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Bond, James Bond, inspiring a safer world


November 21, 2012

Imagine a world in which illegally acquired guns physically cannot be used. Inspired by the new Bond movie, that’s the world Ed Finn, founding director of ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination, and Dave Guston, co-director of ASU’s Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes, conceptualized in a recent Future Tense article on Slate.

"Skyfall," the latest in the Bond series, features a gun that uses a biometric sensor to prohibit unauthorized users. Finn and Guston readily acknowledge the politicized state of the gun debate, yet make a compelling case of how technology could be deployed to help combat gun violence.

“Your constitutional right to a gun does not include a thief’s right to your gun, or a trafficker’s right to your gun, or a child’s right to your gun,“ write Finn and Guston. They also provide suggestions for “a stand-alone biometric system” and how the technology could be modified for those with mental illnesses, among other potential life-saving measures.

Finn and Guston admit there are limitations to such technological solutions, but err on the side of optimism to help envision a safer world.

Future Tense is a collaboration among ASU, the New America Foundation, and Slate magazine that explores how emerging technologies affect policy and society.

Article source: Slate Magazine

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