Update 7/8/2015
On Tuesday, New York Senator Chuck Schumer stated that those iPhone gun cases are not only a "disaster waiting to happen" but possibly illegal, since federal law requires toy or imitation guns to have an obvious orange mark at the end to identify them as fake, and the phone cases have no such markers.
Schumer then urged Amazon to stop selling the phone cases.
A spokesman for Amazon, Erik Fairleigh, subsequently told the The New York Times that the gun case was no longer for sale on their site.
So, New Yorkers, we know you want to look badass. We get it.
Since cell phone gun cases are a terrible way to make that happen, might we suggest these 7 badass ideas for the summer instead?
7/6/15, 7:57 p.m.
Hey Amazon, newsflash: selling this Apple iPhone gun case is a really, really bad idea. Why do we think so?
Well, maybe we've formed this opinion on the basis of several social media posts.
Like this one, from the New York Police Department's 112th Precinct:
I would NOT suggest purchasing this cell phone case, which was designed to look like a firearm. #BeSmart #BeSafe pic.twitter.com/swsWzD1sdY
— NYPD 112th Precinct (@NYPD112Pct) June 30, 2015
And this Facebook status, from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office in Toms River, New Jersey:
The post on Amazon states the case will provide the following features: "Protect your Phone from scratches, shocks, and collisions. Moreover, make your mobile phone shining and special."
We think Crazy Cart, one of the case's providers, should really update that post to include the risk of being physically harmed upon removing your cell phone from your pocket.
It seems to us that having a "shining and special phone" falls much lower in the priority list compared to the risk of getting shot because someone thinks you have a gun.
[anad]
One of Amazon's reviewers agrees, posting, "I highly recommend that you remove this product from your website right now! Your corporate attorneys will thank you, as will the law enforcement officers who might otherwise be put into a tragic and unnecessary lethal force situation."
Like, really? We have enough to worry about with Americans getting killed by real guns. The last thing we need are Americans getting killed over fake, iPhone case guns.
Could we please do better here, Amazon?
Check out Good Cop, Bad Cop: What If… NYPD Action Figures Were Realistic?