The NRA doesn't hold them in high esteem (NRA: Smart Guns Are Plain Stupid), but NJ's Governor James E McGreeve thinks they're a good idea: on Dec. 16, he signed into law a bill which will require all handguns to implement the technology. State Senate news is here.
Opponents of the legislation argue that NJ is jumping the gun, so to speak, since the technology, strictly speaking, doesn't exist yet.
One prototype is being developed at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Smart guns are supposed to fire only when gripped by an authorized user.
It'll be interesting to see what kind of product liability issues this technology will create: who will be liable, for instance, if the gun fails to fire?