I just read a story about a cache of cell phone pistols that was confiscated in Germany. Now we may be asked to make a call on our cell phones to demonstrate that is, indeed, a cell phone.

The idiot who wrote the piece suggested we leave all such gadgets at home to speed our way through security. What a moron.

Why not simply cut to the chase. To pass through airport security, we should strip naked, don prison uniforms, and submit to body cavity searches, since we are all under suspicion in airports now anyway.

I am really getting tired of this crap.

Well, there was that streaker at the Salt Lake City airport a few weeks ago ... seriously, though, I agree that the "in your face because we can" attitude of the TSA probably has more to do with sluggish airline ticket sales than any terrorism threat, no matter what color the alert level - once you get hassled, prodded, interrogated, abused, etc., by these government goons once, few want to voluntarily do so again.

Cell phone pistols were discovered by the Dutch Police in Oct. 2001. Here is a link to the story ABC News did a brief story on them back then, but evidently it wasn't important enough to keep the story current on their website. This on-line article also mentions cellular phone stun guns, which can deliver 180,000 volts. I have seen actual videos of both styles of phones. IIRC the cell phone pistol is in .22 caliber and fires only 4 shots. It is loosely based on the older boxier Audiovox cellular phones. Same for the stun gun. The article mentions "it is only a matter of time before they are smuggled into the US." I am also aware of some gun holster manufacturers using a inside-the-pants design coupled with a pager. In searching the TSA hidden weapons list none of these items are listed as a means of concealing a weapon. Dutch Police notified the FAA and the FBI. The discoveries were made after 9/11/01. No wonder the TSA people act the way they do. Insufficient training and information.

Stargazer
ASAP = Always Suspicious, Always Prepared

awhile back there where reports of tiny firearms, which looks like a lighter/ big keychain....

Hi - I found the link to that ABC story - apparently the name got changed from an earlier version, so the old links were dead.
ABCNEWS.com: Cell Phone Guns

Also, this story is from 2000, prior to the 2001 date you had.
Dave

Our local gunshop here in Milwaukee, WI has a multitool with a .22 cal. pistol as part of the array. It weighs a lot and there is no attempt to hide the gun aspect of it.

Back in WWI, they had pistols built into smoking pipes for spies.

Early large pagers were converted to hold small .22 & .25 semiautomatic guns.

The cell phone bit is nothing new, but very innovative in its construction.

Bountyhunter

While Snopes.com does flag this as a true item, I disagree with their assessment.

I've read multiple versions of it, and there's a discrepancy as to the date of the alleged raid in Amsterdam.

Additionally, the story states:


The photo of a "cell phone gun" accompanying the article simply won't work in the manner described. Given that 4 .22 rounds are loaded in the individual chambers pictured, they each must, of necessity, fire straight forward, through the top of the phone, not "through the antenna". There is no feed mechanism to reposition & align each round with the antenna.

The Germans in WWII had a belt-buckle gun that sprang forward from a large buckle, and was capable of firing 4 shots; each was an individual barrel & firing mechanism, & the gun had to practically be disassembled to reload. I believe anyone with a passing familiarity with firearms would agree.

When this story first appeared some years back, there was even a video supposedly showing one being fired--except it wasn't the same one described & pictured in the article.

While it's probably within the realm of possibility to create such a device, or something similar (rumour has it the Israeli Mossad used a working cell phone built with plastic explosive to kill a terrorist leader), from the evidence presented, it appears to me to be the stuff of James Bond, & an urban legend.

David

This is a particular interest of mine. I WW2 and since, there have been many ingeneous solutions for hiding firearms. I have seen single shot pistols hidden in lipsticks, pencils and even a couple in cigarettes! These are fired by pulling a string with your teeth! Not suprisingly they were very dangerous for the user. I have even seen a 5 shot pistol in the form of a ring! It is little larger than one of standard size!
Amazing.

If you don't like cell phone pistols, I'm sure you'll really dislike these:

Stinger Pen Gun - http://stingerpengun.com/

Good lord.

Pete

Have you ever been to the Royal Armouries in Leeds? They have an exhibition on 20th century weapons, including some of the wackier ones... you'd probably appreciate it! <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Who doesn't like 'em? I'd love to have a functional one for my collection! I have a small collection of unusual concealable weapons (though none of those are firearms, unfortunately).

I've handled a Stinger; it's heavy, & well-made. I think the guy who had it still has it...maybe I'd better call him to arrange to shoot it! On the whole, it's better made & a better design than the .38 caliber pen-gun flare launchers I've seen (which could also fire a .38 Special cartridge, if you could tolerate the recoil).

David

"I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it!" :-)

Thanks for, that, I have never got round to visiting there, although i'd love to. The Imperial War Museum in London has a large selection of these kind of weapons, and the Maritime (?) museum in Liverpool also has quite a few in the customs exhibit.