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Unsafe Gun Design Gun Substantially greater percentages of shootings could be prevented if gun manufacturers incorporated other safety design features such as locking mechanisms. Some of the same design changes that would protect children from unintentional shootings would also prevent a substantial number of intentional shootings, such as suicides committed by teenagers with unauthorized access to a parent's firearm, and homicides committed with stolen guns. The technology to "personalize" a gun, so that it can be fired only by the owner and others specifically authorized to use it, has existed for years. Guns can be personalized with a simple mechanical feature, such as a combination push-button lock (like those commonly used on briefcases) built into the grip of a handgun, or a device that would keep the fun's firing mechanism locked unless the shooter is wearing a specialized magnetic or radio-frequency signal ring that disengages the locking device. Other models under development would recognize the fingerprints, palm prints, or voices of authorized users.
For years, gun manufacturers have steadily introduced innovations increasing guns' firing power and speed, ammunition capacity, and concealability. Gun makers could save many lives and prevent serious injuries if they worked to make guns safer rather than increasingly deadly.
The Legal Responsibilities of Gun Manufacturers Manufacturer have a duty under the law to make the designs of their products safe, and they can be held liable for failing to do so. A product is defective in design when the foreseeable risks posed by it could have been reduced or avoided by adoption of a reasonable alternative design, such as a design that includes a safety device or protective guard. Courts have specifically recognized that manufacturers can be held liable for failing to eliminate risks that products intended for adults – from potpourri pots to cigarette lighters – pose to children. This legal responsibility applies to the manufacturers of guns just as it does to the makers of all other products. The purpose of these legal principles is to give manufacturers an incentive to achieve optimal levels of safety in product designs. Sound application of these principles to guns is particularly important given the fact that guns are the only consumer product other than tobacco exempt from federal safety oversight. For decades, gun manufacturers have disregarded their responsibilities to innovate for safety. The Legal Action Project works to change that.
Jonathan E. Lowy, "Litigating Against Gun Manufacturers" Trial (November 2000) This article provides an overview of the practical considerations for lawyers litigating cases against gun manufacturers, including cases concerning unsafe gun designs.
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manufacturers have the ability
to prevent deaths and injuries, especially among children, by adding safety features to gun designs. A federal General Accounting office report
analyzed unintentional shootings and found that even just two of the most elementary kinds of safety devices – indictors signaling when a gun
has a round in its firing chamber, and "grip safety" mechanisms that very young children typically do not have the physical strength or coordination
to disengage – would by themselves prevent 31 percent of the deaths and injuries. 
These technologies are feasible. Smith & Wesson Corp., one of the nation's oldest and largest manufacturers of handguns, recently agreed to
significant changes in the way it conducts its business, as part of a 
![Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence [logo]](http://www.gunlawsuits.org/common-images/bce_logo.gif){kind=logo}
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