Smart guns

Outlines a research project on smart guns: weapons that can only be fired by someone recognized as an authorized user. Technologies under research include electronic tags and implicit enabling, magnetics,radio‐frequency and command disablement and biometrics, using fingerprints, voice recognition and hand geometry. Concludes that smart‐gun technology can help prevent the unauthorized use of law‐enforcement guns. Purely mechanical options could work: the simplest is building a keyed lock into the gun. Other ideas to be studied include barcodes, implants, acoustics and combinations of devices.