FIVE THINGS ABOUT GUN WITH LEGO EXTERIOR THAT LOOKS LIKE A TOY
1 GLOCKS MEET BLOCKS
About a week ago, a company in Utah that makes custom
modifications to firearms debuted what it described as a fun new product: A kit that encases Glock handguns in what
looks like red, yellow and blue Lego blocks, refashioning lethal weapons to look exactly like children’s toys. “We have been building guns out of blocks for
the last 30 years and wanted to flip the script to aggravate Mom,” Provo-based Culper Precision explained on its website.
2 SUPER FUN
Culper Precision argued that
personal defence is a right granted by God and that gun
ownership is protected by the U.S. Constitution before getting to the most important reason the company was selling
“BLOCK19,” as the design was named, for US$549 to US$765,
depending on the specifics. “There is a satisfaction that can
ONLY be found in the shooting sports and this is just one small
way to break the rhetoric from Anti-gun folks and draw attention to the fact that the shooting sports are SUPER FUN!” the
site proclaimed.
3 RISK TO CHILDREN
What’s not fun, and went unaddressed on the sales page, is the reality that thousands of
children unintentionally shoot themselves or others each year because they find a gun and pull its trigger. Culper Precision’s
customization arrived at a time when that problem is only getting worse and firearm sales
are soaring. As word of the new product spread on the web last
week, the idea struck many as so profoundly misguided that it would inevitably cost children
their lives. “Responsible gun owners should be appalled by this,” Shannon Watts, founder
of Moms Demand Action said.
4 IS IT LEGAL?
The gun is legal in at least most of the country, said David Pucino, a lawyer at the Giffords
Law Center. Although federal law prohibits toys from being
manufactured to look like guns, no such law prohibits guns from being made to look
like toys.
5 SHORT-LIVED RUN
Before finishing an interview on Monday, Culper Precision’s president, Brandon Scott, said
he’d received an email from Lego. Although Scott had been careful not to mention Lego by
name on his site, the company was displeased and sent him a cease-and-desist letter. Scott, who wouldn’t reveal exactly
how many he’d already sold but said it was fewer than 20,
decided to comply. Lego, he said, had been polite but direct
in its demands. “They had a similar reaction to you,” he told a reporter, “where it was like: ‘Is it wise to make a gun look
like a toy?’ ”