Former US Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske and legendary gun developer Ernst Mauch to headline symposium exploring benefits of smart guns for police.

Event seeks common ground among luminaries from law enforcement, public health/safety, gun manufacturing.

SEATTLE, Wash. – A cross section of interested parties involved in police safety and smart gun technology are sponsoring a unique gathering this summer entitled “The Law Enforcement and Smart Guns Symposium.” The event seeks to clear some of the fog surrounding the issue and to create a positive, non-political, informational dialogue aimed at ascertaining the true benefits of smart gun technology for law enforcement. According to Montgomery, Maryland Commander Mark Plazinski who plans to attend: “Police work as we all know it is extremely dangerous and we owe it to all the men and women in blue to determine both the reliability and true merits of smart gun technology to reduce the danger from ‘ gun grabs’, and lost or stolen guns”

The event features a morning press conference and a three hour luncheon symposium including keynote presentations along with an all-star panel that will take questions from the audience. Former Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, (i.e. the largest federal law enforcement agency) Gil Kerlikowske will be one of the keynote presenters. Mr. Kerlikowske completed a fellowship at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and is a Distinguished Fellow at Northeastern University. Kerlikowske’s long and distinguished career includes two stints as President of Major City Chiefs, nine years as Seattle Police Chief as well as former President of the Police Executive Research Forum. He will discuss the need for law enforcement to continue to explore technology that keeps officers safe.

Related: SMART GUNS AND GUN VIOLENCE

Another keynote presenter is legendary German gunsmith and former Heckler and Koch chief designer Ernst Mauch. Mr. Mauch was the first foreign-born winner of the Chinn Award, an annual prize from the National Defense Industrial Association honoring achievement in small-arms weaponry. His presentation will directly address reliability concerns around smart guns and the necessary testing routines that are involved in proving firearm reliability.

Other notable participants and attendees include Gareth Glaser, from Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, former Director of Everytown for Gun Safety, Mark Glaze, and Mark Plazinski of the Major City Chiefs Association. John Diaz, former Seattle Police Chief noted that the smart gun debate reminded him of the discussion in the law enforcement community around the Glock pistol 30 years ago; “Lots of initial pushback about the use of plastic polymers and “electronics” but nowadays 65% of all police departments in the country use a Glock”

Leading gun rights groups including the NRA and The Second Amendment Foundation have given their official blessing to smart gun technology so long as they are not mandated and can be proven reliable. However a number of issues still remain outstanding, including what are the best technologies to be utilized, what are the tangible benefits for law enforcement and what will it take for field officers to buy in to using smart guns.

Consumer market acceptance of smart guns has been validated by two separate surveys including one earlier last year by Johns Hopkins University of almost 4,000 US households where 43% of gun owners expressed definitive interest in purchasing a smart gun. However acceptance by law enforcement given the significant cache that sector entails, represents a likely first step before smart guns can gain traction at the retail level.

The DC Law Enforcement and Smart Gun Symposium will run from 11am to 2:00pm at the Henley Park Hotel on August 3rd in downtown Washington DC with a press conference preceding the event at 10am. One of the key elements to be presented at the press conference will be a survey of some 200 police officers regarding police safety. Attendance is free to interested parties who RSVP ahead of the event at [email protected]

– Ralph Fascitelli, Resonance Public Relations, [email protected], 206-369-2612