It's the only pistol in the world that will only fire if its real owner pulls the trigger. Its trigger won't budge if anyone else fires it.

The weapon is igniting a revolution in handgun manufacturing that should make future handguns much safer. But Americans claim this safe gun violates their Constitutional right to bear arms.

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The controversial gun in question is actually a system called the "Armatix iP1 Digital Smart Gun System." It's made in Germany by the weapons firm, Armatix GmbH, based in Munich.

What makes the Armatix iP1 pistol different from any in history is its electronics.

The iP1 Personalized handgun" works in tandem with the "iW1 Active RFID watch." The iP1 Personalized handgun won't fire without the watch, said the weapon's designer, Ernst Mauch. Mauch described his invention as an "Intelligent Pistol."

To fire the handgun, a single designated individual has to enter a five-digit PIN code into the special iW1 Active RFID watch to activate the firearm. Without the code, the gun cannot be fired.

And in order for the handgun to fire, the matching watch must be within 10 inches (25 cm) of the weapon. The watch can also deactivate the firearm by means of a time-control feature.

Mauch said that even if the gun is stolen after the code has been keyed in, it cannot be fired. If the gun and the watch are both stolen, "the thief might as well throw them out because the gun won't fire without the correct five-digit code."

The weapon is on sale in Germany but was recently withdrawn from retail shelves in the only two gun stores that dared to sell the Armatix in the entire USA.

News reports said a gun store in Maryland and another in California stopped selling the Armatix iP1 due to hostile reactions and death threats from gun nuts.

Opponents of the smart gun believe that the introduction of the Armatix iP1 will trigger laws at the state and federal level mandating that smart gun technology be applied to all firearms sold in the USA.

A New Jersey law enacted in 2002 mandates that once smart guns such as the Armatix iP1 that are personalized to a designated individual go on the market anywhere in the USA, New Jersey gun sellers have to stop selling traditional guns within three years and shift exclusively to smart guns.

Some experts believe the conditions described in the New Jersey law have been fulfilled by the Armatix iP1's brief availability in California.

The Armatix iP1 weighs 518 grams without a loaded magazine. The pistol fires a .22 LR caliber round and is fed via a 10-round detachable box magazine. It has an effective range of 75 yards or 69 meters.