In a bid to track when police guns are fired a new type of gun is being designed utilizing blockchain technology, which would make police accountable each time a gun is fired.
The Glockchain, which is being designed by a group of people, is one of many prototypes that will see many companies and designers coming together over the summer months to create new applications for technologies such as the blockchain. TechInsider revealed that these creations are being designed for a new scheme called Ideo coLAB .
Gun shootings in the United States are happening more frequently. According to reports , in 2015 there were 13,286 people killed by firearms in the U.S. while 26,819 people were injured.
Of the murders in the U.S., in 2012, 60 percent were by firearm compared with 31 percent in Canada, 18.2 percent in Australia, and 10 percent in the U.K.
Figures from the Gun Violence Archive show that from 2016 alone over 31,000 incidents involving firearms in the U.S. have been reported with just under 8,000 of that figure resulting in homicide. From the total reported from July so far, 185 incidents involved an officer who was either shot or killed while just over 1,000 involved an officer in an incident with a suspect who was shot or killed.
With gun shootings becoming such a prevalent issue in the U.S., it’s understandable that many will look to how they can solve the issue in what has become a heated area for discussion.
Jing Ling, an IT project manager at Liberty Mutual and member of the Glockchain team says that by linking a gun to the blockchain it will force police to be answerable to their actions each time a gun is fired.
He said:
Unlike a traditional smart gun, you can see who’s holding the gun. Then you can pair that with [a] video for a time record.
While the idea for the Glockchain is still in the early stages of development it comes at a time when the discussion revolving around guns in the U.S. seems to be at its highest. The issue of gun crime is not going to go away anytime soon, but could this then be the answer that many seem to be searching for?
Who knows, but the Glockchain or a version of it, may, in the not too distant future, find its way into a product that records gun police activity. With gun crime at its highest, that can only be a good thing.
Featured image from Shutterstock.