The Credit-Card-Size Gun

Thursday, October 07, 2004

From USA Today/Associated Press:

MINNEAPOLIS — In a new twist on the idea of concealed weapons, a local gun maker and gun shop are debuting a new type of firearm: one that could almost fit in your wallet.

It's a two-shot weapon made from a piece of metal the height and width of a standard credit card, and about a half-inch thick. Each barrel fires seven standard steel BBs. It will retail for $100.

It sounds like a good idea, especially for women, but some gun experts are already skeptical about this new device.

Mike O'Brien, of Joe's Sporting Goods in St. Paul, wasn't familiar with the new devices, but said muzzleloading is a "slow and tedious" process.

"Us guys here would consider something like that useless," said O'Brien. "A .177 caliber BB is ballistically a joke, OK? I'm sure it could cause injury and damage, but as a self-defense weapon, no. Not to anyone familiar with firearms."

Co-pioneer of the device, Patrick Teel, said:

The main value of the new gun is that it gives the owner a chance to get away from an attacker.

"This is no more deadly than a .22," Teel said. "But the difference is you have multiple wounds, which means you'll try to get away quicker, and it will cause more pain. ... There will be more blood, which the cops will be able to see."

They said the guns are meant to be used for close-range self-defense and wouldn't be effective as offensive weapons.

"They are very effective at five to 10 feet. They're absolutely useless at 20 feet," Teel said.

For $100, you might as well shell out a little more and get something that has a better chance at stopping an attacker. As we've seen in countless police videos, coked-out junkies can easily resist the beating from a police officer's nightstick, so I wouldn't be surprised if one could deflect a BB pellet. We'll have to wait and see how well these things sell when they hit the market.