Apple has replaced its handgun emoji with a water gun in lieu of the growing controversy surrounding guns in the United States.
The change is a reflection not only of where Apple stands on the issue but also the despair of the country as a whole. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 8,185 gun-related deaths thus far in 2016 and 217 mass shootings.
The announcement was made at the same time Apple released 100 other emoji designs including a rainbow flag, female athletes, police officers, construction workers, and single-parent families – all of which will be available in September.
https://twitter.com/Fontblog/status/760228690429181952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Yet people are skeptical this will actually propel any sort of actual change.
Say goodbye to this >🔫<<< emoji. Like that's gonna solve anything 🙄 https://t.co/OjkfbUFQ7w
— j😷 (@jseths) August 1, 2016
I’m so glad they did this now ALL THE CRIME IS GONE https://t.co/a8DEhhqRNK
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/BiggChris_76/status/760203782152073217
Let’s just say, people shot down the idea.
