Fingerprint biometrics-enabled gun holsters ready for shipping

Vara Safety’s Reach biometric gun holsters are ready for shipping, with thousands expected to be sent out according to company claims, writes WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The holsters are designed with an easily accessible fingerprint sensor for biometric authentication that secures the handgun. For the last few years, the New York startup has been working on the product to integrate gun safety technology “that allows people to have both personal protection and effective gun safety, mainly because currently those two values are mutually exclusive,” says Vara founder and CEO Timmy Oh.

As previously reported, the Reach was manufactured after the company’s CEO spoke with over 1,500 gun owners about firearm safety. The pilot products have all been tested for battery life and actuation data.

“We have optimization features for Reach’s biometric scanner that are better than that of the sensors found in smartphones,” Oh explained at the time. “In fact, our sensor can accommodate a degree of moisture and still function properly, as tested by other leading safe companies using the same sensor.”

According to The Verge, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden delivered a speech about “smart gun” policy with biometric measures during the Democratic debates in June. Biden has been lobbying for a biometric authentication system that would prevent anyone other than the gun’s owner from using it.

“We should have smart guns,” Biden said. “No gun should be able to be sold unless your biometric measure could pull that trigger. It’s within our right to do that. We can do that. Our enemy is the gun manufacturers, not the NRA. The gun manufacturers.”

Gun-control groups have also supported this type of measures in the past throughout the Obama administration. According to an executive action signed by President Obama in 2016, the U.S. Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security Departments were “to conduct or sponsor research into gun safety technology.”

Fingerprint biometrics are often used for access control, and have already been added to weapons locking systems.

Article Topics

access management  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint authentication  |  fingerprint sensors  |  smart gun