A new two-shot handgun made to look like a smartphone will help owners of the .380-caliber gun pack heat “on any occasion,” according to its inventors.
The Ideal Conceal pistol, which is slated to go on sale for $395 later this year, allows its owner to “carry with confidence, conceal in style,” NY Daily News reports, citing the Minnesota startup’s website. The product could be seen on the site with an unfolding handle revealing a trigger and muzzles for the bullets where earphones would usually plug in.
Ideal Conceal CEO Kirk Kjellberg told the Daily News the lightweight invention aids gun owners hoping to avoid a Second Amendment debate.
“Part of what this allows people to do is carry a weapon without engaging in that conversation,” Kjellberg said. “This way, you don’t have to have a .38 or .44 strapped to your waist, you can carry it in your front pocket.”
The invention is already causing controversy. Bill Johnson, the executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, told CNN Moneythe invention could make police officers’ jobs more difficult.
“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,” Johnson said.
Yet Kjellberg said he’s received a lot of compliments on the product from police officers.
“I had a police chief write to me and say he wants them for their officers when they’re off-duty,” Kjellberg said.
He told KARE-TV on Monday that he’s received over 4,000 pre-orders and the gun is “just made for mainstream America, not criminal enterprise.” He also told the TV station the story of how he came up with the invention while dining out armed one night.
“I walked towards the restroom and a little child, a boy about 7, saw me and said, ‘Mommy, Mommy, that guy’s got a gun,’” Kjellberg said. “The whole restaurant of course turns and stares at you and I thought, ‘There’s just gotta be something better to do than this.’”