Judge-dread becomes reality

Ever see judge dread? They had these cools guns which only fired if your finger print was authorised; film just became reality.

"Pretoria inventor Nic van Zyl has developed what may be the world's first "intelligent firearm", a handgun that can be operated only by its rightful owner. It could make criminal abuse of firearms a thing of the past.It looks like a cross between a sci-fi raygun and an industrial high-pressure cleaning device. Bulky and block-like, it displays none of the black-metal menace inherent in most civilian firearms, and frankly, it is not a thing of beauty.

The IFA, as it's known, uses a biometric sensor located just above the handgrip to activate its firing capability. The sensor is encoded with the thumbprint of an authorised user (or users): unless it recognises the imprint, it remains inoperative. As Van Zyl says, an unauthorised person could use it to clobber someone over the head, but that's about it.

"This is the first firearm to enter the electronics age in terms of authorised use. It could be used for personal protection, or in a responsible peacekeeping role. There is a real need for a gun like this." In conjunction with the biometric sensor, the electronic chip located in the gun's pistol grip will be encoded with a range of additional information regarding the user's personal details, including fingerprints, identity number, and licence status (that is, whether the firearm is for personal protection, hunting, police or military use). "

Just make sure you don't have an evil twin brother :D.

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