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