The Obama administration is announcing baseline specifications for smart-gun technology.

The announcement Wednesday comes out of the executive action taken in January by President Barack Obama to curb .

The specifications were developed by the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice.

The White House says the specifications are meant to ensure that smart-gun technology "available to law is safe and reliable" and to demonstrate that a demand exists for weapons with enhanced safety features.

Officials say they hope the specifications will give manufacturers guidance about the basic requirements that expect from the technology.

As part of his January action, Obama directed the government to review the availability of smart-gun technology on a regular basis.