Biofire: The First Worthwhile "Smart Gun"? (ad-free)

The thing that worries me is, every security system can be defeated. And when this one is, there are frightening implications for the owner. If someone manages to steal the weapon and use it in a crime... the police are going to say, "the gun has a fingerprint scanner, therefore if the weapon was fired, that's proof that you fired it." The gun comes with an assumption of guilt, and puts it on the owner to prove their innocence.

Windwalker57

That's what makes them legally problematic. Making full auto a firmware update away will cause ATF issues.

Michael Quinn

If you mean electronic triggers in general, I'd say they'd be a benefit for bullpups as a side effect of just being a benefit for guns (because of making odd things mechanically trivial such as burst fire, restrike capability, selectively firing from closed or open...)

Stuart Morrow

This is Yet another step closer to Logan's Run!!! Hey Karl? Yeah Ian! What's that smell?? I know and I've smelt it before. It Smells?! Smells!?! Like Hudson 9!!! 😱

Paul Beck

do you think the electronic trigger system would benefit bullpups or should I ask Jonathan?

Needs a camera on the front also.

John Anderson

I'd say Ian has jumped the gun for a future FW episode. Besides violating the KISS principle it's also a litigation nightmare. With all the "smart" technology it'll be prone to failure. Having observed the litigation nightmare Remington, and now SIG, experienced. This company could be bankrupted the first time someone is injured or worse.

Cool. Let the market decide. My observations are most people who buy for protection, and are not interested in firearms beyond, buy inexpensive reliable firearms. I would imagine most would buy fossil fueled cars instead of $100K+ smart cars for the same reason. On another note, some are of the opinion that if you own a firearm, you should take the responsibility to be proficient and safeguard it from others. But hey, it's a constitutional right so whose to dictate. BTW-are you tied to the company in any manner?

The downside of electronics is battery life. If your RDS dies, your gun will still fire. With electronic triggers, you might be as dead as the battery/

Wayne S.

This should be a forgotten weapon, as soon as possible. Actually it will be a forgotten weapon because the owner will consider it inoperable for anyone else, so it won't matter if the child or other untrustworthy person finds it. The child may not put it back in the same place, so the owner will not be able to find it when time is of the essence.

EyeBall

For $360 a S&W revolver can be converted to the Magna-Trigger system, which will then only work if the user is wearing a certain ring. It has been around for decades. That would seem to be more reliable than something with a lot of electronics.

Gun control is dead. Or it would be if the argument due to P.A Luty were in circulation, which it isn't because it's been drowned out by retarded Americans making 3D-printed guns (oh sorry, "ghost guns") be about "fighting the government" instead.

Stuart Morrow

Yes, I tried to get my Mum using fingerprint ID on her Samsung and... yeah it was completely unreliable

adam

Some people don’t have time to train extensively but still have a right to choose to defend themselves. Some people have living arrangements that aren’t like yours. They have small kids, or are a caregiver to someone who can’t be around unsecured firearms.

Josh Jones

I think they hit a pretty sweet spot with $1500. I was expecting a lot more tbh. My kids are old enough now that I keep a SP101 in a Five5tar range block beside my bed and my armor and KP-15 and gunbelt with a 21 round Glock a few feet away, but there was a long time that the Glock was locked up and of the others had trigger or mag well locks on them. I could totally see this being a real option for parents or caregivers or folks whose living arrangements aren’t like mine.

Josh Jones

Unfortunately, the view that no one will say that this tech will eliminate the ownership of regular guns is naive. (See: the now-gone NJ law and CA and their micro stamping requirement)

Rick Notkin

Think: Window OS having too reboot. Or, your iPhone that doesn't "see" your print when your finger is not dry. Ha, ha, ha, ha.

Rick Notkin

An interesting design, I look forward to the eventual teardowns people will perform on it. I would be skeptical regarding the lack of internet connection on that docking station, given it had a software version icon. In any case, very interesting to view, thank you Ian!

Bestrone

Kind of looks like a Halo sidearm.

Strypgia

Agreed. I don’t like the idea of a battery/electronics in a firearm. I can pick up a 100+ year old firearm and as long as it was taken care of it will safely fire. In 100 years from now(not that I will be around) I doubt that battery will be working and it would be a safe bet that a replacement battery will be pretty hard to come by as well as finding parts/source code for the electronics.

Lostngone

I have had phone batteries come to end of life and would die immediately when removed from the charger.

Robert N Ayres

I will say I am old and I like the idea of KISS. I also do not like the ramifications this kind of tech brings, even with the New Jersey law gone. However I am also a lover of technology and realize technology advances and this IS going to happen one way or another. With all that said I want one… 😂

Lostngone

I don't know exactly what went on between ATF and Biofire, but the system they have in this thing would be pretty difficult to convert to fully automatic. Definitely harder than a normal gun. Because of my NDA, I can't say more until the guns are released for sale.

Forgotten Weapons

Question about the fully electronic fire mechanism. I thought that was a no-no with the ATF because it could be easily modified to fire more than one round at a time. Am I wrong?

Lostngone

Only the firing is locked. Slide and mag release are just like a regular gun. The stand can be connected to wifi, or disconnected by the user. I can't speak to the exact details, but converting it to fully automatic would be difficult.

Forgotten Weapons

“ A $149 deposit puts you in line to pay $1,350 more when the weapon is ready to ship. That puts it somewhere between double and triple a decent retail price for a standard-model Glock.” LOL.

Terry

Left with a few questions; 1: obviously trigger is critical, but what other mechanics are enabled/disabled by authentication? Ie, could an unauthorized still use the magazine release, move the slide, etc 2: Stand isn't connected to the internet, but has a "Software Update" function: how do they plan on pushing firmware? 3: Electronic controlled trigger: any mechanical checks to prevent a software change allowing automatic fire? Hopefully these will be covered in the upcoming video.

Gray -Trilug- H

This is a solution to overcome lack of, or poor, training in gun handling. It doesn't improve the firearm's performance. Like the debate between those who prefer manual cars and those who want parallel parking smart cars. I prefer manual but my wife wants a smart car. About sums it up.

I guess the idea is that you leave it plugged in to the stand so the battery is constantly on charge.

Thomas Gray

I wonder if marksmanship training and target recognition could become features? I tried the targets that identify hits off the bullseye as being due to a particular shooter error, but that didn't help me. This, though, might actually be able to detect jerking the trigger, anticipating, etc. And maybe it could scan in an image of your family members and pets, and store that in a DO NOT SHOOT file. Thank you for not being a nutcase, by the way.

Pat Patterson

Electronics and firearms do not mix. Just like firearms and alcohol.

David K. Jernigan

That is a very, very, very bad idea and should not have been done. I'm sure it will give the anti-gun crowd wonderful ideas.

Luís Moreira

AS a retired engineer with over 45 years experience, I have one comment - Even if the fingerprint/facial camera work "all the time" - Think - DEAD BATTERY

Robert N Ayres

I'm surprised they went with a bedside gun. I would think police open carrying would be the first target market. Maybe it's an MVP thing.

Calvin McClory

The YouTube comment section will become a PvP zone.

firetower

Was the law only for NJ? I saw a video about NJ once, the advice was for transporting your guns across states. The takeaway was if you think you have business NJ, don't go to NJ. If you must, don't take a gun with you. It seems like a big fuss over a place that would ban guns anyway.

Calvin McClory