Armatix iP1 (courtesy armatix.com)

An alert reader emailed TTAG central with news that Armatix GmbH – makers of the iP1 “smart gun” – filed a patent application that included a remote kill switch for the firearm. Click here to view patent EP 1936572 A1, dated 2006. (Not a bug; a feature!) I’m not a patent attorney or an electrical engineer, but as far as I can tell this is the bit (translated from the original German) that indicates remote disabling . . .

Preferably, the inventive device is designed such that the device or the activated identification medium authenticated in response to a signal transmitted from a remote station to the device wake-up and request signal, whereupon the remote station a logical and / or physical access or access to one and allows or prevents a target device . . .

Preferably, the apparatus of the invention can be controlled remotely, for example via satellite and can send information to a satellite.

This would be a good time to point out that TTAG’s been trying to get ahold of a iP1 for some time, so that hi-tech members of our Armed Intelligentsia could develop a jamming device. Thank goodness we didn’t! We could have been sued!

You may recall that New Jersey’s “smart gun” mandate goes into effect the moment a single example is offered for commercial sale anywhere in the United States. Three years later, The Garden State would ban the sale of non-“smart guns.”

Gun rights advocates fear that it’s a short step from a ban on the sale of “dumb guns” to a ban on their ownership. At that point, New Jersey gun owners would be at the mercy of criminals or government agents  – who could possess “dumb guns” and “smart gun” jammers, such as the one described in the patent application.

If the New Jersey mandate spread to other states or went federal, well, that wouldn’t be good. For anyone. Save the aforementioned German gunmaker, criminals and tyrants.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

120 COMMENTS

  2. Would putting it in a Faraday Box work? I made one and it seriously blocks all electricity and signals. I just took an ammo can and completely lined the insides with cardboard. No signals come in, none go out. Everything in there is also safe from an EMP.

    • Only if you can stick your hand and wrist in box too. Smart gun requires RFID to receive signal that says the safety can come off. This signal jammer would prevent the gun from receiving the RFID from the bracelet.

      This is especially creepy due to the high strength radio waves you would have to produce from space to jam a bracelet a few inches from the gun, unless space satellite just makes all smart guns shut off

    • A Faraday Cage does not need to be made of solid sheeting. Wire mesh will do. The question is what metal and how small should the mesh loops be.

    • Unfortunately the same technology could theoretically be used to implement “if this gun has no external reception, disable it.” So if you blocked the *ability* for a satellite to communicate with the gun, it could also be disabled.

    • I’ve worked in electronic signaling industry. A microwave oven is one of the best faraday cages. DON’T turn it on idiot. Put a flashlight inside to see item and signal. One day we needed to test something real quick and someone else was using the ridiculously extensive (10’s of thousands) test cage.

      • hahhahaha, now I’m just imagining throwing a smart gun in the microwave and hitting 3 min…. good God…

    • faraday cage would not work. If the signal is being sent by satellite on continuous loop, as soon as you remove it from the cage it would kill it.

      This is major problem when a coup or invasion occurs. Just send a blanket signal and kill all the guns. I been saying this for a couple of years now

      Smart guns is a defacto trojan-horse.

  3. Just like iPhones magically dropping signal during a crisis. This type of “smart gun” failure has been in sci-fi for years. The smart gun politicians need to go back to their holes. The irony is if that smart guns become law, muzzle loaders will become king!

  4. And antis keep saying we are just paranoid…

    When I heard about this smart gun this is exactly what I thought: what if it can be jammed remotely?

  5. Clearly the intended end result of this design.

    Only thing I’m surprised by is the public nature of disclosure; in this case a patent filing.

  6. The German patent office will get right on this request after they’re done working through the stack of Zyklon B related patents.

  7. Can someone tell that British Paper that was looking for average gun owners concerns over the smart about this non-surprising development? If it emits a signal, it can be tracked, and jammed. This is an end run around our “dumb” guns that cannot be remotely disabled. Why are the powers that be so hot and heavy to make sure we all have kill switches on our guns? Gee I wonder why. I am shocked, shocked I tell you.

  8. still believe in THIS government that really wants to ‘protect you’…..a once proud country…being reduced to tyranny…before our very ‘eyes…..keep voting the same ‘good tyrants’ into office and soon…….the results will be at your door…imho

  9. So, supposedly the authorities/government can remotely kill said firearm from a satellite at any time. It would also be fair to say that since it could be killed remotely from satellite, it could also have the movements and usage of the firearm tracked by gps like a phone. It might also be fair to say that the government, authorities could remotely terminate all firearms in a given area. Righhhttt…. that’s not giving the government too much power at all.

    What’s to prevent an attacker from copying (or hacking) the government’s kill switch signal and broadcasting it before attacking someone?

    I wonder, assuming the gun maintains a connection to a satellite at all times (which face it, why wouldn’t it at this point) if it ever loses a signal, does the firearm become inoperable until it reconnects? Kind of like some software DRMs requiring an always on connection?

    • “It would also be fair to say that since it could be killed remotely from satellite, it could also have the movements and usage of the firearm tracked by gps like a phone.”

      No, you’re making a leap. The system they’re talking about and GPS are two different things. To be “tracked by gps like a phone” there would have to be a GPS receiver in the gun, and then a way to get the “here I am” signal out, in the case of your example the cellular data network. The way this system would work is by blanketing an area with the signal, like a radio station. Any receivers in range would pick it up and act on it, deactivating the gun. Any sort of gps tracking would require a whole ‘nother layer of technology.

      • I was going to be snarky..

        Suffice it to say that the patent uses the satellite as an example. RFID is perfectly trackable by terrestial techniques. And a kill switch could just as easily be implemented via cell towers, local/mobile devices. Kindof all depends utimately on what the chip look likes. And who gets to monkey with it in the Fed govt. I remind you that it been revealed that substantial numbers of USA exported computer equipment is modified at Fed locations prior to shipment.

      • Simple cell tower triangulation. so basic, anyone can do it. Also if there is some sort of cell technology in there, the GPS is also on the eprom already.

      • I don’t know. I’m pretty sure they can fit that layer of technology, and then some, into one of those watches. Considering that the gun is useless without the watch, all they have to do is track the watch. The watch can store locations even if out of range of a cell tower, and upload when back in range. Took your smart-gun shooting at your favorite remote secret spot? Not so secret now.

        To disable the watch virtually anywhere via satellite, it wouldn’t have to be a blanket signal to all guns in the area. Think about pagers from the early 90’s. Even those back then were really not much bigger than the smart watches now. One satellite covered all of the United States and sent a custom signal directly to a specific pager.

      • I realize I was reaching quite a bit. I read the example of the smart-gun “[sending] information to a satellite” and it was a little unsettling. Supposing that they do create a smart gun that sends information to a satellite, what kind of information could they conceivably send? While GPS tracking would require another layer technology, its not inconceivable that it might be implemented at some point. I wasn’t thinking specifically about this smart-gun, and this patent, or even specifically about the kill-switch feature, but to the extent to which smart-guns might (eventually) send and receive information. I just didn’t do a very good job communicating this. I guess the present concept is bad enough without hypothetical slippery slopes being added to the mix.

        @Tommy Knocker,
        No need to be snarky. I’ve been awake for almost 24 hours, and just got off a long shift. I’m tired, and I’m not entirely certain the above paragraph made any sense at all. At the moment I’m just hoping I don’t sound like Gary Busey.

        • If you believe entertainment can have a window on what is to come…. look at Metal Gear Solid 4… in that game, nano-tech was injected into soldiers. This nano-tech monitored their every move… vitals, location, supplies, and enabled/disabled use of weapons and equipment In the game. The bad guys were able to hijack this nano-tech and use it to the detriment of any (and all soldiers, mercs. PMCs, ect that were registered and not considered terrorist) injected soldier. Also in the game there were arms-launderers that could suppress the nano-tech and make it possible to use any “smart” equipment.

  11. I told the Smart Gun manufacturer that I would be happy to review the Armatix. I also mentioned that I could compare it against a conventional .22 LR pistol. I may have inadvertently revealed that I am a gun guy. She responded and asked where I was from, and I said Brea, CA. If they send me one, I’ll be happy to review it.

  12. Anyone notice the patent file date is 2006?
    Also, I am an EET. Amazing what passes for patent schematics…My 10 year old could have done better using the paint program.

  13. Attention: NRA, SAF, GOA — *anyone* with resources and access to the media:

    SHOUT THIS FROM THE MOUNTAIN TOPS.

    I have been saying from Day-01 — that this is the whole point of this technology.

    Gun owners: BOYCOTT “Smart_Gun” products and any associated business.

  14. Half the time my smart phone needs to be reset, my time-warner boxes kept updating all week & my states computers have been hacked 2 times they admit. I’d be more worried about it not even working when needed. Besides half of NJ has.moved to SC, NC, & GA it seems. The state’s gov. Is a flip flop commie lover proven by hugging Obama. NY & NJ are the east coast version of California. My wife is from Newark her family has moved out to the south, couldn’t pay them to go back. Even the mob doesn’t wanna live there.

  15. This should have been no surprise at all. However, I suspect the ‘smart’ portion of the gun could be disabled pretty simply, I haven’t seen it’s operating mechanism but there are only so many ways to jam up a gun. This leads to the next thought, what is the point of this thing again? It solves a non-existent problem with a faulty and easily overcome solution. I think it’s just more evidence that the anti-gun people, even those in industry and high office are so out of touch and woefully ignorant that they really think they’ve done something with this. It goes back to the ‘ballistic fingerprint’ absurdity; a multimillion dollar fiasco that could be defeated in minutes with a dollar store file and the micostamping nonsense that is likewise easily defeated. The anti’s seem to be casing handfuls of sand into the ocean in an attempt to dry it up. It’s pathetic really, but it’s wonderful that it’s so pathetic.

    • Precisely. It shows that the anti-gun people, by and large, know nothing about guns or even basic physics. They seem to think this technology is some kind of magic that’s impossible to defeat.

      Give this Armatix gun to a halfway competent gunsmith, and I’ll bet in an afternoon he’ll have the electronics ripped out and parts fabricated to make it back into a “dumb” gun again. With a better trigger pull. Give it to a smart electronics hacker, and he’ll have the “brain” on it so scrambled it thinks the watch or bracelet or whatever is always near.

      Likewise, give them to the general population, and wait a day or two. Some smart criminal fellow will have developed a jammer or kill switch, and anyone who’s obeying the law and using a non-hacked smart gun is effectively disarmed when this guy and his buddies come calling. Why do you think there are no calls to distribute these to the police and military?

      The only way to make a true, difficult-to-defeat “smart” gun is to re-invent the whole thing from the ground up. You’d need smart ammo that only goes off when it gets the right signal from the gun, for starters. As long as the gun fires by whacking a primer with a firing pin (a physical action), electronics are no impediment to the determined tinkerer.

      • Exactly. At the heart of all guns is a mechanical mechanism. All the electronic frippery around the periphery of the central chamber/barrel issue is just optional noise.

        • This is true for most guns.

          This isn’t true for some guns made by some people (one huge example of this is the ‘Metal Storm’ guns).

  17. Why would anyone want a .22LR that looks like an early reject for a Star Treck Phaser in the first place? I don’t see a lot of these selling even if they were dumb guns.

    Someone here (United States) getting a hold of any of this type of gun is going to figure out how to disable the smart (electronics) part and make it a basic mechanical gun anyway. The speed of rooting a new cell phone or IPAD should tell you how easy it is to overcome any electronic protection schemes they come up with.

  18. Yes sir, we have complied with all laws that forbid confiscating firearms during periods of emergency. The public still has possession of their guns, we’ve just turned them all off.

  20. Why do these awful things always try to look space agey and uglier than sin?

    For the love of all that is Holy, please stahp with this garbage!

  21. ” This would be a good time to point out that TTAG’s been trying to get ahold of a 1P1 for some time, so that hi-tech members of our Armed Intelligentsia could develop a jamming device. Thank goodness we didn’t! We could have been sued! ”

    In the case if the IP1 it uses RFID, which renders it vulnerable to penetration testing.. Penetration testing is very much authorized form of ethical hacking used by security experts seeking vulnerabilities in products that a non-ethical/criminal hacker can exploit. In this case, were you guys to acquire an IP1 pistol, you have a heavily vested interest to research any vulnerabilities as this is a product designed around safety and self defense.

    • I suspect any evaluation guns sent to reviewers will come with a lengthy legal contract forbidding any tinkering. They don’t want people to show how easy they are to break; they only want reviewers to show how “gee whiz” the system is, and how “reliable” it is.

      Since most reviewers are gun guys, they’re not going to find the favorable audience they want, so I don’t think there will be many of these distributed for review before they go on sale.

      • I can see that happening in a review. One that is purchased, however, wouldn’t have that type of restriction put on it. Personally speaking, I’m salivating at the thought of breaking into one. I just have a strong suspicion I might destroy it in the process if I get too deep into it and then I’d have a $1800 piece of junk. On the flipside, I might be able to just rip out all the electronics and replace it with something else to get it to function.. At least it would shoot.

  22. Also, a remote kill switch pretty much guarantee’s this devices insecurity as it can and will be exploited at some point. If it truly does have a kill switch, consider this device a dead end for self defense.

  23. Oh God, real life is starting to mirror Metal Gear Solid 4. It won’t be long everyone starts talking in stilted war metaphors, monkeys wear pants and assist arms dealers, battleships built to look like Mt. Rushmore rise from the sea, bi-sexual vampires go around knifing people, feathery-haired cyborgs whine about their stillborn children and geriatric old men get into fistfights atop submarines.

  25. Follow the $$$

    Who wants to bet that if we track capital inflows/investment in this company, we will find Bloomberg, Soros, or Buffett’s fingerprints? And when shannon says she doesn’t get paid, wanna bet she received stock or some other “incentive” comp? Yep – there is a reason for this and the purpose is to make sure the liberal elites can put down an insurrection when need be.

  29. I am one of those hi-tech folks who happens to believe in the Bill of Rights. I guarantee the hacker community will come up with a “work-around” for this kill switch technology shortly after it came to market. Heck, if/when this smart gun technology becomes more common in the market, I am certain a hacker will find and publish the means to make it a “dumb gun”. No matter if the hacker is a leftist, conservative, independent or whatever, they will do it just for the challenge and for bragging rights. In other words, smart gun technology as presented is a pretty dumb idea. I am sure the manufacturer knows it is a dumb idea that won’t work, but he is probably laughing all the way to the bank as rich liberals “invest” in his company.

  30. “The government wouldn’t kill US citizens without trial, you’re just being paranoid”
    “The government wouldn’t spy on US citizens, you’re just being paranoid”
    “The government doesn’t want to control your guns, you’re just being paranoid”

    Anyone else see a pattern?

  31. So what you’re saying is that they won’t need to send in the SS to disarm the Jews next time, they’ll just turn off all the guns.

    Yeah, this is gonna end well.

  32. Yup. At the end of the day a mechanical work around could easily be designed to replace the electrical circuitry. Likely this would be illegal as soon as the politicians figure this out. Not that this would stop criminals.

    My limited understanding of patent language is that descriptions need to be broad enough to protect for applications other than those planned. I interpret the language to be cover exactly the function of the RFID bracelet. Not sure if the usage of the satellite term was intended literally, it may be another term for ‘secondary external device’ the term sattelite provides lots of leeway as to the nature of the device. Ie a bracelet or an actual satellite. I’d need to consult a patent layer to see if that rings true.

    For another example in my class that covered patents we had to write imaginary patents on a car. Your instinct would be a ‘four wheeled vehicle motivated by internal combustion used for transportation’. The better language would be ‘ a vehicle with a plurality of wheels which may or may not include a device or means to allow a device capable of providing tractive effort or force intended to move the vehicle.’

    The second way covers everything from bicycles trains using electromagnets for propulsion. The first covers four only cars trucks and go carts.

    Applying that logic to the description in the article tells me this is nothing more than the patent attorneys making the language all encompasing. That gives them coverage for when the tech finally does expand into the tin foil hat territory we all fear.

  33. “New Jersey gun owners would be at the mercy of criminals or government agents”

    In New jersey, aren’t they often the same people?

  34. Think like an anti. What if instead of disabling the guns, they think it’s okay to only enable them at some locations and times?

    “You can have your gun, but it only works at the gun range on Thursday afternoon between 2 and 3 pm…”

  35. I absolutely love this! Probally take a day to make a jammer, but how awesome it would be to take to the range and leave in my bag jamming all the idiots who bought this gun. Reminds me of a little project I did with DirectTV RF signaling codes. Took me about a week with an Arduino board…I noticed all the big chain sports bars got rid of IR signals on electronics because jerks were using IR blasters to turn TV’s and set-top boxes off……So I decided to make what I called (Direct RF Fu@ker) it just send random DTV signals to the boxes. Yes I am the jerk that made the DTV On Demand menu pop-up during your football game.

  36. Ha. Goole rf jamming device. You could block almost any frequency with like an hour of work.

    • Looks like a PPK as reverse engineered by SKYNET. Plus its all plastic fantastic. No thank you! I like guns with wood and metal souls.

  38. Yankee Marshal says he “really, Really, REALLY” wants one of these super high-tech marvels.

    It’s got ‘smurt technology’, donchya know. Wish. I wuz as smurt as the averudge progressive.

  40. “Trust, but verify” what?

    I don’t trust the f@ckers, and neither should you. Quoting dead commies doesn’t make you an intellectual.

    • I think what he is saying is, I don’t trust you, I prefer to control my own firearm, thanks. Either that, or that the government POV is that trusting the populace is nice, but controlling them is better. Hence the desire to remotely control the firearms out there, nicht wahr?

  41. I wonder who would have control of all the kill switches… Man, that’s a head scratcher.

  43. How can I explain this? This is exactly what makes us distrust you.

    I am not the brightest knife in the fridge but can’t you just remove the electrical components from it? So as to turn it back to a normal “dumb” gat.

  44. What if the remote access were to +fire+ the firearm? Imagine the joy of explaining that in court.

  46. GPS tracking is intended for this gun. Go to youtube and search for “Armatix UN”. Straight from Belinda Padilla’s mouth from Armatix. She says “international tracing instrument…” and later says GPS tracking. Disabling guns in “public places” is one of their goals. She also mentions adding smartgun technology to “existing conventional and future weapons”. I don’t like where this is heading…

    • [Tinfoil Hat = ON]

      Wouldn’t surprise me if one of those organizations that want a one-world (global nanny-state) government (where all “citizens” are passive, compliant, and subordinate sheeple, or they don’t freely exist, or live at all) is funding it.

      Ya never know with narcissistic megalomaniacs wanting such power over everyone else.

      [Tinfoil Hat = OFF]

  47. From reading the patent app, it also appears that this device keeps records of when it was activated. Every time you pick up the piece, it appears to be recording this fact, as well as when you fire.

    The point where this device will fail is the fingerprint recognition. There are some people who have very light prints on their fingers. I’ve seen people get wrapped up in the new fingerprint scanners because the technician could not get a set of “scannable” prints off the person. What is really offensive is how some of these government employees running the fingerprinting scanners get all huffy when someone’s prints don’t scan – as tho the person needing a fingerprint set for a background check is at fault because their fingerprints are very light or worn down.

  48. As a previous commenter said – the first people to be armed with “smart” guns should be the LEOs and various alphabet soup agencies. If they like it so much, the idea of having a gun but not having a gun, then by all means.

    But in all honesty this spells only one thing: control of civilian population. Get your overpriced .22 5-shot capacity piece of **** and have it remotely disabled as soon as there is even DOUBT of… whatever.

  49. Remote kill-switches are already required in some smart phone and tablets. Why am I not surprised that it’s incorporated into a so-called smart gun?

    This is exactly the kind of thing I included in my inquiry to that Anja Popp lady yesterday.

  51. Seems noone’s mentioned the most likely use of this ‘feature’.

    We know noone who really knows their stuff will buy one of these. We know no criminal will buy one of these. But quite possibly, some decent citizen who doesn’t know their guns might.

    What will the government do when the next hurricane hits New Orleans, or the denizens of South Central get riled up? Send in the National Guard to protect people, ASAP, or.. disable all the smart guns? Because hey, that’s trying to make a difference.

  52. See I knew they’d do this crap. Precisely why I will NOT own one, no matter what caliber they make it fit.

  53. When does paranoia become justified? This garbage makes me want to buy a bunch of dumb guns. +1 doesky2. Let’s all go take a shower & relax. The authorities know best.

  54. How well will the company do if no one buy one of these paper wieghts. Public demand will ultimatly decide how long this company whille keep reinventing the wheel.

  55. As I am from Germany – like Munich based Ar***x I am one of the few people allowed to possess real guns legally! I should tell here a bit on this one. A*x the company who must not be named is in some dubious ownership in Munich – and receiving some tax money – The tried via parliament to introduce mandatory electronic gunblocking device (horribly priced) – after a schoolshooting in south germany (Winnenden) and also bribe in to Switzerland. It came out the blocking device could be removed by holding the gun on an active orbital sander – the vibrations permitted to unblock the gun barrel blocker. The bribing was discovered.. So some politicians have invested money in that company – and they re sponsor local IANSA groups etc.. Watch this company quite closely – (just a few people working for it) Its network is dangerous. I would sleep definitely better if this company would disappear. Best gun control is always executed by responsible acting gun owners. Never governments.

    • Thank you for your input, especially as a German gun owner. As a German gun owner, you should also send them an email about how you feel about this gun, I think input from Germans may have more of an influence on them then Americans.

      Although it is equally important that Americans voice their concern too – they can’t just slap a sticker of the American flag on the gun and call it American! What total crap!

    • EDIT:

      If the gov wants me to give up my gun for one of these “s### guns,” I have one thing to say:

      If you want my gun, come take it…… one bullet at a time!

  57. I will never support these unreliable and flawed “smart” guns (emphasis used for sarcasm, meaning the exact opposite). These guns become useless if the electronics crap out on you or if you don’t have an electricity source to constantly charge it. Besides, they want us to constantly pay for electricity just to own a gun??! Hah! Don’t make me laugh, go f#%k yourself!

  58. I propose everyone who reads about this gun goes to their website and send them an email about just how un-American this gun is and how it doesn’t belong in the USA. Then get your friends, friends of your friends, and friends of their friends to contact them and let them know how we feel about this weapon!

    http://www.armatix.com/Contact-form.802.0.html?&L=7

  59. I get it! Make the law-abiding citizens pay out the wazoo for the mandated “smart” gun, and sell the remote kill switches to criminals, CHEAP!

    Raise your hand if you get it, too!

  60. And once this becomes mandatory the government will have the master code to shut them all down.

  61. Attach the bracelet to the side of the slide with a strong adhesive, then wrap the whole shebang in 1mm bronze mesh.

    Or get a better gun…

  62. Yeah, that’s going to work? Let’s see, now we got it slit doesn’t jam and the loader still has a mfg. problem, oh and FTE’s are almost fixed. Jeeze I think we’re on the right stuff, give me a break, all bs.

  64. Now, now… After all of the years and thousands of lines of text largely wasted talking about evil guns, the liberals are finally trying to make one.

  65. So does that mean no other fart guns can have remote kill? That is a good thing.

  67. To whoever said the microwave is an effective Faraday cage…Wrong.
    Go ahead throw you cell phone in there and try to call it.. It will ring

    Just don’t push start

  69. lol, Microsoft, Sony, Apple & the almighty Google can’t make a device that’s “secure” from hacking for more than a few months after release, but we’re supposed to think Armatix can?

    har-har!

    sombody’ll be running linux on one of these a week after they hit the street.

  70. A jammer device will to block signals and can disabled that weapon immediately is the same system the block Bluetooth or wireless signals for cell phones, GPS signals, and Wi-Fi systems. Jammers flood a specific area with noise that covers the radio bands to be jammed. Jammers can be used for many reasons.

  71. If you think over-the-top police violence is bad now, imagine how much worse it’ll be when all they have to do when they execute a handcuffed 15-year-old is claim that their “smart” gun was hacked.

  72. What happens when the electronic components take a shit and someone is attacking you and now you can’t defend yourself now your dead. Do you really want to take a chance on it working. Not me I will keep buy a normal gun.

    • Suggest you learn the human anatomy. For example, on the left side of the just behind the ear and along the side of the neck lies the Vargas Nerve Cluster. Which controls the body’s heart impulses. A sharp blow to this region will either incapacitate or kill the aggressor. Always have a back up plan in case plan A fails.

  73. Looks like it’s time for us law abiding gun owners to melt the lines and get our politicians to pass a bill in to law that would NOT prevent the sale of so called dumb guns anywhere in the U.S. or its territories. I prefer mechanical guns and electronic guns. Sounds better. Make sure you vote out the ones that are hell bent on stripping our freedoms away and try to keep the dead ones from voting this time.

  74. Gee… a pistol with firmware. So does that mean it will have a EULA that “forbids” user hacks? And what happens if you do? Will you have to delete the software from the gun?

    Well, this kill switch pretty much kills this as something that will ever be on sale here in the US.

  75. Patent information is here:

    EP 1936572 A1: Identification device and method for logical and/or physical access to a target device (Applicant: Armatix GmbH)

    –Begin quote (emphasis added)
    [0029] Preferably, the apparatus of the invention can be controlled remotely, for example via satellite and can send information to a satellite.
    [0030] Preferably the device, such as a clock, also equipped with a GPS satellite transmitter and meadow preferably covers at least one of the following functions:
    Operating conditions, such as a weapon (who, when fired) are placed on the establishment of the satellite to a central office
    Target means, for example a weapon, the device can, for example, a clock can be remotely activated
    Target device, such as a gun can be unlocked by means of a built-in GPS transmitter in it only in certain places.
    –End quote

  77. As a gun patent attorney, I should point out two things:
    1. Even if they get a patent on a kill switch, it gives them no added power to make (nor the government to mandate) such a feature. Patents do only one thing: prevent competitors from using the same invention.
    2. They don’t even have a patent. This is merely an application, which I advise my clients is something of a “wish” that may or may not ever come true.

    Ben Langlotz, “The FIrearms Patent Attorney”
    http://www.GunPatent.com

    PS: to learn more, visit my website and request a FREE copy of my 400-page book “The Bulletproof Firearms Business – The Legal Secrets to Success under Fire”

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