If you’ve ever wanted to accidentally shoot yourself while trying to make a phone call, here’s your chance: Minnesota company Ideal Conceal has just come up with a handgun that is capable of folding up into an imposter cell phone.
The Ideal Conceal hand-cannon is a .380-caliber pistol and will be available sometime later this year. The company is excited to market this gun to the public because, as it states on its website, it “will be virtually undetectable because it hides in plain sight.”
How comforting… but does it take pictures and capture film in HD? How many selfies can you take with that bad boy? Probably just one, unless you’re super lucky.
When locked, the gun looks pretty much like a cell phone. It’s plastic, with a “metal core” interior lining, and can fire up to two shots. In that position, the phone easily fits in one’s pocket, just like a cell phone. However, as the company states, “with one click of the safety it opens and is ready to fire.”
Inventor Kirk Kjellberg said he was inspired to create the fold-up gun after he causes a stir for open carrying in a restaurant. He told NBC News:
“A boy spotted me in the restaurant and said loudly, ‘Mommy, Mommy, that guy’s got a gun!’ And then pretty much the whole restaurant stared at me.”
As a result, the self-proclaimed “serial inventor” set out to create a gun that the public wouldn’t notice. According to Kjellberg, the smartphone gun is “the same size as his Galaxy S7 phone with a protective case on it,” measuring three by five inches.
Ideal Conceal’s new Facebook page has already stacked up 13,000+ likes, too.
Some, naturally, are not too keen on Kjellberg’s latest invention, stating that it could potentially result in security risks at airports, among other places, but the serial inventor thinks that’s a bunch of hooey. Kjellberg stated:
“It’s kind of an erroneous idea that this is any different from any other pistol, because when you run it through an x-ray, it has barrels and triggers and hammers—all the things other guns have. It has enough metal in it that it can’t escape the metal detector.”
Kjellberg said the Department of Homeland Security has already gotten in touch with him regarding the gun and he claims he will be sending x-rays of the pistol to them to have on file so airports and other venues can recognize it when run through a scanner.
Other critics of the “smartphone gun” worry children might play with it, thinking it a cell phone, only to accidentally shoot themselves, possibly leading to a loss of life. Kjellberg scoffs at that criticism, too, stating:
“In America, we have lots of children in contact with pistols already. There’s been quite a few incidents long before my product came along. For me, it’s not the gun. It’s the people. So if you have a pistol and you have children anywhere near you, it’s your responsibility to lock that stuff up and keep it away from children.”
Sales for the new fold-up gun are anticipated to being this October, but the prototype is scheduled for release this June. Those looking to pick one up will have to shell out $395.
According to Kjellberg, over 4,000 people worldwide have claimed interest in purchasing the stealthy weapon.
With the constant fear-mongering by the right wing and the NRA that President Obama is going to seize everyone’s guns any day now, gun sales have continued to climb throughout his time in office, setting record highs for gun sales in 2015 following the terrorist attacks last winter in San Bernardino, California, and Paris, France.
This is one phone you definitely do not want to hear ring.
Featured image by TomoNews US via YouTube video screen capture.
