Common sense dictates that gun-owning families should store their firearms and ammunition in different locations in order to prevent kids from accidentally hurting themselves or others. On the other hand, common sense also says that if you bought a gun for the purpose of protecting your family, it needs to be readily available and already loaded when a crisis arises. It’s a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ situation that has stumped parents and tragically impacted 43 toddlers who found and shot loaded guns this year.

Air Force veterans Skylar Gerrond and Matt Barido have developed a solution called the Guardian that will keep firearms accessible and improve gun safety.

“That’s the dilemma that drives people to taking the worse course of action — a loaded handgun, not secured at all, in a ‘safe place’ where kids doesn’t know about it,” said Gerrond. “We wanted something that never actually left the handgun. The slide retracts forward in front of trigger guard, allowing access for you to physically insert finger into trigger well.”

The Guardian is a device that uses fingerprint technology to lock and unlock a gun’s trigger. It can be easily attached to most guns without interfering with the weapon’s mechanics. When the Guardian is installed and the calibrated to the gunowner’s fingerprint, it takes only a split second touch to unlock the firearm when needed.

If your child picks up the gun, the Guardian will prevent them from firing it. Likewise, any intruders who try to turn a gun against its owner will also be unable to unlock the trigger mechanism.

The Guardian is still in its development stages and is not yet available for retail. You can help Gerrond and Barido achieve their dream and make the Guardian a reality buy contributing to their Indiegogo campaign. 

You can also learn how the Guardian works and promotes gun safety in the video below.