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We all know about America's enduring love affair with the gun, but it still comes as a jolt to learn that an estimated 1.7m children live in homes where loaded weapons are not kept securely under lock and key.
In an attempt to prevent - or at least reduce - the tragedies that inevitably ensue, scientists are in the final stage of developing a "smart gun" that will fire only when it recognises its owner's grip. Should anyone else pull the trigger, the firing mechanism locks.
Developed by the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the prototype Dynamic Grip Recognition system involves complex biometric analysis of the size, strength and structure of the bones and muscles in an owner's shooting hand. Sensors embedded in the gun butt read and record this information - said to be as unique as fingerprints -
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New technology could help America get to grips with its runaway gun crime, says
philip jacobson |
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and react within a split second. Test results are so far encouraging.
The $2m research project has the support of the US government, which is ready to try anything that might cut the country's grim annual death toll (29,000 at last count) from gun-related incidents. The technology would also prevent criminals from using a stolen gun, many of which come from burgled homes. The long-term aim is to build up a nationwide register of "personalised" weapons.
Unsurprisingly, America's gun lobby is worrying about the implications for the citizen's right to bear arms, citing concerns about the smart gun's failure rate in tests - currently one in every 100 trigger pulls. Researchers insist that when a commercial version becomes available, probably in 2008, this will have improved to one in 10,000 - the Pentagon's standard for military weapons. 
FIRST POSTED JANUARY 23
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