As I weaved my way through the booths on the NRA show floor heading for exit for the last time yesterday, I ran smack-dab into the Ideal Conceal booth. You probably know them as the makers of the infamous “cell phone” pistol.
I only wish this was some kind of joke.
A gun that looks identical to a cell phone is being promoted on the #NRA website. https://t.co/K9qCXqNuSM
— Kim (@kim) May 7, 2018
An unarmed black man was killed ~6 weeks ago because the cell phone in his hands was misidentified as a gun.
The NRA and gun manufacturers are working to produce guns that look like cell phones.
This is fucking sick.
— robyn🌵 (@robynyourbank) May 7, 2018
When I told the guys manning the booth that they were mentioned at the previous day’s anti-NRA protests as an example of the depravity of the gun industry, they decided to take that as a badge of honor. It’d be hard to displace the AR as the most-despised rifle by the forces of civilian disarmament, but if there’s a runner-up, the Ideal Conceal would be a definite contender.
Their pistol is, in fact, intended to resemble a cell phone when closed (it’s about 3″x5″ and about a half inch thick…I should have measured it, but forgot…mea culpa).
That makes the Ideal Conceal ultra stealthy as you can carry one openly and no one will be any the wiser. As they say, the gun you have is better than anything back home in your safe.
In fact, the Ideal Conceal pistol is a two-round tilt-barrel .380 Derringer. It feels solidly built and operated smoothly while dry-firing it, with a decent trigger that continually alternates firing each barrel.
The only caveat: the folded metal “sheath” that covers the trigger when closed and becomes the grip has two metal edges at the front when opened. We’d guess that means you won’t want to be putting a couple of hundred rounds down range with it, but that’s not really the gun’s intent, either.
The pistol has a small front sight and Ideal Conceal will offer an optional laser (that’s what that “button” is just forward of the trigger). It was an awfully long reach for my un-naturally small hands, but this is a bad breath distance gun, so I’m not sure it’s even necessary.
We’ve asked for one to review and hope to have one in the weeks ahead.
Curious if this or my actual cellphone is more drop safe?
Yeah I would like to know how well built it is also.
We wouldn’t need cell-phone shaped guns, if they didn’t hate gun owners so much.
Too many people being shot for pulling out a cell phone by police? Overzealous police? Or are they the cause of their own problem?
Agreed. What the media fails regularly to mention is that these shootings generally occur after repeated directives by officers to keep their hands where they can be seen. How hard is that? If the officer tells you to put your hands up or out at your side, you do it. But most of these guys act like they are in high school and the principal is asking them what they have behind their back.
LEOs are just people like you and me, and they want to go home to their dinner and family after their shift. I’ve been pulled over for a traffic stop while carrying a gun, and I am alive because i followed instructions. It wasn’t even complicated.
It sure beats no gun at all !! I like the pocket it & forget it till you need it. I’m betting it is pricey for a 2 shot gun.
I just checked their website, and the MSRP is $575. Street price will surely be a bit lower, but man. Almost $600 for a two-shot .380 that you have to unfold to deploy? Yikes!
A simple LCP is “ultra super stealthy” enough for me. You get 6+1 rounds instead of 2, and you can buy one for less than $200.
I use mine to get passed metal detectors at event centers. The LPC must stay in the truck.
I like to see where innovation leads but, on it’s own this gun is a solid meh. However, if it gives anti-gunners the vapors, I’ll add it to my “if I have the cash, why not” list.
I’m not sure what to think about this. On one hand, it wrankles the anti-gun crowd so much that I want it. On the other hand, the gun grabbers do have a point. If people are already getting shot for having cellphones, why make things worse by actually having a gun that looks like a cellphone? I could see a cop drawing and possibly firing at someone for pulling out a phone to record something. Or even just to make a call. In the end, I have to say this is a bad idea. Holsters that distort the profile of a gun are okay, because when you pull out the gun, it is unmistakably a gun. This… It’s a bad idea.
I’d like to see one example of “people getting shot for cell phones”. Generally, the people involved were doing something monstrously stupid long BEFORE the phone comes out.
Of course, but the point is that it would make all thick phones now possible guns. If a bystander sees someone fighting with a cop, or cops, then pulls out his phone, the cop would see it as a potential threat. Conversely, a fellow thug could pretend to record an incident, sneak up close, then unfold it and POW! Dead cop.
“Blood in the streets”, or some such bullish!t, right?
All I’m hearing is “cops are atrocious at accurately assessing threats, and routinely display a degree of cowardice when shooting that would result in a private citizen getting 25-life”
To Mouse Gun.
I’m talking about the reasonable response one would have in that situation. You know, the kind of situation where you don’t know if a snake is venomous or harmless, so you treat all snakes as venomous.
People are not being shot for having cellphones in their hands, they’re being shot because they are holding anything in their hands. Could be anything at all, a screwdriver, cellphone, wallet—literally anything being held when police are pointing guns are you can be considered a “gun”. And that thought is a lot more scary than carrying a cell-phone gun.
Here’s an idea, stupid. When cops show up to a crime scene with guns drawn, stand still with nothing in your hand and follow instructions.
If it’s a bad bust, you can sue later. Otherwise be your stupid self. and we can laugh at you getting your brains blown out on liveleak.
Jest stuff a LCP in your back pocket and call it a day .
No glock mags, no rails, no shell deflector, and no muzzle brake. Solid pass.
Butttttt…has anyone thought it was their cellphone and shot themselves in the ear?!?😄😎😏
winner! winner! chicken dinner!
I had words with the guy at the convention. This is a dumb idea and there just isn’t anything that makes it a good idea. Should it be legal and should it be made don’t have to have the same answers. I guarantee, that cops are going to use this as an excuse to hassle people that have cell phones out around them and may get someone shot. In fact there was a video a couple of years ago where a cop (in Florida?) referenced one he had seen when he was telling people to get away from him with their phones. I doubt seriously that anyone will ever successfully use this junk defensively, but we’ll give up political capitol defending it and that capitol could be used to get us something useful. I hope this project fails and fails completely.
I’d love to debate the issue, but there is zero likelihood that I’ll be notified of a response on this comment system.
Wow mr cranky pants.
Here’s a thought, cops mistakes do not dictate what can be legally produced. maybe hold police responsible for bad shoots and then there will be less cops shooting people with cell phones.
A concealed carry person is more likely to pay attention to the 4 rules than a cop, because that CCP person will stand trial for any “oopsies “ maybe cops should be held to the same standards?
Hold police responsible for their mistakes or gross misconduct or outright crimes? What country do you think you live in?
You homed in on one point and ignored several others. Should it be legal and should it be made are two different questions. There is no balance here between the usefulness of this hunk of junk and the political capitol that we will expend because of it. This thing will hurt our cause, it will quite possibly get somebody hurt and will likely never have a successful defensive use. A gun that you have to draw, unfold and then you get two shots from an anemic caliber with a poor grip and sights. Yup, sign me up for that. The idea that someone might get killed is just a bonus. That’s OK because mr happy pants has dreams that he might be able to hold a cop accountable. Even if that happens, it won’t raise the dead.
Cops have been shooting people for having anything at all or nothing at all in their hands for as long as there’s been cops so I fail to see the problem with a gun looking like anything.
Think I would be better off with a knife.
This joins other recent 2 shot pistols of questionable utlity like the Heizer “Double Tap”.
At the convention I did see the folding Glock conversion by Full Conceal. Some thought and inovation went into the design, but again it appears to be a solution in search of a problem.
It’s gonna depend on cost, for me.
What this brings to the table that other derringers do not is low profile, hide in plain sight “concealability”.
What it lacks is power and iron sights, and maybe a one handed draw.
I know the first mockups grips deployed like switchblades, under spring tension. Lets hope that hasn’t changed.
It is rumored that a 9mm version is in the works. That’ll help, but if I’m limited to 2 shots, I want them to be as powerful as the platform can handle. How about a version in .357 Magnum ?
Interchangeable Barrels would be great.
Lasers are nice, but give us at least some basic sights, at least a trench sight. Some tapped holes with threaded plugs could allow for the mounting of actual sights, to be offered at a later time, for those who want them.
A holster which carries the weapon next to an actual phone would increase the “hide in plain sight” factor, and free up belt space for those of us who carry our phones on our belt.
I actually like the idea, but I think it needs a little more development.
They were showing the pistol with an IWB holster.
It’s a stupid gimmick. If you can carry it, you can carry an NAA mini-revolver or a Bond Arms Derringer just as easy. Some of the smallest .32 or .380 semi-autos probably fit as well in a pocket.
And it does increase chances of mistaken ID — or the plausibility if using that as an excuse..
Making guns look like not-guns should stay in Hollywood spycraft where it belongs.
I very much suspect that it would be much easier to conceal than a Bond Arms (I very frequently carry a BA myself) and would be more effective than an NAA. If this is available and legal, it might be the best choice for people in very anti-gun environments. It is up to every individual, not you or I, just like the decision to carry a gun at all. Yes, there are likely aggregate negative effects from the choice being available, I just doubt they out weigh the benefits.
The only good thing that could possibly come from this, would be a CopBlock member getting his just desserts. It’s not a good idea to make a firearm look like a cellphone because all thick cellphones would then be treated as weapons. If I see something I want to record or report, I don’t want the cop, who’s already under stress, to think my harmless cellphone is a firearm. Yes, I would then be justified in returning fire, but being a gun owner also means responsibly avoiding such a confrontation in the first place. If someone lives in an antigun area, they should just get a slender pistol or derringer and an appropriate pocket holster to avoid printing. If they have to use it, the result is the same. A loud bang, and (ideally) a stopped perp.
+1. If I need to, I’ll get a derringer, not one of these. In .45.
They really need to add a cigar snip
You crazy kids and your newfangled gadgets crack me up. I will continue to rely on my wheel lock. It is time tested and more reliable than a matchlock!
Just curious: why isn’t this an AOW? It’s a gun that doesn’t look like a gun.
It can’t be fired while it’s in “doesn’t look like a gun” mode.
My cell phone case is a otter box in stark white just for the reasons mentioned above. I would rather not be shot by the cops for having a black object in my hands. That’s the theory anyway.
And thus, my own OtterBox shall now either be replaced or painted some sort of garish color.
My Otter Box has a blaze orange rim, easy to see in the dimmest light.
At the price I agree with another comment, get an LCP…or two… and call it good.
Now if they could combine it with an actual phone that calls 911 when discharged, and provides audio and video of the incident, great.
Add Siri in as well.
“Siri, get me Massad Ayoob. No, not massive boob. No, not mad at YouTube. No, not Massachusetts…”
When danger comes it often comes so fast that by the time you unfolded this gun and got it into the fire mode you would be dead and already buried. I think it will give people too much of a sense of self-confidence that in reality does not even exist in a real fire fight.
As far as cops blasting people on sight with one they already do this anyway so its not much of an argument at all. Untrained cop equals panic equals innocent person gets killed equal cop gets fired equal cop gets hired next city over equals cope blasts and kills another innocent person. So what else is new when cop training virtually does not exist on any level.
Looks like an amusing range toy or conversation ‘piece’. 🙂
For carry? Well, let’s just say I’d rather put a Beretta Pico in a metal case – probably just as thin, just as easy to deploy, looks just as much like a cellphone – and way more functional.
“An unarmed black man was killed ~6 weeks ago because the cell phone in his hands was misidentified as a gun.” — trying to understand this: the unarmed black man was killed because he was holding a cell phone that someone thought was a gun (so, who thought that the cell phone was a gun and who killed him?) or did he think that he had a cell phone and killed himself (by using the trigger to dial or possibly as a push-to-talk button while holding it next to his ear?)? If there is any logic in this (expecting too much?), could someone please point me in the right direction?
380 – strike one
Only 2 shots – strike two
Slow to deploy – yourrrrrrrrrr out!
Fourth out for good luck – can carry a real gun in a real caliber with much higher capacity that is not much bigger.
I don’t want a cellphone gun, I mean first they get you locked in on that two year financing plan, and then they come out with the +P faster velocity version 3 months later, then the metallic blue sparkle version, then the starwars themed… Just can’t keep up, I don’t want to switch my firearm every 4 months!
This should be a candidate for a digital smart gun, to make it more like a smartphone, and so everyone will universally hate it. And so you can say “okay Google, transform into gun mode!” The future is here!
It also won’t work if you’re too far away from a gun shop and what if you’re out of state and that gunshops network isn’t the same network as the one in your state…..
I’d like to see this in .22 lr.
All ready been done:
http://www.trailblazerfirearms.com/products/
“All ready been done:
http://www.trailblazerfirearms.com/products/”
Ooooooh, that fits *inside* an Altoids tin! 😉
Hey, TTAG – How about requesting a T&E of the ‘LifeCard .22lr’?
I’ll volunteer to test it…
I’m in the market for an actual cell phone that looks exactly like a gun. Because why not?
I think it’s cool. But everyone has an “opinion”. Looking forward to the review.
They call it cell phone, but you can’t have one in jail
Cool engineering for sure. Better than the folding Glock.
Criminals use the element of surprise to their advantage. The 2 seconds a competent person requires to draw and aim center mass may not be fast enough. Add a awkward draw and unfold process and I think you triple the time. I don’t think .380 is ideal, I don’t think 2 shots is idea, but I can work with either. I won’t be pointing a cell at any cops regardless. The deployment time is the killer. For me an LC9S in the pocket is just as concealable in jeans and provides a reasonable level of fire power and usability that I can access in 2 seconds all day long. I can slip my hand in my pocket if things look dicey and draw even faster. An LCP provides a smaller option if needed, same operation.
This is not an aow but an wallet holster that covers the top is one ??
Goverment “logic”
It can’t be fired while it’s in “doesn’t look like a gun” mode.
Agreed on the “logic” part though.
i saw this at the convention, along with the similar .22 single shot and the fold up Glock. OK- someone put a lot of time in on them but I’m sure I could have my 43 out and in use faster than grabbing a block like these and unfolding it (with the muzzle facing the right direction) and I’m not sure any of them are actually more easily-concealed than the little Glock. For the person who thinks they have everything, including a lot of money to pass around. Not for me. YMMV.
stupid as fuck. only an idiot would think this is a good idea.
I still haven’t figured out how the ATF hasn’t classified this as an AOW like they have other “disguised” firearms.
It can’t be fired while it’s in “doesn’t look like a gun” mode.
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The Badgers also won games with different running backs.He made several big saves that kept the Capitals in the game, making 33 saves on 36 shots.
Then he’d draw you in with his slow windup before pumping you up with his explosive launch toward the plate.
At best this is the third most hated gun in America, with the second most hated being that stupid folding Glock thing.
You know, when I first saw an article on this thing a few months ago I thought it was the dumbest thing I’d ever seen. But the more I think about it, it might not be a bad idea. We have truck guns, don’t we? Why not a last ditch self defense weapon that we can easily carry in our pocket? I admit it wouldn’t be much good in the usual mugging situation because it’s way too slow to deploy, but what about a situation where you do have even a little bit of time?
Anyway, it might be something I would invest in when I have the money, but surely not something I would consider as my primary EDC.
Not something I would consider a primary EDC but it fits in very well with the idea of lightweight carry… and it matches the caliber of my LCP.
I ditched the NAA .22lr for lightweight carry because it’s an odd shape in the shorts pocket and not easily deployable. This thing appears it would solve that problem and if stuff really hit the fan and my LCP was damaged or lost, ammo from the spare mag works in this.
I like the cell phone appearance, this COULD be held up as a decoy “phone” then deployed as a mugger moves in.
Finally, it could pass as a hideaway or tertiary firearm. In places where concealed carry is frowned on, this gives you an additional option with even less riskbof being discovered.
Yes there are better firearms out there. Yes I carry a full size, quality pistol under *most* circumstances. I don’t go to the pool or the lake fully clothed, though, I wear board shorts that conceal only the most discreet firearms (most lakes I’ve been to in Texas are gun friendly areas anyway). That’s where this little .380 will fit in: highly discreet carry.