There are undoubtedly moments that police officers rightfully need firearms, and the hard question is how to limit access to those moments. Technology provides a means: Guns could be kept in smart lockboxes. Using this mainstream and relatively inexpensive device, police dispatchers or qualified police personnel could remotely grant in-the-field officers immediate access to the contents of a lockbox. Under a new policy, remote access could be granted only when officers are responding to suspected crimes of violence or other similar dangers. For ordinary encounters, like routine traffic stops, the box would remain locked. As a fail-safe, officers could immediately override locks to respond to unforeseen and dangerous emergencies, but doing so would trigger mandatory review by an independent body. Under those circumstances, officers would face sanction if they failed to satisfy the body that the override was justified. Simply put, this policy could change the default setting of policing from lethally armed to unarmed. This is no small difference. For one, it will lower the stakes of police mistake. Pepper spray and electric shock cause excruciating pain, but the recipient will almost certainly make a complete physical recovery. What’s more, removing a lethal weapon is likely to change the dynamic of police encounters, making them less stressful and prone to error. Empirical studies have found evidence that simply wielding a gun makes one more likely to conclude that another person is holding a gun.