Smart gun technology in the United States usually refers to various measures being taken by a manufacturer in which they aim to make firearms harder to access by non-owners, or those without special permissions for that particular firearm. Korean S&T Motiv is going in another direction when it comes to this “Smart” technology and is optimizing a 9x19mm revolver for police work, allowing a firearm to be tracked on a live feed and give precise information about when a handgun was fired, how many rounds were used, and then when it was reloaded. A feature of this technology is that police departments have the ability to see exactly in what direction the firearm was used. This kind of information is crucial when it comes to reconstructing a crime scene investigation due to the extreme adrenaline that officers can be under during a police shooting.

From a Korean blog post about the revolver’s introduction. Another blog post has more photographs if readers are interested–

Currently many Korean Law Enforcement agencies use .38 SPL revolvers in their daily duties so this being a revolver doesn’t make very much difference when it comes to service weapons. It appears that the technology is inside a removable battery compartment that is stored inside the grip of the handgun. In order to accomplish this the company must have altered the hammer spring as that is usually what is usually inside the grip of many revolvers.

Although I’m sure the technology can be useful, I would question Korean LE’s motive to put this technology inside a service handgun. If the handgun is stolen/taken from an officer, all a criminal has to do is remove the battery compartment and the revolver is now a “Dumb gun”. In addition, something like a body worn camera can probably capture the majority of information needed in a shoot-out, if not much more valuable information about PID. The entire application of “Smart” guns is still very much in its infancy, if at all relevant.