Technology Companies Ramp Up “Smart Gun” Devices

President Obama supports gun safety technology and is having the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security learn all they can about it.

What are some advanced developments in gun safety as far as technology goes?

According to a report by CNN Money, there are several.

Amatrix Smart Guns

The gun can only fire when activated by a wristwatch that’s worn by the owner. It requires a PIN code to enable operation of the weapon. Another gun safety feature is a time-controlled deactivation of the weapon.

This type of technology may prevent a criminal from using the gun if he or she steals it because they won’t know the PIN code.

Additionally, Armatix produces locks which can be inserted into the barrels of guns. This results in them being virtually useless. The only way they can be removed is by entering the PIN code. Wall kiosks could be used to lock up guns.

Winchester Safes

Winchester Safes of Dallas sells a number of gun vaults with brands like Big Daddy and Bandit. These large safes are built to hold an array of guns, including rifles and shotguns. They feature space to stash ammunition and other items like jewelry and cash.

The safes can be opened and closed with a hand crank and are locked with a push button code.

Gun Vaults

GunVault of Las Vegas creates products that are “smaller than the man-sized safes produced by Winchester.” The company makes strongboxes like the Nano Vault, which is suitable for a single handgun.

The ARVault hasn’t been released yet, but it’s said to be the size of a laptop and is locked over the working parts of the AR-15 – including the trigger, grip, and receiver.

GunVault uses a biometric lock that’s activated by fingerprints for gun safety. The owner unlocks the weapon by placing his or her hand onto the hand-shaped space provided on the vault.

Identilock

Identilock is a new gun security device that works off biometrics. This lock is palm-sized device focuses on locking only the trigger and trigger guard; the rest of the gun is free, but immobile. The owner can release the lock by placing a fingertip over a sensor located above the trigger.

Family members and friends can be added – or removed – to this gun safety device, according to the inventor.

Watch for more businesses to get involved as the firearm industry moves toward more sophisticated technology. These changes continue to come at a steady pace, despite a large number of gun owners that oppose implementation of such technology. According to research used in the CNN Money report, 74% of firearm owners felt that smart gun technology would not be reliable.

Image courtesy of Armatix