Apple is coming for your tiny guns
Apple has weighed in, symbolically, on the gun debate in this country.
The company announced Monday that when iOS 10 rolls out this fall, it’ll replace the handgun emoji with a green plastic-looking toy water pistol.
It’s part of a bigger emoji update that will add female detectives, weightlifters, cyclists and construction workers (right now there are only depictions of men in these roles), single parents, a rainbow flag and more.
This isn’t the first time Apple has weighed in on violent emoji. Buzzfeed reported earlier this summer that the company pressed Unicode to exclude a hunting rifle in its latest update. The emoji-governing body noted unanimously to keep the gun off a batch of Olympic-inspired icons.
Some advocates have applauded the move, while others have noted it’s a very, very small gesture.
Since Apple replaced the gun emoji, gun emoji-related deaths have dropped 100%!
And to think, some called the action a meaningless gesture.
— Noah Kinsey (@thenoahkinsey) August 2, 2016
Our partners at the BBC reached out to Apple, but they had no comment. At any rate — we’re pretty sure squirt guns, or any emoji for that matter, aren’t covered by the amendment.
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