Smart Gun

Reported May 2005

NEWARK, N.J. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Many Americans keep a gun in the house for safety, but the National Safety Council reports nine children are killed every day from gun violence. Now, a new smart gun technology may help keep guns from going off in the wrong hands.
Nancy Vazquez does what she can to keep her kids safe from guns in her home, but she still feels uneasy. "I do have concerns even though the guns are locked up, and the children don't have them. There's always the big what if they get a hold of the key."

Vazquez has a right to be concerned -- guns and kids are a bad mix. But now, engineers have developed a new smart gun. It can't be fired unless it recognizes the owner's hand size and grip.

"The idea is to use the science of biometrics, the ability to identify the individual by some unique attribute in this case literally by the way that you squeeze the gun when you pull the trigger," says engineer Donald Sebastian, Ph.D., of New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark.

Unlike other gun safety mechanisms, the smart gun's grip recognition makes it impossible for another adult or more importantly -- a child -- to duplicate the gun owner's one-of-a-kind hold on a gun.

Dr. Sebastian says, "Underneath the different elements of your finger and under your palm there are different amounts of pressure that indicate how hard you are squeezing. Right at the very point-by-point, where you touch the gun, we put sensors."

The ergonomically designed gun has 16 computerized sensors embedded in the handle. The sensors capture the unique pattern and pressure of your grip, plus the size of your hand. If someone else tries to use the gun, the information will not match the stored pattern of the owner's -- and the gun won't fire.

"We need smart gun technology, frankly, because we still have too many incidences of unauthorized access to weapons in the home," Dr. Sebastian says.

Experts say smart gun technology might someday help prevent tragedy but can't replace talking to your kids.

Vazquez says, "My hope is that by educating my children they'll know to either walk away from the situation or go get an adult." Which may be the smartest gun lesson of all.

Researchers expect the smart gun grip recognition technology to be available in about three years.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Michael Recce, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Information Systems
New Jersey Institute of Technology
(973) 596-5535
michael@ylem.njit.edu

Donald Sebastian, Ph.D.
New Jersey Institute of Technology
(973) 596-5535

Sheryl Weinstein
Media Liaison
(973) 596-3436
sheryl.m.weinstein@njit.edu


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