The most recent innovation in personalized weapons that can only be fired by authenticated users is a smart pistol powered by facial recognition technology, available for purchase from Colorado-based Biofire Tech.

But when a prototype was presented by Reuters this week, it failed to fire twice, showing the difficult and lengthy journey that smart firearms have traveled. Kai Kloepfer, the founder and CEO of the company, stated that the mechanical pistol, which was constructed using prototype and pre-production parts, was to blame for the failure. The software and electronics have also been thoroughly tested, he added.
The facial-recognition system appeared to work when the weapon shot successfully at other occasions throughout the demonstration.

According to Biofire, the first 9mm handguns that are suitable for the consumer market might be delivered to pre-order clients as early as the fourth quarter of this year. The $1,499 model may be available by the second quarter of 2024.
Since the Armatix briefly debuted on sale in 2014, it might be the first smart pistol to be commercially sold in the US. At least two other American businesses are also working to bring a smart pistol to market: LodeStar Works and Free State Firearms.

Kloepfer fired a bullet without incident during a demonstration at the Biofire headquarters in Broomfield, Colorado, and then put the pistol down. The gun did not recognize the next man’s face, thus he was unable to fire when he attempted to.

Then Kloepfer returned and fired it once more. The gun then abruptly went click twice, although it continued to fire on successive trigger pulls. Another prototype was then introduced, and that weapon performed as intended.

Many gun aficionados are dubious of smart gun technology because they fear it would malfunction when a weapon is immediately needed for self-defense.

In order to create a product that always unlocks for you whenever you pick it up and never unlocks when your child finds it, Kloepfer explained, “I’ve not just built a product, but an entire company around it.”