A Utah firearms company has halted sales of a handgun that resembles LEGO bricks after facing backlash from the public as well as the toy company itself.
The gun, known as the "Block19", was marketed by the firearms company Culper Precision as a "childhood dream come to life".
When Culper Precision unveiled the design last month, the firm wrote on Instagram: "Here's one of those childhood dreams coming to life, the Block 19 prototype, yes you can actually build Legos onto it."
Per The Guardian, the controversial product is sold as part of a kit that includes a 'LEGO-brick' cover for a Glock handgun.
According to data by Everytown For Gun Safety, there were at least 369 unintentional shootings by children in the US in 2020.
Given how closely the colorful gun resembles a classic, world-renowned toy, its launch provoked a great deal of backlash.
Taking to The Firearm Blog, one critic wrote: "This, if real, is the most irresponsible gun modification I have seen in a long time. Perfect fodder for the 'Everytown for Gun Safety' people. Not a help. When a kid has a ND with one of these, I wouldn't want to be [Culper's] lawyer."
Another chimed in: "Bottom line is that it's clearly a bad idea to make a deadly weapon look like a child's toy. I don't mean to be judgemental, but I honestly struggle to understand how/why anyone could find this amusing in the slightest."
A third shared: "Nothing says you are stupid than making your real gun look like a toy. Unless your assailant reads TFB he isn't going to take you seriously which means you are most likely going to have to pull the trigger to convince him. The objective of personal protection is avoid pulling the trigger. This is the dumbest idea I have ever seen."
Even Danish toy company LEGO felt compelled to contact the gun firm and request that they remove the product from their stock - and it appears that Culper Precision has complied.
LEGO said in a statement, per Independent: "They have agreed to remove the product from their website and not make or sell anything like this in the future."