Ideal Conceal, a new company from Minnesota, has manufactured a gun that folds into a smartphone shape, making it virtually indistinguishable from … a smartphone. The gun is a .380 two-shot derringer that can be clipped inside a purse or on a belt.
Here’s a picture:
The website explains: “”Ingeniously designed to resemble a smartphone, yet with one click of the safety it opens and is ready to fire. Smartphones are everywhere. so your new pistol will easily blend in with today’s environment. In its locked position it will be virtually undetectable because it hides in plain sight.”
Kirk Kjellberg, the developer, says interest in the gun is plentiful, claiming the company has already received 2,500 emails from prospective buyers. The company says the gun will run you $395– not a bad price.
Kjellberg explains how he got the idea: “This little kid says, ‘Mommy, Mommy, that man’s got a gun,’ so the whole restaurant looks at you like you’re about to shoot the place up,” he explained to CNNMoney. “So I thought to myself there’s got to be another way to be able to carry without bothering other people.”
The police are concerned.
“In general, the concept of any kind of weapon that’s disguised, so that it’s not apparent that it’s a weapon, would be cause for concern,” said Bill Johnson, executive director and general counsel for the National Association of Police Organizations.
Now this gun sounds pretty cool but it seems some issues will need to be worked out. Is this considered a concealed gun because it doesn’t look like a gun or is it considered open carry because it is a gun in full view if it’s clipped on your belt like a cell phone? Perhaps the lawyers will figure that out.
My first thought was “Now police will think every smartphone is a gun.” I’d hate to see any more accidents where police assume a cell phone is a gun. Plus we have the left urging people to call the police if they see someone carrying a gun — a recipe for disaster.
What do you think? Would you buy and carry this gun?
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