Don't leave home without it. 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 centimetre thick. Each barrel fires seven standard steel BBs. It will retail for $100 US.
"This I can see being the ultimate self-defence weapon," said Mark Koscielski, owner of Koscielski's Guns and Ammo, the only gun shop in Minneapolis.
Koscielski and Patrick Teel, who makes the guns in suburban Blaine at his company AFT Inc., gave The Associated Press a preview on Tuesday, a day before they planned to officially unveil the device.
The credit card-sized shotgun is a muzzleloader, meaning it doesn't use shotgun shells. The user has to measure out some gunpowder, pour it in each barrel, drop seven BBs in each barrel, and tamp in a small wad of paper. A knob on one end serves as a safety, and two buttons set into a hole in the body are the electrical triggers. Each barrel fires with a loud pop.
But another gun salesman was skeptical of the weapon's self-defence value. 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.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/10/06/658262.html
"This I can see being the ultimate self-defence weapon," said Mark Koscielski, owner of Koscielski's Guns and Ammo, the only gun shop in Minneapolis.
Koscielski and Patrick Teel, who makes the guns in suburban Blaine at his company AFT Inc., gave The Associated Press a preview on Tuesday, a day before they planned to officially unveil the device.
The credit card-sized shotgun is a muzzleloader, meaning it doesn't use shotgun shells. The user has to measure out some gunpowder, pour it in each barrel, drop seven BBs in each barrel, and tamp in a small wad of paper. A knob on one end serves as a safety, and two buttons set into a hole in the body are the electrical triggers. Each barrel fires with a loud pop.
But another gun salesman was skeptical of the weapon's self-defence value. 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.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/10/06/658262.html
