Ron Conway considered one of Silicon Valley’s “super angels.” He was an early investor in Google and PayPal. He’s also invested in Airbnb, BuzzFeed, Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit, and Twitter, among others. Conway is also known as a smart gun advocate. Smart guns are firearms that only their owners can fire either by identifying the shooter’s fingerprint or unlocking via a wireless watch or ring worn by the shooter. According to Conway’s interview with 60 Minutes’ Lesley Stahl, Conway has funded 15 smart gun projects including a donation of $1 million to the Smart Tech Challenges Foundation, an organization based in San Francisco that funds innovators who are creating new firearm safety technology for the American marketplace.
[Smart Guns — Why Americans Can’t Buy Them]
Ron Conway tells Stahl that “smart guns are the future whether gunmakers like it or not,” but there’s a reason why they aren’t being sold in the US. Gun owners think the smart gun is a slippery slope toward big gun control measures, and they’re fighting back. Conway’s interview with Stahl will air on 60 Minutes on November 1 at 7pm on CBS.
