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Metal Storm Partners with NJIT to Commercialize 'Personalized' Handgun; O'Dwyer VLe Smart Gun is NJIT's Viable Option to Meet New U.S. Handgun Legislation
Aug-29-03
ARLINGTON, Va.- Metal Storm Limited (NASDAQ Small Cap ticker symbol: MTSX and ASX trading code: MST) and New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Newark, N.J., announced today they have signed a formal partnership agreement to jointly commercialize Metal Storm's O'Dwyer VLe(R) electronic handgun with NJIT's recently patented Dynamic Grip Recognition (DGR) biometric authorizing technology.
Metal Storm Partners with NJIT to Commercialize 'Personalized' Handgun; O'Dwyer VLe Smart Gun is NJIT's Viable Option to Meet New U.S. Handgun Legislation
The NJIT is a technology research organization which expends more than U.S. $50 million annually in supporting commercially promising new technologies.
The State of New Jersey passed legislation in December 2002 specifying that "three years after it is determined that personalized handguns are available for retail purposes, it will be illegal… for any dealer or manufacturer to sell, assign or transfer any handgun unless that handgun is a personalized handgun". The States of New York, Ohio and Tennessee as well as the U.S. Congress, are understood to be preparing similar legislation(a).
NJIT Vice President for Research and Development Dr. Donald H. Sebastian said, "This is a technology that represents the future in handgun safety and control.
"NJIT has determined that Metal Storm's O'Dwyer VLe(R) electronic handgun is the most viable option that meets the requirements to integrate our 'Dynamic Grip Recognition' technology, and in combination, meets the New Jersey legislation mandating the use of 'personalized' handguns.
"The O'Dwyer VLe(R) electronic handgun allows a range of 'personalizing technology' to be incorporated into Metal Storm's original design of the weapon. It's not an 'add on,' which has been the difficulty in the past.
"An indication of the value and importance we place on Metal Storm's O'Dwyer VLe(R) electronic handgun in creating the world's first safe 'personalized' handgun is that we are putting the full weight of our technical and political resources to bear, to proceed in obtaining the necessary U.S. $6-7 million funding to build the first production prototype of this exciting product," said Dr. Sebastian.
Metal Storm's CEO, Charles Vehlow said, "The commercial potential of having a 'personalized' handgun which meets legislative requirements is significant as it creates markets on a state, national and international scale. The market is massive with more than 943,000 handguns being manufactured in the U.S. alone in 2001.
"The O'Dwyer VLe(R) provides an affordable personalized handgun and offers increased control and safety," said Mr. Vehlow.
"The NJIT's patented 'Dynamic Grip Recognition' technology is well developed and has already met and passed some of the most demanding test standards and is on track to outperform today's mechanical counterparts," he said.
"The 'personalized' handgun that will integrate these two unique technologies will meet the mandated legislation that New Jersey has enacted.
"For the first time, appropriate safety standards are being applied to firearms which provide safety and protection against misuse or theft and which keep a handgun safe from people who might misuse it either deliberately or accidentally.
"The 'personalized' handgun which we will produce, will be childproof and personalized to the owner and will aid significantly in reducing gun deaths, which in the U.S. in 2000 totalled more than 28,000.
"Metal Storm has also recently completed a study commissioned by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) for law enforcement applications involving our successful prototype O'Dwyer VLe(R)," said Mr. Vehlow.
(a) Source: AAP article "N.J. Enacts First 'Smart Gun' Law in U.S." by Peter Saharko, Dec 24, 2002.
About New Jersey Institute of Technology: http://www.njit.edu
Visit Metal Storm website: http://www.metalstorm.com
About Metal Storm
Metal Storm Limited is a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia. The company is capturing attention from defense organizations worldwide with its revolutionary 100% electronic ballistics technology, which has no known conventional equivalent. Metal Storm currently has approximately U.S. $50 million in research and development funding in place to develop its technology from leading government defense-related agencies in Australia and the United States. Additionally, the company is well positioned to support the U.S. government's more urgent homeland defense needs. Recently, the U.S. Department of Defense has accelerated the programs under development as it strengthens its counter-terrorism capabilities.