Senate Bill: ‘Must Retrofit’ Handgun with Smart Gun Tech Before Sale

Armatix Smart Gun (AP photo)

(CNSNews.com) - Democratic Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have put forth a bill that could drastically impact gun sales in America.
Last week Markey and Warren introduced The “Handgun Trigger Safety Act”. It would mandate that in 10 years “anyone selling a handgun must retrofit it with personalization technology before that sale can be completed.”
It would also ban the “manufacture in the United States a handgun that is not a personalized handgun” within 5 years of the measure being enacted.
Smart gun technology allows a handgun to only be operated by an authorized user. It generally works through finger or palm print recognition, electronic password or coded lock, or a gun that needs to be in proximity to a specific watch or bracelet in order to operate.
Currently smart gun technology is pricey. The Armatix iP1 is the first smart handgun to be sold in the U.S. with a reported price of $1,800.
In a press release Markey says, the measure would also “authorize grants to develop and improve ‘personalized’ handgun technology to increase efficacy and decrease costs.”
It would also “provide reimbursement to manufacturers for the costs of retrofitting handguns through the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund.”