Smart Tech Challenges Foundation Awards Life-Saving Smart Gun Technology

ORLANDO, FL —Today, Silicon Valley’s Smart Tech Challenges Foundation announced a grant to GunGuardian, a company developing user-authentication technology for firearms, headed by Florida law enforcement officers Will Murphy and Rob Harvey. As part of the first-ever $1MM Smart Tech for Firearms Challenge, the grant supports GunGuardian’s prototype development to improve firearm safety through personalization technology.

GunGuardian was awarded a $25,000 grant for the development of an accessory attachment for firearms which integrates a biometric sensor onto a retractable trigger shield. The GunGuardian trigger shield covers the trigger area completely until it is unlocked by an authorized user’s fingerprint, thereby preventing the misuse of firearms and rendering stolen weapons inoperable.

“I started to develop this technology when a close friend had his first child and asked me if there was any firearm safety device that would help keep his child safe. I realized there wasn’t a safety device on the market that allowed for both quick access and portability,” said Will Murphy, who has been a law enforcement officer and Glock specialist for 11 years. “With the help of the Smart Tech Challenges Foundation grant, we are now much closer to making GunGuardian a reality.”

Smart safety technologies may prevent unauthorized use of law enforcement officers’ weapons and protect against accidental death and injury, especially among children, people attempting to commit suicide, and people untrained to use a weapon. While the technology is still in development and not yet readily available to consumers, the Smart Tech Challenges Foundation is spurring advancement of smart safety technology by awarding grants to 15 innovator teams to research, build, and test prototypes that will eventually scale to market.

“As law enforcement officers ourselves, we see the need for technology that prevents a gun owner’s firearm from being misused, or used against them. We’re building GunGuardian to serve that purpose,” continued Murphy. “We’re just two cops trying to make a difference.”

The 15 grantee teams participating in the Challenge span three phases of technological readiness, from early innovators working on research and development, developing innovators applying user-authentication technologies to a firearm, and experienced innovators developing a prototype of technology on a firearm.

About Smart Tech Challenges Foundation

The Smart Tech Challenges Foundation was formed in 2013 with a mission to foster innovation in firearm safety. Through the incentive challenge model, Smart Tech Challenges Foundation aims to unleash the entrepreneurial energy of America to propel firearms safety forward. The Foundation is hosting a first-of-its-kind Smart Tech for Firearms Challenge to encourage the development of user-authentication features for firearms. Learn more at https://smarttechfoundation.org.