In practice, the unproven and unreliable technology demanded by gun controllers is a disaster waiting to happen. As noted in a previous example, mechanical safeties fail. So do electronic devices. Now imagine putting an electronic device subject to radio interference in charge of whether a gun can be fired. Heck, simple biometric gun safes are not even 100% reliable. Batteries fail. Software fails. Circuits short out. Fingerprint readers can quickly become unreliable. And what happens if your smart-gun triggering wristband is shot or otherwise damaged by a home invader? You and your family are completely out of luck.

There’s a reason there’s absolutely zero market for “smart guns” among people who actually understand how guns work: the technology is completely unreliable. The basic gun safety rules, though, are airtight. It shouldn’t surprise us that people who don’t even understand basic gun mechanics or safety rules want to mandate completely unreliable technology.

This isn’t to say the underlying technology isn’t useful. It can be. One police force is considering using the technology to alert the department whenever an officer’s gun is unholstered or discharged.

If individuals or organizations decide on their own to implement a new, untested technology, they’re free to do so. But mandating unreliable “smart gun” technology is a very dumb thing to do.