The First Smart Gun Has Come To America, And It Could Be The Start Of A Revolution

In California, German gun manufacturer Armatix GmbH has begun selling a gun which can only fire when the owner wears an accompanying wristwatch.

Basically, the Armatix iP1 is the country's first smart gun.

Michael S. Rosenwald of The Washington Post reports:

The watch makes the gun think. Electronic chips inside the gun and the watch communicate with each other. If the watch is within close reach of the gun, a light on the grip turns green. Fire away. No watch means no green light. The gun becomes a paperweight.

The technology is a dream of gun-control advocates who say that smart guns will reduce gun violence, suicides, and accidental shootings by ensuring that guns can only be used by their owner.

And they could be more palatable to gun enthusiasts everywhere who don't want the government restricting their Second Amendment rights.

The lobbying arm of the NRA says it's uncomfortable with the idea of intelligent weapons. A statement on their website notes they are opposed to "government mandates that require the use of expensive, unreliable features, such as grips that would read your fingerprints before the gun will fire."

Nevertheless, smart guns are coming. Last month, Ron Conway, a venture capitalist from Silicon Valley, launched a $1 million prize for any company that successfully creates the next innovation in smart gun technology.

"We need the iPhone of guns," Conway said, according to the Post. "The entrepreneur who does this right could be the Mark Zuckerberg of guns. Then the venture capitalists like me will dive in, give them capital, and we will build a multibillion-dollar gun company that makes safe, smart guns."