Grandfather launches smart gun push after Sandy Hook
His 6-year-old grandson, Ben Wheeler, was one of 26 people killed in the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. As a way of helping memorialize Ben's brief life, Lobis has launched a crowdfunding campaign to finance an idea he hopes will protect others: a biometric locking station for firearms. The idea is that guns would be stored in a carrier that could only be unlocked by their owner's fingerprint, making it difficult for intruders or children to get hold of them.
Along with business partner Ben Tomb, Lobis hopes to raise $100,000 to build the technology, called Protector XT.
Lobis, who invests in startups, met Tomb by chance following the death of his grandson. Tomb was building out biometric technology aimed at gun safety. He shared the same first name as Lobis's grandson.