The administration stopped short of mandating the use of smart guns by federal agencies but said it saw promise in committing more federal money and attention to a technology that has evolved in fits and starts over more than two decades.

The idea behind the smart-gun technology is to limit the use of a firearm to its owner, through personalized identifiers like a biometric sensor on the gun grip, a ring sensor worn by the owner or a digital pass code entered on a wristband.

Advocates see the technology as a way of stopping criminals from using stolen guns — or children from accidentally shooting themselves or others. Just this month, the nation saw nine accidental shootings in one week involving children as young as 2 years old.

But despite millions of dollars in federal grant money awarded to gun manufacturers and researchers, no commercially viable smart gun has emerged, officials said.

In New Jersey, lawmakers passed a 2002 law requiring that guns be “smart” once they have been available on the market for three years. That three-year countdown has never been started in part because of pressure from gun rights activists on manufacturers not to develop the technology. Earlier this year, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a new smart-gun measure.