An Israeli company by the name of ZØRE is releasing their innovative quick locking system that they originally started through a crowdfunding campaign in 2016, which we covered in April of that same year. Today the company is going public in the United States offering the lock for individual purchase on their website. One of the important points in this release is the fact that the company received a California Firearm Safety Device Certification or an FSD. In California, an FSD could be as simple as an accompanying cable lock that comes with a new firearm. But having their product approved by the California DOJ as a safety device will be especially useful with California shooters, by far the largest single state population of shooters in the United States.

For now the design is only available for handguns (or carbines/SMGs) in 9x19mm. It appears that the company wants to bring a .40 S&W and a .45 ACP version to market as well. If the company becomes successful, it would be neat to see a 5.56x45mm or 7.62x51mm version as well.

From the press release-

I’ve seen many solutions for keeping guns safe throughout my career, but they’ve never
been ready for prime-time in the gun community,” said Steve Ellis of Top Guns Training
Academy in Indiana. “With a clever and simple locking mechanism, ZØRE has hit the
critical balance between gun safety and readiness that I believe will revolutionize the
industry.”
ZØRE utilizes patent-pending technology to keep handguns ready to fire at a moment’s
notice but completely safe from unauthorized users. The cartridge-shaped lock, placed
in the gun’s chamber, is secured through a revolutionary combination-lock dial,
RAPIDial TM , which allows for swift unlocking under any circumstances, including
complete darkness. Once a user inputs its code, one simple charging motion both ejects
the ZØRE X lock and chambers a fresh round.

…

ZØRE was founded in 2014 by Israel Defense Force, Special Forces veterans Yonatan
Zimmerman and Yalon Fishbein with the vision of creating a gun lock solution that was
reliable and fast enough for self-defense weapons. The company’s crowdfunding
campaign in 2016 was the most successful gun safety campaign of all time and sold
over 6,000 devices to backers in just 8 weeks.

What I like about X Core Series is the self-expanding “bullet” that is “chambered” in the actual chamber of the handgun’s barrel. Even if one were to completely crack the dialing portion off with a sledgehammer or cut through it, the “bullet” will still be lodged in the chamber and the firearm will still be inoperable. This keeps the handgun from being used by a child or a guest that for some reason finds it at a house party. No lock other than a gun safe is going to stop a determined criminal.

One issue with the X Core Series is the matter of it being digital with the phone app connection. We’ve seen time and time again that if it is digital, then it can be hacked (however, unless a parent has a teenage hacker, this might not be an issue if the concern is simply keeping children safe). One other hinge point to success is that the battery could die out or malfunction if an owner isn’t paying attention. Obviously, these are serious security issues that must be taken into consideration. Hopefully, the X Core Series will be independently tested thoroughly enough for consumers to see it’s worth.

UPDATE- We have since learned from Zore at SHOT 2018 that there WILL BE NO PHONE CONNECTED version of the device in the initial production run. This will purely be a standalone electronic device. There MIGHT be one in the future, but for the time being there will be no phone connectivity.