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White House reacts to TMJ4 Lighthouse report on smart guns

Chief Political Reporter Charles Benson asks White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention about Smart Guns
World's 1st biometric 'smart gun' aims to lower shootings and suicides
Posted at 10:07 PM, Apr 17, 2024
and last updated 2024-04-18 09:05:30-04

TMJ4 News is shining a light on new technology that some say could be a key solution in ending unintentional child shootings: smart guns.

Ryan Jenkins first reported on the tech on Monday.

Weapons use fingerprint scans or passcodes, just like a smartphone, to prevent anyone other than the owner from using them.

Jenkins got perspective from community advocates, police, a doctor, and a gun shop owner.

At the White House, Charles Benson talked with people who advised President Joe Biden on gun violence prevention and showed them Ryan Jenkins' story.

Greg Jackson and Rob Wilcox watched TMJ4's story on the White House lawn about gun violence concerns and the need for solutions.

Charles asked them about Biden's campaign call for action in 2020 to get the country on the path of smart gun technology for all firearms sold in America.

Benson: Does the president want to see smart gun technology in all guns?

Wilcox: The president's position was clear in the campaign trail and it's clear today - he thinks we should be using technology to make our communities safer.

Benson: How does he try to fulfill this goal to get more smart guns in the hands of gun owners?

Wilcox: The president has taken more executive actions on gun safety than any other president in history.

He signed the first gun safety law in nearly 30 years and he created the first White House Office on gun violence prevention.

Greg Jackson says he knows gun violence is not just a one-and-done solution and that it also involves public safety education and safely securing guns in the homes of gun owners.

"The President has charged us to take this head-on, for the first time DOJ has put out the most comprehensive secured storage guidance on how to safely secure your guns," Jackson says.

This week the Biden Administration announced new rules that are expected to close a loophole at gun shows that allowed thousands of buyers not to have to go through background checks.

Pro-gun groups opposed the new rules and are already filing lawsuits to prevent them.

Former President Donald Trump told the National Rifle Association in February he would roll back the Biden-era gun restriction in his first week in office if re-elected.


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