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What Next | Daily News and Analysis

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Can Smart Guns Save Lives?

What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Slate Podcasts

News, Daily News, News Commentary

4.32.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 August 2023

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A “smart gun” is designed to only work in the hands of the gun’s proper owner. With the first smart gun potentially coming to market later this year, can the tech deliver on its promise?


Guests: 

Champe Barton, reporter at The Trace

Kai Kloepfer, founder and CEO of Biofire


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Transcript

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0:00.0

I am so over this situation here. I'm unbumble to find something real. You know

0:06.8

like someone you can count on, someone who actually cares about what you think. I

0:11.0

just want someone who's ready for that long-term kind of love. Whether you're

0:17.2

looking for your next boyfriend, girlfriend, casual date or just someone a truly

0:21.6

getcha, it's waiting for you on Bumble. Find them on Bumble. Just a quick

0:30.0

heads up before we get started. We'll be talking about gun violence and

0:33.4

suicide, particularly against children in this episode. Okay, here's the show.

0:46.4

Guns are the leading cause of death for minors. The CDC says there were more deaths

0:51.4

from guns than car crashes in 2020 and the number has only risen since. One

0:56.8

major gun control group found that at an average of 350 children a year find a

1:01.5

gun and shoot themselves. It's a tragedy that's happening all over the

1:05.6

country. Sheriff Mike Chitwood says a curious toddler killed himself with his

1:10.0

father's gun. This nine millimeter, the child found in the master bedroom

1:14.1

nightstand loaded. Night family and friends are remembering a kindergartener who

1:18.3

accidentally shot and killed himself. We're learning a three-year-old was found

1:22.7

a found a gun and shot himself. But one potential solution has started to gain

1:31.9

steam. Smart guns. Handguns that are designed to work only in the hands of the

1:37.5

registered owner. Yeah, so by far is building a smart gun. That's Kai Clepfer, the

1:44.2

founder and CEO of BioFire, a start up the plans to start selling the first

1:49.0

consumer smart gun in December. They say their handgun is equipped with tech

1:53.6

that makes it impossible for anyone except the rightful owner to pull the

1:59.0

trigger. Right, basically is a handgun with a built-in biometrics in this case

...

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