I’m sure folks have seen what’s being dubbed the “iPhone gun” by now. I haven’t written anything about it, because a) it’s just silly, and b) it looks like vaporware, and possibly a hoax. But that hasn’t stopped the media from hyperventilating about it. It’s silly because do you think an armed robber, rapist, or kidnapper is going to stand there patiently and wait for you to unfold your phone gun so you can shoot him?
Now, in addition to the media freaking out, apparently it’s now time to get a fainting chair for Senator Chuck Schumer’s office too.
On Monday, Senator Chuck Schumer, D-New York, asked the Justice Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to block sales of a double barreled .380 caliber handgun from gun maker Ideal Conceal.
“This iPhone gun is a disaster waiting to happen,†Schumer said in a news conference Monday in New York.
I think its a disaster too, but not for the same reasons you do Chucky. Whether this would be an AOW or not, I can’t say for sure. The US Code says a handgun is “a firearm which has a short stock and is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand” and in its firing configuration, it fits this definition. But the definition of AOW is muddled. So is it an AOW? I think that depends on what ATF determines, meaning it depends on the season, and whether you sacrificed a chicken to the God of Bureaucracy.
The amount of pearl clutching over this silly thing is amazing. It never fails to amaze me the things the media and politicians freak out over. It’s a two shot .380 derringer, basically, that would take some pretty explicit and slow moves to bring into action. If I were a cop, I’d be more worried about the dude with a gat in his coat pocket.
I think it’s not an AOW (“disguised weapon”) because it can’t be fired in its non-gun shape (if it could, the CFR definition of “pistol” would exclude it, and thus the “pistols with rifled barrels are NOT AOWS” exemption would fail to apply).
But I wouldn’t bet an NFA violation sentence on that…
Or, you could get a J frame and have five shots of a better caliber. What was this guy doing that his gun was so easily visible anyway? Get a decent holster and drop your shirt over it and your worries are done.
I don’t think there is a working prototype of this POS yet and they already need a diaper change. The stupid thing will probably make a Bryco / Jimenez .22 look like a Kimber, but that won’t stop the hysterics. In Bugs’ words “what a maroooon!”
Probably not an AOW. The Stinger Pen gun wasn’t and it had the same characteristics. Couldn’t fire closed and was a legal handgun when ready to fire per ATF.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/11/25/forgotten-weapons-stinger-pen-gun/
.22 LR, tended to twist in your hand when fired, and wouldn’t be mistaken for a real pen in anything but dim light.
If we get the right lobbyist to tweak the right words, we might actually be able to ban the iPhone.
That’d be worth letting Chucky win.