Apple Pistol Emoji Has Been Replaced

iOS 10 for Apple products has made several changes to the way Apple works. Overall, the public reaction to the changes was positive; most people find the new Apple model to be satisfactory. However, there is one change to the update that has almost gone unnoticed—almost.

Since emojis became a part of Apple products, there has been one emoji in particular that has caused problems that most people are unaware of: the pistol emoji. Although the emoji was, for the most part, used in harmless fashions, there have been several instances of people using the emoji as threatening, or to make others feel threatened. Perhaps a more common—but still inappropriate—way this emoji has been used is next to a face emoji, where the pistol is pointing at the head, insinuating suicide. People have been pressuring Apple to remove the pistol emoji for quite some time now in order to remove the possibility of people using it in inappropriate manners. With iOS 10, those people have finally succeeded.

The new update didn’t just remove the pistol emoji, it replaced it. A neon green squirt gun has taken the pistol’s place, which takes away the threatening appearance of the original gun. This means the only way people are able to use the pistol emoji in social media or over text is to Google the image of the original and insert it into the post or message.

A majority of the population of Apple users hasn’t even noticed the change yet, but those who were fighting to get it removed are rejoicing over the change. However, where there is one opinion there must be a counter opinion. The gun community (those who own and/or operate guns, such as hunters or those with concealed weaponry licenses), despise the change. They feel as if Apple is taking away their freedom to discuss guns over social media and text, which in their eyes is stepping a little too close to the “gun control” debate line. They have begun attempting to put the pistol emoji back into Apple’s emoji inventory.

So far, Apple products are the only ones who have made this emoji change. Since other device brands still have the pistol emoji, they can still send pistol emojis to Apple devices. However, it will appear as the squirt gun to the Apple user, not a pistol. Whether or not you are a fan of the change, you have to admit that it is an interesting decision that Apple has made.