Obama Administration To Reward Student Loan Company Accused Of Cheating Troops

The Obama administration plans to reward Navient Corp, the student loan specialist formerly owned by Sallie Mae, with new business some three months after federal prosecutors accused the company of intentionally cheating troops on their federal student loans, according to three sources familiar with the administration's plans.

The move is likely to stoke comparisons to recent multi-billion-dollar settlements reached between big banks and federal authorities over financial crisis-era misdeeds. Banks agreed to pay sizable sums, but public interest groups have criticized the settlements because the banks suffered few business consequences and their executives escaped criminal and civil charges.

"It's very disappointing," said Jason Collette, national organizer for Alliance For A Just Society, a network of state-based advocacy groups. "Until a company loses its federal contracts or a senior executive is punished, these fines are just the cost of doing business."

In May, Navient and its former parent, Sallie Mae, agreed to pay a combined $139 million to resolve Department of Justice allegations that the two companies had swindled up to 60,000 service members out of tens of millions of dollars and forced other borrowers to pay unfair fees on their student loans. At a news conference announcing the settlement, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said he had instructed his staff to immediately conduct a review to determine "what appropriate actions, if any," should be taken against Navient in response to the allegations.

Asked then if the Department of Education would cancel Navient's lucrative contract, Duncan said, "Every option is on the table." During the ensuing months, the Education Department considered punishing Navient, according to people familiar with the matter, by excluding it for a year from the group of companies allowed to service American college students' federal loans.

Instead, Duncan's department is expected to announce as early as Friday that it will require more college students to deal with Navient, rather than the department's numerous other loan servicers, according to people familiar with the matter. As a result, more taxpayer funds will flow to Navient. The company already handles 5.8 million student loan accounts under its contract with the Education Department.

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama boasted to veterans at an American Legion convention about how his administration had made it easier for troops to access the same benefits the Justice Department accused Navient of willfully preventing soldiers from enjoying. Dorie Nolt, an Education Department spokeswoman, didn't respond to multiple requests for comment.

Companies and government agencies often make public potentially embarrassing news on Friday afternoons, especially before holiday weekends.

"If the Education Department is really allocating Navient new loans after its history of unlawful practices, it shows that the department isn't prioritizing the safety of borrowers. Instead, they're prioritizing their contractors," said Chris Hicks, an organizer who leads the Debt-Free Future campaign for Jobs With Justice, a Washington-based nonprofit that has called on Duncan to suspend the department’s contract with Navient.

The announcement is among several planned by the Education Department regarding its troubled student loan servicing system. The agency announced Friday that it will change the way it evaluates the companies it pays to collect borrowers' monthly student loan payments -- placing more emphasis on how borrowers rank the companies -- and that it will significantly increase the share of student loans assigned to smaller, not-for-profit loan specialists. The department had previously hoped to reduce the role of not-for-profit loan servicers, but their recent performance surprised department officials. As a result, the companies will be rewarded with new business. Some federal officials hope that as a result, the department will be less reliant on large companies such as Navient.

The department also announced that it will change the way it pays its loan specialists, a move Obama suggested in June, in hopes that the change will lead servicers to enroll more borrowers in repayment plans that cap monthly payments relative to borrowers' incomes.

The Education Department awards new loans to its servicers based on a system that grades their ability to prevent borrower defaults and measures customer satisfaction. Increasing the importance of borrower survey scores could hurt Navient, as borrowers have consistently ranked the company as being among the department's worst.

Over the last two years, Navient -- as part of Sallie Mae -- has finished in last place among the department's four major loan specialists. The company is expected to finish in third this year, according to analysts at Compass Point Research & Trading, a Washington-based financial firm.

In May, the Justice Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., a federal bank regulator, accused Navient of intentionally overcharging troops on their federal student loans and willfully obtaining default judgments against service members over an eight-year period, in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The FDIC alleged the companies illegally told troops they had to be deployed to receive entitled benefits and improperly required them to meet other tests.

Neither Navient nor Sallie Mae admitted or denied wrongdoing as part of their settlement agreement with federal authorities. The company told investors it was being punished for not complying with what it described as new standards. Navient’s chief executive, John Remondi, apologized in a statement for “processing errors.” Navient spun off from Sallie Mae on May 1, taking the company’s loan servicing and collections business. Sallie Mae is now a bank.

By the Education Department's reckoning, Navient has improved its performance in the wake of the settlement. Data released for the first time this month suggest Navient has improved the way it treats borrowers with federal student loans. Among the department's four major loan servicers, in the most recent quarter, the company had the highest share of borrowers with federal student loans who are repaying their debts as expected. Navient also had the second highest share of borrowers using income-driven repayment plans. The White House has promoted these plans, which cap payments relative to borrowers’ incomes, in hopes of reducing borrowers’ debt burdens and defaults.

Navient has long ranked among the department's top servicers in preventing defaults.

"The team at Navient works hard to assist borrowers in successfully managing their student loans, including helping customers enroll in the payment plan that best meets their budget, and avoid the serious consequences of default," Patricia Christel, a Navient spokeswoman, said earlier this month.

Ferguson's Farmers Market Offers Respite, Vegetables

As protests in Ferguson have spiraled into chaos over the past two weeks, there's been an oasis of calm in the center of the St. Louis suburb: The farmers market.

Since 2002, the Ferguson Farmers Market has offered fresh vegetables, fruits, meats and dairy produced by dozens of local farmers and other vendors. On Saturday, the damp weather might normally have meant a small crowd. But the market was bustling.

"It was pouring rain, but there were lots of people out, talking, shopping, buying big, beautiful tomatoes, talking to the mayor," said Katie Miller, 33, the co-owner of St. Louis jewelry store Scarlett Garnet, who drove out from the city to show support for the market.

"The vibe was great," said Elliot Mellow, 27, the owner of Absolutely Perfect, a St. Louis business that makes specialty sauces and seasonings. "There were lots of hugs and smiles, lots of emotion, but good emotion," said Mellow. "People were thankful."

Pure happiness filling the #Ferguson farmers market. It's pouring & people are dancing in the rain. Theres light if u choose to focus on it.

— Sarah Crowe (@TheSarahCrowe) August 16, 2014

Since Aug. 9, when 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by a police officer, protests have become a nightly occurrence, often with clashes between demonstrators and police. Vandalism and looting have been widespread, hundreds of people have been arrested, at least two have been wounded by gunfire. News and photos of the unrest have been front-page news, widely shared worldwide on social media.

But in Ferguson, the community has bonded to overcome the negativity. At least two organizations are selling T-shirts with messages of solidarity -- "Ferguson Proud" and "I Heart Ferg" -- with the proceeds going to local charities. Mellow said he donated the money he made Saturday to the Ferguson Youth Initiative, a nonprofit that encourages young people to be active members of the community. A bakery a few blocks south of the farmers market, Cose Dolci Bakery, has been selling heart-shaped cookies that say "Ferg" in the middle.

"It's way of spreading the love," bakery owner Bess Thompson said. "We were all so blindsided by this. It's kind of ironic this happened here, because of all communities in north St. Louis County, Ferguson is the most progressive, the most inclusive, the most tolerant."

Right now in #Ferguson selling #iheartferg shirts at the #farmersmarket pic.twitter.com/oYvKfrfLMj

— Scarlett Garnet (@ScarlettGarnet) August 16, 2014

Sportsprint in #Ferguson selling tshirts to benefit food pantry #FergusonProud @FOX2now pic.twitter.com/AuklvlJweo

— Andy Banker (@andybankertv) August 16, 2014

The Ferguson Farmers Market is open Saturdays during warm months (in winter, it's open every third Saturday in a church). The farmers market will be open again on Saturday as scheduled, said volunteer Chris Shanahan, 39.

Some who came out to the market said they wanted to support local business, because they're worried the negative publicity will affect the local economy. "People remember what they see. People who see all this on the news will be scared of Ferguson," said Julie Johnson, 31, a special education teacher who lives nearby. "We're trying to show these small businesses some love."

Local businesses have already been hurt. Dellwood Market owner Muntaz Lalani, who's in his 60s, said "thugs" had ransacked his business twice since Aug. 10. He estimated the damage at $50,000. Joe O'Donnell, who owns a Papa John's Pizza franchise in nearby Dellwood, said he had to close early last week and lost about 40 percent of his business.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) recently said she's starting a campaign #ShopFerguson to help support local businesses and highlight ways people are helping.

Sarah Crowe, 24, a hairstylist who lives in nearby St. Charles County, said she was worried how the media coverage would affect Ferguson's mom and pop shops. "Even celebs are tweeting such horrible things about Ferguson," said Crowe, who grew up in St. Louis and came to the farmers market on Saturday with her roommate, Sam, to show support for the town.

"After this one bad incident, it's now embarrassing to be from here," Crowe said. "With the media, I know they're just doing their jobs, but it really makes Ferguson look like a horrible place. In reality, it's not that way at all. It's a cozy environment. It's just a normal small town."

Facebook Donates $10,000 To Politician Fighting Gay Marriage

Facebook made a $10,000 donation in May to the reelection campaign of Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, who has received national attention for fighting a court ruling that would make gay marriage legal in the state.

The donation, first reported by QSaltLake, is listed in a filing for Reyes' 2014 primary campaign on the State of Utah Financial Disclosures website.

Here's a screenshot of the filing:

And closer up:

In an email to The Huffington Post, a Facebook spokesperson offered a statement on the donation:

Facebook has a strong record on LGBT issues and that will not change, but we make decisions about which candidates to support based on the entire portfolio of issues important to our business, not just one. A contribution to a candidate does not mean that we agree with every policy or position that candidate takes. We made this donation for the same reason we’ve donated to Attorneys General on the opposite side of this issue -- because they are committed to fostering innovation and an open Internet.

Facebook has made many political contributions, even starting its own PAC in 2011. The company has also donated $8,500 to the reelection campaign of California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who is a particularly vocal proponent of marriage equality.

In response to the donation, QSaltLake Assistant Editor Bob Henline has launched a Change.org petition, asking the social network to "publicly decry this bigotry and make an equal or greater contribution to the campaign of Charles Stormont who is also seeking the office of Utah Attorney General." Reyes' opponent has publicly supported LGBTQ equality.

"I'm an activist within the community, and Sean Reyes has drawn my distaste for his comments about the LGBT community," Henline told HuffPost. "So I wanted to see who was funding his campaign, and when I looked through the disclosures, I discovered that Facebook was his second-largest contributor. Being a Facebook user, I have always assumed that it was pro-equality and pro-diversity, so it shocked me."

In the "Reasons for Signing" section of the petition, one commenter wrote: "As a gay man and an avid user of Facebook, I can't understand how a company that values diversity and inclusion would give this politician money! My marriage is something that he [Reyes] is fighting very hard against."

People Still Flocking To Chipotle Despite Higher Burrito Prices

Higher prices aren’t enough to keep burrito lovers away from Chipotle.

The Denver-based chain reported a 25-percent jump in profit in the second quarter from the same time a year ago. Same-store sales -- a closely watched retail metric tracking sales of stores open more than a year -- jumped 17.3 percent from a year ago.

All this despite the fact that the company raised prices over the past few months in an aim to counter food inflation.

“It seems that most customers haven’t blinked at a little bit of a menu-price increase,” Mary Chapman, the director of product innovation at Technomic, a food research firm, said before the company reported earnings.

Chipotle’s blockbuster earnings come at a time when other restaurants are struggling. Red Lobster and Olive Garden reported decreases in same-store sales during their most recent earnings reports. KFC and Pizza Hut saw sales at U.S. established stores drop 2 and 4 percent, respectively.

It helps that Chipotle has loyal customers: Chipotle consistently scores highly in “occasion driven by true loyalty,” a wonky term monitored by analysts who follow the food business. It essentially measures how often diners go to a restaurant because they seek it out, not just because it’s convenient, according to Dave Jenkins, a managing director at Datassential, a food research firm. Customers appreciate Chipotle’s “aura of health consciousness,” he said. And because they typically get so much food at Chipotle, diners see it as a good value, even with the price increases.

“For whatever reason, they crave the product,” Jenkins said.

Indeed, though price increases did help boost same-store sales figures, store traffic grew, too, according to the earnings release.

GM Has Replaced Under 20 Percent Of Ignition Switches On Recalled Small Cars

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors says it has replaced faulty ignition switches on just under 20 percent of 2.6 million small cars that are being recalled.

The company has repaired just over 491,000 cars that are covered by the recall announced in February.

Switch maker Delphi Automotive says it has produced over 1 million parts and expects to have made 2 million by the end of August. GM says it expects all parts to be made by late October.

Delphi CEO Rodney O'Neal tells lawmakers his company has added three lines to speed up production.

Some car owners have complained it's taking too long for GM to finish repairs.

The switches can slip into the accessory position and unexpectedly shut off engines. That has caused crashes that killed at least 13 people.

FedEx Charged With Knowingly Delivering Dangerous Drugs To Customers Without Prescriptions

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal authorities on Thursday charged FedEx with assisting illegal pharmacies by knowingly delivering painkillers and dangerous drugs to customers without prescriptions.

The indictment filed in federal court in San Francisco alleges that FedEx Corp. conspired with two related online pharmacies for 10 years ending in 2010.

The Department of Justice announced the charges in Washington, D.C. It wants FedEx to forfeit $820 million it says the cargo company earned by assisting the illicit pharmacies.

The Memphis, Tennessee-based delivery company is accused of shipping powerful sleeping aid Ambien, anti-anxiety medications Valium and Xanax, and other drugs to customers who had no legitimate medical need and lacked valid prescriptions.

FedEx insists it did nothing wrong. The world's largest cargo company says it handles 10 million packages a day and shouldn't be in charge of "assuming criminal responsibility" for every delivery.

"We will plead not guilty. We will defend against this attack on the integrity and good name of FedEx and its employees," company spokesman Patrick Fitzgerald said in a written statement.

Fitzgerald said the Drug Enforcement Agency has refused FedEx's request for a list of online pharmacies under investigation. Without such a list, Fitzgerald said it's impossible to know which companies are operating illegally.

The Justice Department alleges that federal officials have been telling FedEx since 2004 that it was shipping dangerous drug without a prescription. The indictment also alleges that FedEx couriers in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia warned executives about suspicious drug deliveries.

FedEx first disclosed the federal investigation in a regulatory filing in November 2012.

Rival shipping company UPS Inc. paid $40 million last year to resolve similar allegations, and the Atlanta-based company said it would "take steps" to block illicit online drug dealers from using its delivery service.

Both companies said in regulatory filings that they were served with grand jury subpoenas between 2007 and 2009

The investigation of the country's two largest shippers stems from a blitz against the proliferation of online pharmacies launched in 2005 in San Francisco. Since then, dozens of arrests have been made, thousands of websites shuttered, and tens of millions of dollars and pills seized worldwide as investigators continue to broaden the probe beyond the operators.

The executive director of Express Association of America, a trade group created by FedEx, UPS and three other delivery services, said there is no industry-wide effort to address the policing of prescription drug deliveries.

"It's not the kind of issue we deal with as an association," association chief Mike Mullen said.

In 2011, Google Inc. agreed to pay $500 million to settle allegations by the Justice Department that it profited from ads for illegal online pharmacies.

A federal jury in 2012 convicted three men of operating illegal pharmacies that used FedEx and UPS to deliver drugs without proper prescriptions. Seven others were convicted in San Francisco previously.

The Gun Lobby And A Dumb Law Are Keeping Us From Safer Guns

Imagine a gun that a person could leave on his or her kitchen counter, without having to worry that someone else would fire it. That gun exists. A so-called "smart gun" uses biometrics or radio signals to stay locked until it's held by its rightful owner.

Smart guns could save some of the hundreds of lives -- many of them children's -- lost in accidental shootings every year. And they could reduce the number of shootings committed by criminals with stolen guns.

"We see things all the time where guns fall into the wrong hands," San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr told The Huffington Post. "Since we're stuck on getting any sensible gun control legislation like background checks, it seems like there would be no argument against this technology."

Yet thanks to a poorly written gun control law in one state and the efforts of overzealous pro-gun groups -- and in spite of the fact that at least $12.6 million of taxpayer money has been spent researching and developing the technology over the past 20 years -- smart guns are not available for purchase anywhere in America.

That's not for lack of trying. A few gun dealers have recently tried to sell the one model of smart gun that's currently on the market: the Armatix iP1, a .22 caliber smart gun that doesn't fire unless it's within 10 inches of a special watch. In response, they've been threatened with boycotts and violence.

In early May, almost immediately after the Washington Post reported that Engage Armament, a Maryland gun shop, would soon start selling the Armatix iP1, store owner Andy Raymond received phone calls and online messages threatening to kill him and burn his shop to the ground.

“Even by local people, people I thought were my friends,” Raymond told HuffPost. "It was one of the craziest fucking things that's ever happened to me." After being threatened, Raymond said he decided not to sell the gun at all.

Andy Raymond, the owner of a Maryland gun shop, said he got death threats after announcing he would sell the Armatix smart gun.

THE 'SMART' LAW THAT BACKFIRED

The threats on his life, Raymond explained, came from pro-gun fanatics who were afraid that his decision to sell the Armatix smart gun would trigger an obscure, 14-year-old law in New Jersey.

The law, which was passed in 2002 after aggressive lobbying by gun control groups and in anticipation of the sunsetting Federal Assault Weapons Ban, mandates that once a smart gun goes on sale anywhere in the country, all other types of guns in New Jersey will be banned within three years.

The law’s intention was to make child-proof guns more common. “We were just hearing the beginning of the stories of research into that area [of smart guns]. So one reason was to help spread development,” New Jersey Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D), the law’s author, told HuffPost. “Second, we thought once those guns were available, we assumed that most people would want those. So that in case some child finds a way to get into Mom or Dad’s gun locker, the kid can’t use it.”

Yet in practice, the law freaked out the National Rifle Association and other gun groups, who thought it violated their right to bear arms. “The ‘smart guns’ issue clearly has the potential to mesh with the anti-gunner's agenda, opening the door to a ban on all guns that do not possess the government-required technology,” the NRA says on its website.

Even smart gun manufacturers and smart gun advocates interviewed by HuffPost said mandate laws like New Jersey’s, which have been proposed at the federal level and in other states like California and Maryland, are ill-conceived.

Bill Gentry, whose company Kodiak Industries makes the "Intelligun," a fingerprint scanner that can be added to the grip of some handguns, said forcing people to buy a certain kind of weapon is wrongheaded. "This is simply an additional level of safety that people have the right to choose," he said.

Above, the fingerprint scanner made by Kodiak Industries in Utah.

The New Jersey law puts pressure on gun lobby groups to prevent the technology from coming into the marketplace, said Donald Sebastian, the senior vice president for research and development at New Jersey Institute of Technology, where a team is currently developing a gun that stays locked until it recognizes the owner's grip.

"Because the technology has become so wrapped up in mandate legislation, it opens the door to making this a debate about gun control instead of about gun safety," Sebastian said. “It adds logs to the fire.”

Because the New Jersey law ended up chilling the very market it was supposed to create, Weinberg told HuffPost she'll repeal it. But first, she wants the NRA to publicly promise not to block the manufacture or sale of smart guns.

“That would go a long way toward finding common ground,” she said.

Weinberg said she wrote the NRA a letter in May with her offer, but “hasn’t heard a word” from them since. The organization has been equally mum in responding to HuffPost's repeated requests for comment.

Though the NRA says that it's not opposed to smart guns at face value -- only to laws that mandate their use -- it spreads myths and conspiracy theories about smart guns on its popular social media accounts. Those include the idea that smart guns can be remotely disabled by the government or that they would be used as a way to surveil gun owners.

The NRA also has a history of opposing smart gun technology: after Smith and Wesson partnered with the Clinton administration in 2000 to develop a personalized gun, the NRA led a boycott of the company that nearly devastated it. Fourteen years later, gun control advocates say, that episode still has a chilling effect on firearms dealers and manufacturers.

"For the largest handgun maker in America to basically get put out of business," said John Rosenthal of Stop Handgun Violence, "that scared the entire industry."

Smart gun developers have had trouble finding gun makers to partner with. "It's fear of the NRA that seems to be holding them back," Robert McNamara, a founder of technology startup TriggerSmart Technologies, recently told HuffPost. McNamara's startup patented its own smart gun model about two years ago, but hasn't been able to find a gun manufacturer to take on the project.

Robert McNamara of TriggerSmart (right) poses with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

"[Gun manufacturers] say, 'Get the NRA on board and then we'll make guns childproof,'" McNamara said. "Until then, they are too afraid of the backlash."

Jim Schaff, the vice president of Yardarm Technologies, a wireless firearm technology company in northern California, told HuffPost that he changed the course of his company because of the intense opposition to smart guns.

Yardarm originally set out to design a gun that could be remotely disabled through an app, Schaff said. But he "quickly realized" how much resistance there would be from America's pro-gun forces to a consumer firearm that could be remotely shut down.

"The path to the consumer market is a challenging path," he admitted in a recent interview. "Lawmakers make their own issues by being very aggressive, which of course causes the NRA to be very aggressive, which then makes companies like us have to navigate that. As a startup there is only so much risk you can afford."

So last year, Schaff said, Yardarm abandoned plans to make a smart gun for consumers, and decided to develop a new technology for police and military guns instead: a sensor that recognizes when and where the gun is fired and transmits that information back to command centers.

Above, a graphic of Yardarm's gun, which the company will market to police and the military. The green plate in the grip is the sensor, which transmits information from the field to command centers.

SMART ENOUGH?

Critics of the Armatix iP1 say that the time it takes to put on a watch before you can fire a gun could be fatal in a dangerous situation.

One way around that, McNamara said, would be to have the tiny electronic chip that communicates with the gun surgically embedded in a person's hand. The chip, which is used in both Armatix and TriggerSmart’s smart guns, sends a radio signal to unlock the pistol.

For people who don’t want surgery, there are other smart gun models that theoretically eliminate the concern over having to put a watch on in a dangerous situation where time is of the essence. The grip-recognizing sensor in models from both Intelligun and the New Jersey Institute of Technology can unlock a firearm the instant the right person picks it up.

Yet availability is an issue. The New Jersey Institute of Technology's model isn't ready for purchase yet, and the Intelligun fingerprint scanner can only be added onto a specific type of handgun.

The Armatix iP1, a .22 caliber pistol that won't fire unless the shooter is wearing a special watch.

According to a 2013 industry analysis by the National Institute of Justice, the only other smart gun development project said to be "commercializable" -- the iGun, a shotgun that won't fire unless the shooter is wearing a special ring -- was shelved after the company that makes it polled consumers and found limited demand for the product.

Second Amendment advocates say that any gun that relies on a battery to work -- which all the models discussed here do -- poses a risk because batteries can fail. "But who among us has not experienced a drained smart phone battery or had some other piece of electronic gadgetry not work, even a flashlight, fail when we needed it," reads a December blog post by Larry Keane of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade organization for gun manufacturers.

Some also worry that even if a gun's batteries are fully charged, the technology itself will fail, leaving law-abiding citizens vulnerable in dangerous situations. “You can be trained how to overcome the malfunction [of a regular gun] quickly and efficiently,” said Larry Pratt, the executive director of Gun Owners Of America, a lobby group with about 400,000 members. “But if it’s inherent in the product, you're stuck.”

WILL PEOPLE BUY THEM?

Even without the threat of mandate laws, the gun industry is notoriously slow to innovate. “It’s a very conservative industry,” said Massad Ayoob, a self defense instructor and the handgun editor at GUNS Magazine. “Proven reliability is a paramount concern, and for that reason [the industry] has been reluctant to go to anything radical.”

The industry also has a history of rebuffing gun safety technology, say gun control advocates. "For decades there have been safety devices that accomplish similar objectives to smart guns that are less tech-advanced and less expensive," said Jonathan Lowy of the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence. He pointed to magazine disconnect safeties and gun locks, which require keys to unlock the firearm, as examples. "And they are still not the industry norm. The gun industry has essentially ignored them," he said.

A smart gun model made by the New Jersey Institute of Technology detects the unique grip of the person authorized to use it.

Not only could personalized weapons be a boon for gun safety, they could also be a lucrative way for gun makers to reach a new market of "fence sitters" -- people who won't buy a regular gun because they think it's too dangerous, but who might buy a smart gun. A national poll commissioned last year by the National Shooting Sports Foundation found 14 percent of respondents said they would be likely to buy a smart gun if such a product were available. Sebastian said those numbers could be much higher. NJIT did its own polling in New Jersey in 2004, he said, and found over 60-70 percent favorability towards the idea of personalized weapons.

The recent rise in mass shootings has reignited interest in making affordable guns with access control systems that can block unwanted users. Groups from Newtown to Silicon Valley are offering funding for people developing such technology. But in the current climate, it seems unlikely that those efforts will lead to user-recognizing guns becoming widely available anytime soon.

Personalized weapons could also be helpful to undercover police officers, said Suhr, the San Francisco Police chief. "Our uniformed officers already have gun safety mechanisms on their holsters, but our plainclothes officers don't always have those same safety mechanisms. I think smart guns on plainclothes officers would make it safer for them [to do their jobs]," he said.

Meanwhile, TriggerSmart hopes a smaller gun manufacturer, one that doesn't have significant market share to lose, will step up to the plate and license his patent. Until then, he -- like the rest of us -- will have to wait.

"That's the missing piece of the jigsaw," McNamara said. "We have the tech. We know it works. We just need a gun manufacturer to say, 'Let's do it.'"