Breezily hawking "one of those childhood dreams come to life," some genius custom gun maker in Utah has been selling winsome conversion kits to encase real-life-and-death Glock handguns in timeless red, blue and yellow Legos "like you are used to from when you were building pretend guns out of the Legos you got from Santa," because, "Here's the thing. Guns are fun. Shooting is fun. 30 rounds full auto is fun," except maybe for the nine kids a day guns kill and the scores they wound every half hour, but still. Culper Precision was marketing the "Block-19" - see? it's a pun! - for $549 to $765; in addition, they explained, anyone with a regular Gen 4 or 5 Glock-19 who has "already purchased an aftermarket blank slide (no serrations on the front or back, no optic cut etc)" can send in their firearm and for about 600 bucks get it converted so it looks just like your kids' toys, which is "SUPER FUN!" and not at all a lethally stupid idea given your kids might actually, umm, think it's a toy. "We built this to highlight the pure enjoyment of the shooting sports," said Culper president Brandon Scott, also to "flip the script to aggravate Mom," and they were "super excited to see what people build so they can have the best possible shooting experience." On the Firearm Blog, his desire to "unite all gun owners" was celebrated, except for a few jokes about making your Glock more dangerous to step on in the bathroom at night. But gun-control advocate Shannon Watts, who posts an online litany of each day's gun-fueled bloodbath - a 4-year-old, a 12-year-old, a 1-year-old - was not amused. "This 'Lego Glock' is an actual thing you can buy, build and shoot," she wrote in horror. Then she contacted Lego, who sent a Cease and Desist letter to Culper, declared their idea "abhorrent," and threatened to sue them.
Watts also noted accidental child shootings are up 30% since the pandemic. She could have added that record-level gun violence is now the leading cause of death for kids and teens, far ahead of cancer, other illnesses and opioids combined; guns kill a kid every 2 hours and 36 minutes; close to five million kids live in homes with loaded, unlocked guns; and any gun owner "with connected brain cells" knows the first thing you tell a child, by nature both curious and clueless, is that a gun is not a toy. Facing a legal threat, Culper took the Block-19 off their site. But a sullen Scott still had some words, albeit incoherent, for the "millions of angry freedom-hating people out there." He gaslighted, blaming "anti-gun trolls" and people who don't lock up their guns. He ranted: The 2nd Amendment is important "as a check on the power that We the People grant our elected officials and as a tool to make the weak strong in the face of those who would oppress and maim." He whined: Other sports are more dangerous, like motorcycles (not). And he rhapsodized: "There is a satisfaction that can ONLY be found in the shooting sports." Many called bullshit on his rhapsody, his "horrifying product," and his "moronic decision." "This is despicable," wrote Florida state attorney and criminal justice reformer Andrew Warren of any idiot trying to show that "guns are fun. Obviously they've never had the "fun" of talking to parents who've lost a child to gun violence." Noting that selling this gun might constitute culpable negligence, he added it might be "fun" to prosecute them. "My 5 year-old son would want to play with that. Possibly my 9-year-old daughter too," said one aghast dad, gazing at the cheerful calamity-in-waiting. "WHAT. THE. FUCK."
