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COLUMBUS, Ga. — As the gun control debate continues in Washington, a Georgia company has what it says is the answer to make guns safer without putting any restrictions on the owner.
The technology of the gun has been around for hundreds of years, designed for a specific purpose. But a new technology might be changing the old way of how we use the weapons, without compromising their integrity or safety.
The company is called Gun Safe Technology, Inc. It is a group made up of doctors, lawyers, and law enforcement officers. They have designed a finger print scanner to go on your gun, so you decide who fires your weapon.
"We have some pretty unique features in our design, so that if the person attempts to remove the device from the weapon, it will literally destroy the weapon," Charlie Miller explains. Miller is a business attorney in Columbus, and is also on the Board of Directors for Gun Safe Technology.
Miller explained that this technology might be a bit rudimentary right now, but they have a design plan to install a new type of scanner that will be installed inside the gun, rather than mounted to the outside.
The finger print scanner is also an instant scan, so there is no wait time to activate your weapon. Miller said 20,000 people can be put into the computer system which would be to accommodate a police force or battalion of soldiers.
Once a person scans their finger into their gun, they then would depress what's called a tape switch on the handle of the weapon. As long as that switch is depressed, the weapon will fire. Once that weapon is released, the weapon deactivates until the finger is scanned again. The implication is that a criminal would not be able to use the weapon if it is stolen, nor would a child who might accidentally fire the weapon if it's found in the house.
As long as a person is not one that has been allocated by the owner to be a user of the weapon, the gun will not fire.
Miller said he has received every question about the prototype and its effectiveness and usefulness. From being put through military standard testing to make sure the gun will fire just as it would if the scanner wasn't on it, to a question about the battery for the scanner, he said he's heard it all.
"What we're simply trying to do is make firearms safer. We want this to be an option for people," Miller said.
