Smart-gun advocates see leverage in military contracts

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 27: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), speaks about gun safety during a news conference on Capitol Hill January 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. The Senators introduced legislation to ensure that the victims of gun violence are allowed to have their day in court and that the gun industry manufacturers, sellers and interest groups are not shielded from liability when it acts with negligence and disregard for public safety. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) less WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 27: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), speaks about gun safety during a news conference on Capitol Hill January 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. The Senators introduced legislation to ensure that the ... more Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Smart-gun advocates see leverage in military contracts 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Early in January, President Barack Obama choked back tears remembering the 2012 Newtown mass-shooting as he announced a series of initiatives aimed at counteracting what he termed the "scourge of gun violence'' in America.

Among them: ramping up investment in smart guns, which require codes, thumbprints or other measures to make firearms operable. He gave the Defense Department, the Justice Department and the Homeland Security Department 90 days to come up with "a research-and-development strategy designed to expedite the real-world deployment of such technology.''

He also told the agencies to look into whether the federal government -- a major firearms buyer -- could use its purchasing power "consistent with operational needs'' to spur the market for smart guns.

Fast-forward to April: The Obama administration has said nothing about smart guns, even as controversy over their use continues to rage between groups favoring gun rights and those committed to gun-violence prevention.

But that may be about to change. Sources in and out of government say the administration is about to put forward a report from the agencies on the way forward on smart guns. The document could be released as early as this week, these sources say.

Its exact recommendations are being closely guarded by the White House, but the report is likely to reopen a years-long debate on whether smart guns can cut down the number of accidental shooting deaths -- 500 in 2013 alone, 30 of those with victims under age 5.

The National Rifle Association and the Newtown-based National Shooting Sports Foundation counter that smart-gun technology is still unproven and the marketplace -- not government mandates -- should be the arbiter of its worthiness to gun owners.

Ground zero in Connecticut

In Connecticut, the debate resonates acutely because the Newtown shooter, Adam Lanza, took his mother Nancy's weapons to kill her and then 26 children and staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Had some or all of those guns been equipped with smart-gun technology, the younger Lanza may not have been able to open fire that day, Dec. 14, 2012.

"Gun homicides and suicides happen at moments of intense passion, immediate grudge or psychological breakdown,'' said U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who has told the White House he wants the government to go full-steam on smart guns. "Making it harder for people to get their hands on weapons during an intense moment of rage or self-loathing makes it less likely a shot will be fired."

In speeches and informal remarks, Murphy has told the story of his two young sons being aghast at the idea that a code or thumbprint can be required to operate an iPhone, but not a gun.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he inveighed upon Obama himself to harness the military budget on behalf of smart-gun technology.

"He is supremely well-aware of the potential of military contractors to be partners,'' Blumenthal said. "This is not about sacrificing the firepower of our military weapons. It is about supporting development of new technology and research.''

Po Murray, chairwoman of the Newtown Action Alliance, concurred.

"The government should use its significant purchasing power to encourage the gun manufacturers to produce and market smart guns," Murray said.

Smart guns, if and when fully developed, might have a "gee-whiz,'' futuristic appeal. In the James Bond film "Skyfall,'' Agent 007 uses a gun equipped with a biometric palm scanner.

A government commitment using its defense and law-enforcement purchasing power to create a marketplace would dramatically alter the playing field that exists now for smart guns. Huge contracts tied to smart-gun development by arms manufacturers could well create the market that the NRA and NSSF endorse as the only legitimate way to sell such weapons.

"Regrettably," Murray said, "the gun industry will not step up to improve gun safety unless we demand it."

But the climb remains steeply uphill. In the 1990s, Colt Manufacturing of West Hartford put forward a smart-gun prototype, but withdrew it in the face of boycott threats from gun-rights activists.

New Jersey in 2002 passed a law requiring all guns sold in the state be smart guns, once the technology is widely available. It sent the gun-rights world into a rage.

Fears that the New Jersey law would be triggered prompted boycott calls and denunciations of gun stores in Maryland and California that said they would sell a German-made smart gun that receives a signal from a chip in a watch. Both stores stopped selling it.

Free-market argument

An NRA spokeswoman said while the organization of 5 million-plus gun owners has long opposed the New Jersey law, it was not behind the boycott calls. But the spokeswoman, Catherine Mortensen, said the technology remains unreliable.

"If your life is on the line, do you want to depend on the same technology you use to access your smart phone?'' she said. "We don't complain about anything developed in the free market that people choose to buy, but we don't want mandates or prohibitions."

Foolproof smart-gun technology is still two or more years away, said Margot Hirsch, president of Smart Tech Challenges Foundation, which was set up after Newtown to spur development of smart guns.

"Investment capital from government would incentivize gun manufacturers to also develop these technologies,'' she said. "It would show it's good business and saves lives.''

In addition, "it gives consumers choices,'' Hirsch said. "We're not saying you have to have a smart gun, but if you want one you should be able to go into store and purchase one. Today you can't do that."

While most gun-control advocates believe smart gun advances would be positive, some in that world disagree.

The Violence Policy Center, a leading research group that has taken no official position on smart guns, argues in a 2013 brief they would do little to stem the tide of suicide, which typically accounts for up to two-thirds of the 30,000 or so gun deaths in America each year.

And while smart-gun technology could be an effective deterrent in cases of stolen guns, the VPC brief says it wouldn't impact straw purchases that account for significant amounts of gun trafficking from states with easy gun laws such as Virginia and North Carolina to states with stringent laws such as Connecticut.

But backers of smart guns say the technology is "absolutely worth our trying,'' as U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., put it. "The reality is we're a country with 300 million guns in it. Whether target shooting, hunting or self-defense, there is a real interest in the public in owning firearms, and I don't see that going away anytime soon. I'm interested in effectiveness, and this is an area where we can move forward.''

dan@hearstdc.com