Biofire Technologies is putting the finishing touches on its $1,500 9mm “smart gun,” which uses biometric fingerprint technology and is expected to be released in 2024.

“Smart guns” have been pursued for decades but have yet to prove viable due to failures in their activation mechanisms/theories.

For example, some of the early “smart guns” unlocked by being paired with a bracelet and it was soon evident a thief could just steal the gun and the bracelet and he would have a working firearm.

Another example: In 2017, when the Armatix IP1 “smart gun” paired with a watch was in vogue, a hacker used $15 worth of magnets to show how to jam the gun, rendering it inoperable for self-defense.

The pending Biofire “smart gun” unlocks via a biometric fingerprint reader instead of being paired with a watch or bracelet. The problem with biometric reader is that they have been prone to malfunction if the user’s finger is wet or covered with blood, mud, etc.

In 2020 Breitbart News used an iPhone fingerprint reader to show what happens when someone tries to operate a fingerprint reader with a wet finger or thumb:

FOX News reports that the Biofire “smart gun” also has a facial recognition system.

Biofire’s CEO is Kai Kloepfer, who made a “smart gun” in 2016 that CBS News described as “relatively reliable.” Breitbart News pointed out that Kloepfer admitted a shortcoming of the smart gun’s fingerprint reader was that it would not work if the authorized user was wearing gloves or if his fingers were dirty.

The pending Biofire “smart gun” carries a price tag around $1,500. By comparison, a Glock 19 9mm can be purchased for around $500, as can a Sig Sauer P365 9mm or a Smith & Wesson MP 9mm.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com