Teens creating app to remotely disable stolen firearms

Brianna Hollis
·2 min read

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Annika Nanda and Joey Spier are seniors at Westlake High School and cofounders of SafeZone, LLC.

It’s an after-market add-on to a firearm that utilizes fingerprint and other technology to remotely track and disable guns. The tracking feature will launch first, and the latter function will come into play down the line.

“Instead of just giving a serial number to the police [if your gun gets stolen], you can actually take action and give them a location,” Nanda said. “Which is going to be much more effective in immobilizing that individual who stole your gun. When SafeZone is fully developed, you’re going to be able to remotely lock it, and that person is not going to be able to use your firearm.”

Michael Cargill, the owner of Central Texas Gun Works, is working with the students to develop the product.

“There are some customers actually looking for something like that. They want to make sure their kids don’t get access to the firearm,” he said. “It’s important that this is going to be an option for the customer. We don’t want someone that’s mandated by the government or ruled. We want a person to be able to choose this.”

How the idea started

This began as an assignment in Nanda and Spier’s Business Incubator course. At the conclusion of the course, students participated in a pitch night – where SafeZone secured $8,000 in funding.

Students with pitch check.
Westlake High School students behind SafeZone received $8,000 to launch the product. (Photo courtesy: SafeZone)

“As a young adult or teen, you’re constantly seeing on social media all these opinions thrown at you, all these different sides, and you don’t really know what to do with it,” Spier said, regarding gun violence, about the inception of the SafeZone idea. “I don’t see anyone who really wants to really solve the problem and save lives, and that’s really the angle that we want to take.”

Around the time the group was tasked with coming up with an idea, Nanda said they heard a school announcement about a fundraiser for Uvalde students, which contributed to the inspiration behind the business model.

“This is our reality,” she said. “We’re one of the first generations where lockdown drills are normalized.”

While the students are set to graduate this year, they plan to continue their work with SafeZone beyond their high school careers.

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