Will Murphy and Rob Harvey of Florida-based GunGuardian are the winners of the Smart Tech Challenges Foundation Race to Reliability Challenge. The Foundation invited its top innovators to make a bid in the Reliability Challenge, and asked internet voters to cast their vote for their favorite innovator team and smart firearms safety technology.

Will Murphy and Rob Harvey, both Florida law enforcement officers and Glock specialists, were awarded a $25,000 grant for the development of an accessory attachment for firearms which integrates a biometric sensor onto a retractable trigger shield and stays attached to the firearm at all times.

From the GunGuardian website, “GunGuardian uses a simple method of securing a firearm by restricting access to the trigger.  The trigger is protected by a manually closed, spring loaded “shield”. The shield will only uncover the trigger when the correct biometric signature is read via the fingerprint reader or if the correct security code is entered. Once the biometric signature is verified or correct security code is entered, the shield automatically and instantaneously retracts allowing access to the trigger of the firearm.”

As the prize for winning the Reliability Challenge, the GunGuardian innovators received $2,000 to apply to the development of their prototype.