Suicide is a genuine problem and only becomes more of one as America gets more and more depressed. Kai Kloepfer, an engineer-minded, high school student, noticed the increasing rate of suicide in America, suicide often by guns. So to increase gun safety, decrease accidental harm and harm done due to gun theft, Kloepfer envisioned a smart gun, a special weapon that recognizes its owner.
While on the search for a science fair project, a major shooting happened less than an hour from Kloepfer’s home and it sparked an idea. And so, for a little less than a year, Kloepfer worked tirelessly to develop a smart gun, a gun that would recognize the fingerprint of its owner and would only fire if he or she was holding it. He took this project to multiple science fairs and walked away as the winner of all of them. And after applying for the Smart Tech Challenge, he was able to nail down a $50,000 grant to continue his smart-gun technology. Between graduating from high school and starting college, Kloepfer finally established Biofire Technologies, his very own startup that integrates fingerprint identification into guns.
It is inspiring how Kloepfer worked to use the vast technological advances of the twenty-first century to help increase gun safety and slow the suicide epidemic. Though this idea cannot halt gun harm entirely, it can help and is a great way to tackle a problem without also tackling the politics surrounding it. He really found a way to solve an issue without fanning the flames of that issue.
https://fredsoda.medium.com/from-start-to-startup-30-under-30-kai-kloepfers-biofire-technologies-bf59cd299a08
This is a very interesting idea. As someone who supports the second amendment as well as gun safety in all way possible the idea of finger print activated gun is a certainly unique. I will be very interested to see where this project goes and over it is good use of existing to technology to make a potential market changing product.
This is a very interesting idea. I have many doubts due to the unreliability of fingerprint technology and owner recognition systems but, who knows how it will be in the future? In addition, I think this takes away from many of the benefits and uses of a firearm because if you aren’t there to use it but someone else needs to use it as a means of self-defense but can’t, there could be issues. In addition, in a panic scenario where one is attempting to defend themselves, it can be difficult to adjust your fingers just right on the gun for it to activate and again, that can cause issues. However, it is still a neat idea and I think is a neat project to keep an eye on as it develops but, in the end, I see it becoming more of a show piece than a carry or home defense gun.