Double barrel 380 that folds up like a phone

[Ranger Roberts]

I was just on Fox news and saw this article. It's a two shot 380 auto that when folded up appears to be a cell phone. I thought maybe you guys would find this interesting.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/03...s-up-to-look-like-smartphone.html?intcmp=hpff

To me it seems pretty impractical. Two shots. It looks awkward to shoot.

Would this be classified as an AOW and require a stamp?

 

[Skribs]

I'm also curious how it applies to laws that require you not have a weapon that is disguised to look like something else. I could be wrong, but I think there's something like that in Washington.

 

[yugorpk]

Its an AOW and its NFA regulated. $5 transfer tax. Same as cigarette pack guns and belt buckle guns, pen guns etc.

 

[MedWheeler]

Yeah, there was a thread on this maybe a year back or so. We all know how snappy the .380 can be in a lightweight, thin-gripped pistol. I can't imagine trying to get any practice in with this. Maybe in .22WMR..

 

[JohnKSa]

If it can be fired in its "disguised" mode then it's restricted. If you have to manipulate it until it at least somewhat resembles a gun before it can be fired then it's not restricted.

 

[25cschaefer]

What John said, there are pen guns out there and if they look like a pen when you shoot them, they are an AOW. But, if you pull back and down on the back half so it has something like a 120 degree angle to it, it is just a pistol.

http://www.guns.com/2012/10/30/stinger-pen-gun/

 

[C0untZer0]

There is also the Bondhus CL380:

 

[Carl N. Brown]

That is a two shot derringer style pistol in .380 Auto (.380 ACP) caliber.

The pistol grip has to be folded own into an obvious pistol configuration to be fired.

A concealable pistol that is not immediately recognizable as a pistol in firing condition is a concealable weapon that is not a conventional pistol or revolver and that would be an AOW (like a "wallet gun", OSS pen gun, cane gun, umbrella handle gun, etc.)

Now, if someone got the bright idea of cutting holes in the grips to fire the gun looking like a cell phone, that would be an AOW. The folding grips should include a safety block to save such folks from their own cleverness.

I have 150 rounds of .380 ACP; personally, I would put the $395 MSRP for the folding cell phone pistol into a Ruger LCP with a flashlight or laser sight in front of the triggerguard.

 

[Tirod]

The average user isn't intent on shooting them as a primary self defense weapon. It's a collectable, same as switchblades and push daggers. Bicycle guns, SPETZNATZ shooting blade knives, cane swords, tiny fold up derringers that can actually shoot.

Some people spend their discretionary income on them. It's more a celebration the object can do it than a serious intent to depend on it.

 

[MedWheeler]

If I wore it on my belt, where would I put my actual phone, so it wouldn't look like I had two? If I can hide my real phone, then I would simply hide my (insert popular pocket-sized .380 pistol here) there.

 

[Skribs]

Now, if someone got the bright idea of cutting holes in the grips to fire the gun looking like a cell phone

Apparently someone just had that bright idea

The average user isn't intent on shooting them as a primary self defense weapon. It's a collectable, same as switchblades and push daggers. Bicycle guns, SPETZNATZ shooting blade knives, cane swords, tiny fold up derringers that can actually shoot.

Some people spend their discretionary income on them. It's more a celebration the object can do it than a serious intent to depend on it.

How do you know the state of mind of the average person purchasing this?

 

[JohnKSa]

If I have to pull out my carry gun, the LAST thing I want is for someone to mistake it for anything other than a gun.

I see this as a gee-whiz item that some people will buy for the cool factor, that a few people will buy because they haven't thought things through and that collectors will buy so that they can say they have one after the company that makes them goes out of businesss.

And as an item that will spin up the people who are always waiting to get spun up about scary gun-related items...

 

[TreeDoc]

I've often read the phrase " I rather have a sharp stick" in jest. But in considering this fold out 2 shot 380, the sharp stick probably wins out. Slide it off your belt or out of your pocket,
depress the locking button to unfold, aim and fire under stress of assault. If you do get your shots off, they had better be accurate due to the mighty force of the 380, oh and by the way, you only have 2 shots. Don't know why this dohickie reminds me of the famed Liberator dropped into France in WWII but it does.

 

[25cschaefer]

It would have a following here in MT, a concealed weapon is defined as being covered by an article of clothing on a person's body. This gun would not be concealed on the outside. There are certain places where you cannot carry a gun at all, like a bank or public school, but there are other places where you cannot have a CONCEALED weapon. So places where alcohol is sold, served, and consumed, you could still be armed. I know you don't want a bunch of drunks walking around with guns, but not everybody that goes to an Applebee's is getting hammered.

 

[Win73]

I already carry my LCP in a case on my belt that looks like a cell phone case. And I have seven shots. A friend of mine who knew I carried every day thought it was my cell phone for two years until I showed him my pistol.

 

[Tirod]

I know the state of mind of the purchaser because both sides of owning them are discussed in threads like this.

Owners talk about how intrinically neat they are, non-owners discuss how disadvantaged they would be using them.

Hang around the net a few more years and you'll discover people tell you why they buy guns.