIONS on their weapons/guns which they own. “Morning Consult: 56% of Gun Owners Support Development of ‘Smart Guns’
by JORDAN MICHAELS on MARCH 9, 2022”.
There are two ways to interpret this. Either 56% of gun owners are taking the libertarian approach and think if that’s what a company wants to do, then go for it. Or, the poll was constructed with an inherent bias.
I don’t understand the question about “legalization” Smart guns are already legal.
“56 percent” that tracks with about the percentage of ‘brain dead’ we have in our society. Depending on what “smart tech” used, what you going to do when the gov-mint deactivates your guns while there’s work. What you going to do if injured and try and shoot with your non dominant hand? Lazy brain dead liberals, the bain of society.
Don’t buy them when they hit the market….that’ll send a stronger message than “calling your Congressman”👍
Let me just answer the headline:
No, we don’t. Polls are fake anyway, but no, what gun owners want is to be LEFT ALONE and they don’t answer polls or anything else remotely like them.