Gun disguised as smartphone hides in plain sight

Folded up, the Ideal Conceal resembles a smartphone. Folded up, the Ideal Conceal resembles a smartphone. Photo: Ideal Conceal Photo: Ideal Conceal Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Gun disguised as smartphone hides in plain sight 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

A Minnesota startup has invented a smartphone-mimicking handgun that could potentially make police-suspect confrontations deadlier.

The two-shot, .380-caliber weapon called the Ideal Conceal pistol folds up to look like innocent, nondescript smartphone, one that easily slips into a pocket. But when the grip is unfolded, a trigger is revealed.

"Ingeniously designed to resemble a smartphone, yet with one click of the safety it opens and is ready to fire," says the company website. "Smartphones are everywhere, so your new pistol will easily blend in with today's environment. In its locked position it will be virtually undetectable because it hides in plain sight."

The handgun is scheduled to become available in the middle of this year. The cost is $395.

"Part of what this allows people to do is carry a weapon without engaging in (a Second Amendment) conversation," Ideal Conceal CEO Kirk Kjellberg told the New York Daily News. "This way, you don't have to have a .38 or .44 strapped to your waist, you can carry it in your front pocket."

But if guns can be disguised as smartphones, police confronting suspects carrying phones would conceivably have more reason to use deadly force.

"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," said Bill Johnson, executive director and general counsel for the National Association of Police Organizations.

Even if it's in plain sight, CNN Money noted that Ideal Conceal might actually require a concealed carry permit, but that would depend on state and local laws, which vary widely.