If you've read nearly anything I've written, you might recognize two things: "puns?" yes please; and "new weird technology for law enforcement?", sure why not. A few days ago this came onto my radar and I wanted to put something out there so you're aware of it as well. But first let me be clear ...
What they ARE
Patent-pending, Ideal Conceal were a clever enough to figure out the design of a firearm to fold it up to then have it look like a smartphone. "Available mid-2016." Basically, picture the product like a double barreled derringer allowing people to fulfill their personal need to be armed yet be as "concealed" about it as possible. The site mentions potential customers ranging from "soccer moms" to "professionals of every type".
More evidence they're not anti-law enforcement. Check out their Facebook page. As of this writing their most recent post is about a fallen law enforcement officer from Prince George's County, Maryland.
What they are NOT
A company looking to hide their firearm from law enforcement. Everywhere on their site are reminders for customers to check local laws.
Ever hear of Snopes? They ran a piece about this March 3: "The prototype for a gun that looks like a smartphone is real, but it isn't something designed by criminals to fool police." They include an officer alert post from what I'm guessing was Facebook. The message there? Hey, watch out for this - seriously.
Snopes continues with their coverage following the company's interactions on Facebook. One post of theirs includes:
"We totally support law enforcement. Further, we would never promote or make a product for ambushing anyone, let alone police.
In fact we have received MANY requests from Law Enforcement to purchase this weapon for undercover and off duty officers."
Now that that's out of the way
I'm writing this to inform, not to sell one or ring alarm bells. Just inform you that it exists - I feel you don't need me to tell you what to do with the information (other than the last line in this blog).
According to an article on Guns.com, "Little gun causes big flap and it's not even in stores yet", the prototype is due for May. They even point out that guns that transform into something else isn't a new idea, giving umbrella gun or wallet gun as examples. Hell, there's a spy museum in Washington DC that probably has more ballistic weapons than the local gun shop.
So now, are we going to amend that old saying ... should it now ask which is mightier, the pen, the sword, or the smartphone?
Stay safe out there.
