Guns for all

C_Dawg wrote: »

A determined person will be able to get their hands on a gun presently though

[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Most experts agree that smart guns of the future will have to be built in such a way that the technology that recognizes the authorized user will have to be part of the gun itself. Smith & Wesson’s engineers are already heading in that direction by totally redesigning the gun (see movie at top right of page). "The only way we believe that can be done properly is to get rid of the hammer and spring and firing-pin and fire the ammunition electronically," says Foley. The company is working on a prototype that uses imaging chips to recognize fingerprints (see right). Because the chips are too bulky and fragile to fit inside the gun, their only option so far has been to use a separate cartridge that fits into the magazine in place of the ammunition. After the fingerprints are scanned, the cartridge unlocks so that real ammunition can be loaded. But Foley acknowledges that this is less than ideal. "We’re giving up speed of access for security," he says, adding that this is only the first step and that at least two major redesigns will be necessary before such a gun can go into production.
Meanwhile, [URL="javascript:popWin(%E2%80%99http://www.appliedbiometrics.net/ie.htm’)"]Applied Biometrics[/URL], a company specializing in fingerprint recognition, recently patented a portable device that attaches to the gun and uses AAA batteries to identify prints.
But the key to an efficient smart gun will probably lie in biometrics that can somehow be incorporated into the gun’s grip, together with instantaneous processing that would recognize the prints and unlock the gun. "It means the technology has to be innocuous," says Steve Morton, CEO of [URL="javascript:popWin(%E2%80%99http://www.oxfordmicrodevices.com/’)"]Oxford Microdevices[/URL]. "It needs to be put into the gun in such a way that your finger automatically falls on it and by the time you raise your gun into position it’s ready to go."
Morton claims that his company has already developed a small fingerprint image sensor and processor with enough power to give an instantaneous response, but at the same time acknowledges the challenge of applying fingerprint technology to guns. "It’s very difficult to make it work in the field, and the reason for that is that people’s fingers get cut, they get chapped, they get dirty, they get greasy," he notes. But since his company has no plans to develop guns with the technology, it will be up to gun manufacturers to see if it actually works.
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