The recent school shooting incident in Washington state got me thinking about how technology could possibly be utilized to reduce such violence. Current smart guns use RFID, fingerprint recognition or other such technologies to help reduce the misuse of firearms. While these technologies are helpful in reducing gun violence in general, they do not specifically address location specific incidents, such as in schools. Innocent school kids are getting injured or killed within the supposedly safe confines of their schools. Current security measures, such as guards and screenings, do help but we can do more by applying available technologies in unique ways.
Smart Guns could automatically be disabled when they are within a geo-fenced Area
Let’s consider applying the Internet-of-Things (IOT) technologies to guns (things). What if guns were connected to the internet and had built-in GPS or other location technologies embedded in them? Could such smart guns be programmed to automatically be disabled when they are within a geo-fenced area, such as a school campus? If an i-gun goes missing, can it be automatically tracked and disabled similar to today’s smartphones?
We could possible consider extrapolating this to weapons used by the military. If the weapons fall under enemy control, they could automatically be disabled to make them inoperable. Such ‘smart weapons’ would have been extremely valuable in Iraq where many such weapons are in the hands of ISIS and could potentially have been made inoperable.
I believe guns will also become IOT-enabled in the future along with many other ‘things’ around the house, thus proliferating a more internet-connected world around us. What’s your opinion on smart guns’?
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