Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) has focused his authoritarian tendencies toward banning a gun that resembles a smart phone.
Here is a picture of the gun:
“At first glance or even second glance it looks like an iPhone,” Schumer said. “Take a closer. look and you will see that it’s a real, deadly handgun.”
The gun, a .380 caliber derringer, was manufactured by the Minnesota-based company Ideal Conceal, which markets the firearm by stating, “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.”
Schumer argued that the gun was being manufactured for “nefarious purposes” and is illegal under the National Firearms Act.
“Typically guns that can be concealed, guns that look like wallets, pens and knives, are illegal under the law,” Schumer said in a statement.
The NFA requires such guns to be subject to stricter regulations and taxation than normal guns as well as requiring approval from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Explosives. The ATF declined to comment to The Guardian.
Schumer also invoked the recent Paris and Brussels terror attacks in a press conference and stoked fear with the possibility of ISIS terrorists grabbing hold of the weapon.
“What’s next, a gun made to look like a chocolate bar?” Schumer said. “Enough is enough.”
Some police officers reportedly share Schumer’s concerns.
“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,” Bill Johnson, executive director and general counsel for the National Association of Police Organizations, told CNNMoney.
Ideal Conceal’s CEO and the developer of the gun, Kirk Kjellburg, elaborated to CNNMoney that the idea for the gun popped into his head when a little boy in a restaurant noticed the gun he was carrying.
“What’s next, a gun made to look like a chocolate bar?”
Chuck Schumer
“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,” Kjellburg said. “So I thought to myself there’s got to be another way to be able to carry without bothering other people.”
Kjellburg is working with the Department of Homeland Security to train its agents on being able to identify the firearm.