From: Cdn-Firearms Digest V3 #269
Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2000 08:37:32 -0600
From: X.X
Subject: National Post article 1
Toronto firm produces 'smart' gun Encryption technology
By Stephen Miles
National Post
A small Canadian company is developing "smart" technology for Smith & Wesson, the U.S. gun maker, which will use a special fingerprint pad to make sure no one other than its registered owner is able to pull the trigger.
The idea is to make handguns safer; a child would not, for example, be able to shoot someone in play using a parent's weapon. The new pads, from a small Toronto company called Mytec Technolgies, may also protect the 147-year-old manufacturer from multi-million-dollar lawsuits. Bill Clinton, the U.S. president, backed dozens of cities and states that are suing gun makers, accusing them of failing to make their product safer.
After nine months working with Smith & Wesson, the Canadian company has produced a prototype gun fitted with the scanning attachment it hopes the American company will take into full production. Frank Chen, Mytec's executive vice-president, corporate and business development, said Smith & Wesson, which controls about one-quarter of the U.S. handgun market, has applied for a U.S. government grant to develop the weapon.
Gun makers have been under pressure to build "smart" guns in the wake of a string of high-profile killings across the United States. The Clinton administration, which has been under political pressure to tighten gun control, has earmarked $10-million (US) in federal funds to help gun makers develop "smart" weapons. Mr. Chen said what makes the Smith & Wesson "smart" gun unique is the fingerprint module that is fitted to its base. The user simply scans their fingerprint on a template embedded in a module. Once authenticated, the module can be removed, allowing an ammunition magazine to be slid into place. Investors are excited by the potential of the fledgling Toronto company. Its shares more than doubled to $5.10 from $2.21 yesterday on the Toronto Stock Exchange in heavy trading. Smith & Wesson also is developing a "smart" gun where the fingerprint scanner would be built right into the handle.
Mr. Chen said Mytec's fingerprint scanner can effectively render a handgun safe. He said when a gun is purchased the registered owner would be required to enroll his or her fingerprint and have it inputted in the "smart" gun's scanning pad. "If your wife picked up the gun or children picked it up, it would not fire. If a stranger walks into your house and tries to shoot you with the gun, it would not fire. It recognizes only the fingerprint of the registered owner, and it takes only a millisecond when picked up by the right person before it would shoot."
Mr. Chen said Mytec, which builds other encryption devices that allow a person's biological features, such as face, eyes or voice, to be used for personal identification, said Mytec had been given "tremendous credibility" for its biometric products by winning Smith & Wesson's business. "We intend to take the technology and use it in other situations, such as home security, smart cards, cellphones and the automotive industry," he said. "Our low-cost, portable application device that uses fingerprint recognition can replace the need to remember password.