That is what the marketing folks would have you think. Reality is the guns are worthless plastic junk that deliver a very low quality signal. If you ever need to use flares to signal distress or collision warning you want pyrotechnics that meet SOLAS standards. All the quality SOLAS solutions are handheld. If you do not believe me get one of those plastic cap guns and go shoot it off at a park one night.

Here are the spec to meet or beat:

The rocket shall, when fired vertically, reach an altitude of not less than 300 m. At or near the
top of its trajectory, the rocket shall eject a parachute flare, which shall:

.1 burn with a bright red colour;
.2 burn uniformly with an average luminous intensity of not less than 30,000 cd;
.3 have a burning period of not less than 40 s;
.4 have a rate of descent of not more than 5 m/s; and
.5 not damage its parachute or attachments while burning.