A Review of Gun Safety Technologies

Download or read book A Review of Gun Safety Technologies written by U. S. Department of Justice and published by . This book was released on 2013-11 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When such an issue with deep and powerful cultural resonance as firearms is given the full attention of the nation, the challenges involved with confronting the complex interconnectedness of law, public safety, Constitutional rights, policy, technology, market forces, and other concerns seem only amplified. With careful consideration, however, untangling the various components of the issue is possible, and an investigation of technology can be accomplished with minimal diversion into the other realms. This report examines existing and emerging gun safety technologies and their availability and use to provide a comprehensive perspective on firearms with integrated advanced safety technologies. These firearms are known by various terms such as smart guns, user-authorized handguns, childproof guns, and personalized firearms. A “personalized firearm” can be understood to utilize integrated components that exclusively permit an authorized user or set of users to operate or fire the gun and automatically deactivate it under a set of specific circumstances, reducing the chances of accidental or purposeful use by an unauthorized user. A report published in 2005 entitled Technological Options for User- Authorized Handguns: A Technology-Readiness Assessment discussed this in the context of two defined types of handgun owner: (1) people responsible for public safety (i.e., law-enforcement personnel) and (2) people concerned with personal safety and handgun misuse, particularly by children, in the home (i.e., homeowners).1 The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Committee on User-Authorized Handguns published this report seeking to clarify the technical challenges of developing a reliable user-authorized handgun (UAHG) to reduce certain types of handgun misuse. The goal of this work is to provide an objective, neutral perspective on existing and emerging gun safety technologies and their availability and use today. In assessing what technologies and products exist or may exist in the near future, it is important to clarify what the technologies can and cannot do, to distinguish the difference between fact and fiction, and to manage expectations about how these firearms could reasonably be expected to perform. The material presented here should be considered in a sober manner with the understanding that the use or misuse of any firearm regardless of what technology may or may not be integrated could lead to injury or death. Any information presented here shall not be construed to be an endorsement of any particular technology, developer, patent, company, or approach. Furthermore, any information that may not be included here shall not be construed as disapproval. Finally, given the various perspectives and opinions on firearms, any topic discussed here with a nexus to technology that may also overlap with another dimension of the greater national conversation about firearms shall not be construed to be a substantive discussion of the topic outside of the technologically focused perspective presented here.