Police shootings of unarmed black men have dominated the nation’s headlines in recent years. Now there is growing concern that new iPhone cases shaped like handguns will lead to more needless deaths at the hands of trigger-happy police.
The NAACP, police departments, anti-gun advocates and parents are sounding the alarm about the new gun-shaped iPhone cases.
From the NY Daily News:
Concerned critics demanded the gun-grip cases be banned from being sold on the Internet and stores, saying they can easily be mistaken for a real firearm. “This is the stupidest, most dangerous thing I’ve ever seen,” said one former cop who spoke anonymously of the accessory.
“The money that is earned from the sale of this case is blood money earned from the blood of the person who is foolish enough to carry it,” said Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.
Brooklyn community activist Tony Herbert agreed.
“If I were a cop and it was dark and I saw this (case) on a person, my first thought would be to pull my gun and defuse the threat,” Herbert said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Inez Rodriguez, 62, a member of Grandmothers Love Over Violence, an anti-violence group in Brooklyn, said the cases would only invite trouble. “They think it’s cute, but this is going to get our kids killed,” Rodriguez said.
