Boulder teenager launches crowdfunding campaign for smart-gun prototype

BOULDER — A Boulder teenager on Wednesday launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in hopes of raising the $72,000 needed to design and build a live-firing version of his “smart-gun” prototype that he’s been developing for the past three years.

Eighteen-year-old Kai Kloepfer’s smart gun employs a fingerprint sensor and encryption technology to prevent anyone who isn’t designated as a user of that firearm from firing it. Kloepfer’s hope is to prevent accidental shootings, thefts, suicides and other wrongful uses of firearms. That includes preventing use by children who might find an unsecured gun in their home or people who simply aren’t trained to use a particular weapon.

Up to this point, Kloepfer has been developing his technology — the locking systems, user recognition and other functions — on a 3-D printed plastic model.

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“Now it’s time to graduate,” Kloepfer said in a phone interview Wednesday. “Basically, this next major step is testing this on a real firearm.”

Kloepfer, who graduated from Fairview High School in May, first gained notoriety last year after winning a $50,000 grant from the Smart Tech Challenges Foundation to develop his technology. He said he’s worked through most of that money and is raising the additional funds to keep the project moving forward.

Kloepfer’s crowdfunding campaign began at 7 a.m. Wednesday. As of early afternoon, five backers had contributed $2,273 to the effort. The Smart Tech Challenges Foundation has pledged to match the first $10,000 raised on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

On the campaign page, Kloepfer notes that $72,000 would help him get a live-firing prototype built, working with VisionWorks Engineering in San Diego. But he also notes that $150,000 would allow him to build and test the original prototype as well as build a second version to fix issues with the initial design. With $5 million, the site notes, Kloepfer believes he could produce a smart gun to “manufacturable tolerances and specifications” and create the manufacturing processes needed to get the guns to consumers.

When a user grips Kloepfer’s gun, the gun reads the user’s fingerprint and compares it against a list of authorized users stored inside the gun. If it matches, the gun unlocks within one second. It locks in about half that time once the grip is released so that someone else can’t use it.

Kloepfer began working on the gun as a science fair project when he was 15. Inspired initially by the Aurora theater shooting to do a project that could reduce mass shootings, Kloepfer pivoted to the idea of reducing the thousands of accidental and suicide shootings each year in the United States.

“In most situations, a gun user doesn’t want to cause harm,” he said. “That means it’s an engineering challenge.”

Kloepfer, who has spent about $54,000 in all on the project to date, is taking a year off from school to develop the gun before enrolling at Massachusetts Institute of Technology next fall. With full funding, he said he believes he could have the gun to market in 12 to 18 months. His target price range is around $750, more than the average handgun but not astronomical.

“It needs to be affordable to the point where people want the safety feature and can afford it,” Kloepfer said. “Otherwise, it’s a waste of time.”

Kloepfer is starting with handguns, but said the technology would also be applicable to long guns down the road. His intent is to manufacture and sell the guns directly rather than partnering with an established manufacturer or licensing the technology.

Smart-gun technology isn’t new, but such guns aren’t yet sold in the United States due to heavy lobbying by gun-control opponents. Kloepfer said he believes firearm manufacturers are cautious about pioneering such technology due to the political risks that might be involved.

“They’re going to need to see someone prove the technology works,” Kloepfer said.