Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday that gun tracking bracelets are something the Justice Department (DOJ) wants to \u201cexplore\u201d as part of its gun control efforts.<\/p>\n
When discussing gun violence prevention programs within the DOJ, Holder told a House appropriations subcommittee that his agency is looking into technological innovations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that one of the things that we learned when we were trying to get passed those common sense reforms last year, Vice President Biden and I had a meeting with a group of technology people and we talked about how guns can be made more safe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy making them either through finger print identification, the gun talks to a bracelet or something that you might wear, how guns can be used only by the person who is lawfully in possession of the weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s those kinds of things that I think we want to try to explore so that we can make sure that people have the ability to enjoy their Second Amendment rights, but at the same time decreasing the misuse of weapons that lead to the kinds of things that we see on a daily basis,\u201d Holder said.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department has requested $382.1 million in increased spending for its fiscal year 2014 budget for \u201cgun safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
Included in the proposal is $2 million for \u201cGun Safety Technology\u201d grants, which would award prizes for technologies that are \u201cproven to be reliable and effective.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Barack Obama\u2019s budget proposal also calls for $1.1 billion to \u201cprotect Americans from gun violence\u2014including $182 million to support the president\u2019s \u2018Now is the Time\u2019 gun safety initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n
A recent innovation allows a gun owner to only unlock a safe with a fingerprint scan and an \u201cRFID-equipped bracelet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Others have suggested manufacturing GPS tracking and RFID chips into every gun. RFID chips transmit location data and are used by law enforcement agencies to send automatic alerts if a weapon moves away from the tracker, indicating that the gun is lost or stolen.<\/p>\n