Smart Gun Technology: Fingerprint Recognition Helps Childproof Guns

Smart gun technology is designed to make firearms safer. If there’s a way to make guns childproof, it might garner even more interest. Omer Kiyani, the developer of Identilock, found stories of teen suicides and accidental shooting deaths disturbing. He responded by coming up with the concept for a smart technology he called Identilock.

He shared how Identilock works at the 2016 Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT) in Detroit. He came up with the advanced gun technology 8 years ago.

“I’m a parent and a gun owner,” Kiyani said. “I wanted something to protect my children from the gun I bought to protect them.”

Identilock works as a trigger lock device that operates based on fingerprint recognition to childproof a gun.

Identilock is one of several smart gun technologies that align with President Barack Obama’s executive actions that require stricter firearm safety. There are still several skeptics on this front regarding technology and guns. Identilock, however, appears to be a more favorable options for “resistant gun owners,” the Review-Journal reports.

The device is about the size of a man’s palm and fits over the trigger of pistols, though it can be used on a few long guns. Up to nine different fingerprints are recognized on Identilock on a square window that is almost twice the size of a biometric sensor that’s found on most smartphones.

Kiyani explains that his device is more about childproofing than it is anti-theft. It would be difficult to force the Identilock off the gun and would require hundreds of pounds of force to do so.

He said it’s most important for parents to educate kids about guns, but he wanted to go a step further to ensure more safety measures are in place for children when it comes to firearms.

Kiyani said his lock has solved many of the problems that concern people when it concerns reliability.

Those opposed to smart technology have their own reasons for their position. Some people say that a fingerprint lock won’t work if someone’s hands are covered in blood, for instance. Kiyani disputes that as being a problem because the blood can be wiped off on a shirt, carpet or some other surface. A short battery life of other smart guns has also been put forward in opposition.

The device comes with a key as a fail-safe and the battery lasts for 180 days in one charge. The gun safety innovator had positive reception at the SHOT Show despite controversy surrounding the technology.

It seems that Identilock is what might be most suited for those interested in childproofing guns. As technology advances further with smart guns, other options might follow that aid in keeping America’s youth safe around firearms. What do you think?

Image courtesy of getidentilock.com