Currently, no state has a law banning voluntary microchip implants, though along with Nevada, Arkansas, New Jersey and Tennessee are drafting legislation centered around implants. California, Wisconsin, Missouri, Oklahoma and North Dakota have laws in some form that ban involuntary implants.

I can’t think of many biohackers — or any citizens — who wouldn’t support a ban on involuntary microchipping (though at least for now, that’s a baseless fear). But the fear of government- or corporate-imposed programs should not overwhelm the promise that voluntary, recreational chipping has to offer.

I’ve had my chip for over three years, and I’ve grown to relish and rely on the technology. The electric lock on the front door of my house has a chip scanner, and it’s nice to go surfing and jogging without having to carry keys around.

For some people without functioning arms, chips in their feet are the simplest way to open doors or operate some household items modified with chip readers. The military is considering implants for soldiers that may be useful to monitor their health data and even recovering them if they’re captured or lost in war.

Microchip implants aren’t for everyone, and while the health risks are minuscule, like any technology, implanted chips will grow old, become outdated and need to be replaced — a process that will be moderately bloody and painful. And there are legitimate privacy issues, similar to the current concerns over tracking phones. So far, though, implants can be detected by someone only at a distance of a few feet.

Above all, the microchip implants illustrate a defining principle of the transhumanist movement, popularized by the philosopher and futurist Max More: morphological freedom — the right to modify one’s body in whatever way one wants, so long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else.

The uproar over Mr. Daly’s bill seems to have worked. After being deluged with public comments and emails, he altered his bill yet again, with new wording to exempt implants for self-expression and medical purposes. (The bill recently passed in the Nevada Assembly and is being considered by the Nevada Senate.)