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A computer chip that would be implanted in police officers’
hands has been proposed as a protective measure against their handguns
firing, if they fell into the wrong hands. The small chip would
match with a scanning device inside a handgun allowing it to be
fired only if the officer and the gun match.
Experts claimed the chip would be useless if the gun fell into
the hands of a child or criminal.
Verichip, makers of this chip, referred to it as the "smart
gun" and stated it will be marketed to law enforcement agencies.
Some of the benefits Verichip experts cited were improving safety
for military and individual gun owners, making it difficult for
someone other than the owner to use the handgun and a making a significant
impact on illegal gun trade.
Statistics from the FBI showed that 67 percent of the 16,204 murders
in 2002 were committed with firearms.
Police officers have remained skeptical about this new technology
and have expressed concerns such as possible malfunctioning, power
outages and situations that might arise where they need to use their
partner’s gun.
Features of the "smart gun"
chip
- Needs no battery or power source.
- Other uses include acting as security key cards at office buildings
or as global positioning satellites to track the whereabouts of
a relative suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
- Can store medical information that can be accessed in hospital
emergency rooms.
- Can store financial and identification information to help prevent
fraud.
- The chip is inserted into the hand or arm like a shot and is
about the size of a grain of rice.
While the National Rifle Association opposed legislation for the
"smart guns" because of potential technological problems,
gun safety advocates argued the technology could give gun owners
a feeling of security.
USA
Today April 14, 2004
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