shooter 39 s finger 42 is removed from the trigger guard 13 the signal from the sensor 39 brings about an automatic locking of the pistol 10 by the control unit 24 therefore if the pistol 10 falls out of the shooter 39 s hand or is taken from him the trigger tongue 14 is locked automatically instead of the keys 21 or in addition to them the identification unit 20 can also include a fingerprint scanner 46 in that case the memory 25 stores the pattern of a fingerprint for right handed shooters for example the tip of the index finger of the left hand the scanned fingerprint is compared to the pattern stored in the unit 24 and if the two prints match the locking mechanism 11 is unlocked i e the locking element 33 is withdrawn from the notch 17 this variant has the advantage of easier and faster operation the identification is also accurate reliable and secure and relates to only one individual fig2 to 4 illustrate additional embodiments of the invention whereby the elements 20 to 26 and or 46 can be realized in a manner that is identical to the elements of the embodiment illustrated in fig1 in the embodiments illustrated in fig2 and 3 a hammer 49 is locked by a locking mechanism 111 for that purpose the hammer 49 has an index notch 50 in which in the locked position one e g a first arm 51.