Schumer: New Gun Resembling iPhone 'Disaster Waiting to Happen'

ByABC News
April 5, 2016, 2:23 PM
Standing beside photographs of a new product, Sen Charles Schumer shown holding an iPhone 5S, voices his opposition to a handgun that appears to be a cell phone during a news conference in his office, April 4, 2016, in New York.
Standing beside photographs of a new product, Sen Charles Schumer shown holding an iPhone 5S, voices his opposition to a handgun that appears to be a cell phone during a news conference in his office, April 4, 2016, in New York.
Kathy Willens/AP Photo

— -- New York's senior senator wants a federal investigation into a new handgun, over concerns that it too-closely resembles an iPhone.

On Monday, Senator Chuck Schumer, D-New York, asked the Justice Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to block sales of a double barreled .380 caliber handgun from gun maker Ideal Conceal.

"This iPhone gun is a disaster waiting to happen,” Schumer said in a news conference Monday in New York.

The gun, according to the manufacturer's website, is, "ingeniously designed to resemble a smartphone, yet with one click of the safety it opens and is ready to fire."

U.S. Sen Charles Schumer stands beside two photographs of what appears to be a cell phone, but is actually a handgun, during a press conference in his office, April 4, 2016, in New York.
U.S. Sen Charles Schumer stands beside two photographs of what appears to be a cell phone, but is actually a handgun, during a press conference in his office, April 4, 2016, in New York.

A longtime gun control advocate, Schumer believes the gun should be illegal under the National Firearms Act, like many guns that are made to resemble wallets, pens and other items. The handgun is set to be released in mid-2016 with a $395 price tag.

Requests for comment from Ideal Conceal, the Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were not immediately returned.

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