Can Guns Be Smart?
Handguns and other firearms can now be fitted with biometric fingerprint readers, which would prevent someone other than the gun's owner from firing it. Because FBI statistics show that dozens of law enforcement officers in the United States were killed by their own guns after suspects wrested the firearms away, the National Institute of Justice funded the Smart Gun Technology Project in 1994. Can guns be smart enough to differentiate between an intentional and unintentional trigger squeeze?
Of the three technologies explored in the project-automatic identification, biometric and non-electric devices-radio frequency devices ranked the highest. But that doesn't take other smart gun devices out of the running. Technological developments have been kind to biometrics. One fingerprint reader manufacturer is trying to demonstrate that its reader is fast enough, small enough and cheap enough to be added to virtually any gun.
The National Rifle Association "welcome[s] new technology," but warns against government mandates that force gun owners to use smart gun technology.
"Any mechanical device can fail-no matter how high tech," stated an NRA report titled "NRA's Position on So-Called Smart Guns." "If mandated for all gun owners, the failure of such technology would lead to more tragedy than it can possibly prevent."
SaferGunsNow.org promotes the application of smart gun technology for private citizens, citing accidents in which children are accidentally fatally shot at home.
The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research cites a 1999 release on vital statistics on its Web site: "In 1997, 54 percent of all gun deaths were suicides, and 42 percent were homicides." If the perfect smart gun were created, it would probably do little to prevent the 54 percent of gun deaths. I'm assuming that most suicide victims use their own guns, which would grant them access to the firing mechanism after reading the appropriate fingerprints.
The center also states that in 1997, about 3 percent of firearm fatalities were unintentional, claiming the lives of 981 people. More than 17,000 people per year are treated for unintentional, nonfatal gunshot wounds in hospital emergency rooms. Most of us could contribute anecdotal evidence to support these statistics, like the one in which my college classmate handed his friend his new gun. The gun went off as he placed the handle in his friend's hand. My classmate suffered a zero-range shot to the chest.
Can guns be smart enough to differentiate between an intentional and unintentional trigger squeeze? If so, that same, life-saving technology could delay intentional firings in flight-or-fight situations. The debate surrounding this application leaves me with only one interpretation: Consumer applications of biometric technology on guns aren't the best place to start.
Instead, the security industry would be better to consider the armed security guard and the law enforcement officer. Properly trained, these professionals could use smart guns as efficiently as traditional guns. In keeping with the FBI's statistics about security professionals injured or killed by their own guns, smart gun technology in this type of application is a great idea. To read about a fingerprint reader being developed for guns and many other applications, check out the Problem Solvers on biometrics, page 8.
Get Smart at Work
Another controversial biometrics application takes place in businesses. A
common workplace application is for time and attendance. One new manufacturer
is testing its initial product that registers users' hands to prevent buddy
punching. The device saves the newest image of the hand every time it's used,
so it remembers users' hands as they age. The same company plans to use the
technology to identify palm prints on doorknobs, the computer mouse and-here
we go again-handguns and rifles.
Robert Ellis Smith, a lawyer, publisher and editor of the Privacy Journal told www.dbusiness.com that complacency in the face of this technology is a cause for concern.
"I think that's one of the dangers, that it will become convenient and there will be no stigma attached to it," he said. "I think it's worrisome that it's a kind of technology that people could get very, very used to, and yet 10 years ago people would've reacted very strongly to it."
Smith identified the most worrisome biometric application as one arising from DNA comparisons because of the vast information that it reveals about a person.
Despite voiced concerns about privacy, companies are still installing biometric identification techniques. These businesses are counting on Smith's fear of people getting used to the technology to make access control, network security, asset control, and time and attendance more cost efficient and user friendly.
In his article on page 14, Fred Dawber points out that although flawless, authentic identification is possible through the use of biometrics, cost and design have kept this technology from becoming the norm in access control. Dawber identifies several drawbacks to corporate biometric applications, but he also drives home the fact that their price is justified by the reliability of the technology used. For applications where infallible access decisions outweigh cost and appearance, biometric technology provides turnkey solutions. The technology also is available in attractive, more affordable products. This means that biometric technology continues to improve as technological advances make everything smaller and faster.
Smart Enough to See in the Dark
Another intelligent technology trend is the use of infrared thermal imaging
cameras to layer security systems. According to Robert Kienlen, author of
"Heat It Up" on page 60, "IR provides its greatest benefits when part of an
integrated security system." Stealthy security personnel can use the technology
without giving away their location.
Kienlen also describes how IR cameras can be used with CCTV systems, perimeter systems and even access control systems. The same technology in IR cameras helps reduce false alarms when used in surveillance cameras.
Although it's not smart in the new, products-that-think-for-themselves sense of the word, infrared thermal imaging is smart for applications that demand absolute security.
This article originally appeared in the September 2000 issue. Copyright Stevens Publishing. View magazine archive.