The Ideal Conceal IC380 Cell Phone Pistol

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 9/5/2019 | F Jardim

[w1n1]

The Best Gun is the One you Have with You - What would you think of a gun that you could carry in plain sight, was easily accessible in your back pocket or a belt holster, and wouldn’t attract the slightest attention? Nobody would look twice at it, even if you were in a T-shirt, with no jacket, and they were standing right next to you in the supermarket check-out line, or even if you were wearing only shorts and sneakers playing Frisbee at the park.
This invisible gun could save your life in a desperate situation, when its appearance would come as a complete surprise to an attacker. Because it’s invisible, nobody you interact with socially or professionally ever knows you carry a gun for self-defense either. In places where gun ownership is equated with crime and mayhem in the minds of citizens, this invisible gun could save its user a lot of unnecessary social friction.

This idea of an invisible gun is what got the mind of Kirk Kjellberg stewing and led him to invent a double barrel, .380 ACP Derringer with the appearance of a common smartphone. Kjellberg formed Ideal Conceal to manufacture his unique pistol.
"The first rule of gunfighting is have a gun." This is perhaps Jeff Cooper’s best known quote. The famous lawman-turned-tactical-shooting-guru was making the point that self-defense begins with the "self." Seems obvious, right? Yet in the recent rash of heinous mass-shooting attacks directed against innocent city dwellers in crowded public venues by deranged gunmen, it doesn’t appear that anyone on the receiving end was prepared to fight back. The police responded efficiently to these attacks, but the death and injury inflicted by the gunmen was staggering. In Dayton, Ohio, the police arrived in half a minute and killed the attacker, but not before he shot 36 people.

CONSIDER WHAT MIGHT have happened in Dayton, El Paso and Gilroy, if just one good person unfortunate enough to be present at these tragic, insane murder sprees was armed and fired just one shot in response. Let’s say the good person’s single shot missed the attacker and impacted harmlessly into the wall. Might it have diverted the attacker’s attention, caused him to pause, take cover, or perhaps withdraw? It might have saved some lives, or might have cost more. We can’t know. But, at the very least, it would have been an act of active resistance, a brave attempt to bring the murderous madness to a stop.

That is not to say that any private citizen should be expected to demonstrate heroism in that type of situation, though some did, despite being unarmed. Soldiers march to the sound of the guns but ordinary citizens usually don't. Kids, adults or elderly, whether soccer moms or welders, truck drivers or short order cooks, can’t be criticized for running like heck from a life-threatening situation.

That's part of nature's "fight or flight" reaction that all Earth's living, thinking creatures share. What might you or I do in a situation like that? It would probably depend a lot on the circumstances: alone or with family, close or far from the attacker, armed or unarmed? Fight is the other side of the survival instinct we all possess. If we must fight, being armed improves our chances of staying alive. If you assume you can maintain a calculating presence of mind in a life-threatening situation, you probably also assume being armed will figure into your choice of actions. Even if you don't possess what soldiers call "coolness under fire," being armed at least gives you the ability to fight back when you have no other choice. An old army colonel I worked for years ago once told me, “Even a bunny will fight when it's cornered.” Personally, if I'm ever that bunny, I want to be an armed bunny.

Kjellberg created the IC380 cell phone pistol as a means for those who want to legally arm themselves for protection, to do so with maximum discretion and avoid the ill will and social fallout of conflicts with their anti-gun neighbors, acquaintances and business contacts. It’s a niche market perhaps, but so were sword canes in the 19th century.
As a two-shot derringer, the IC380 is no Glock 43. However, that was never Kjellberg’s goal. His objective was to get people who don’t exercise their right to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense to start doing it, and just as importantly, to keep doing it. Read the full story on IC380 cell phone pistol.

[Hieronymus]

Somebody took the “my pistol identifies as a cell-phone” meme and ran with it in a brilliant way.

[FreedomPoster]

Just from the looks of it, a Beretta Pico is just as carry-able, maybe moreso (would have to compare thickness, Pico is really, really thin), and is 6+1 of .380.

[antidemoncrat]

Only two shots. I’ll stick with my Sig Sauer P238. Mag holds seven 380 APC shots and fits very nicely in front pants pocket.

[Hieronymus]

But is the casual observer likely to think it a cell phone?

If it were legal, I’d consider carrying one of these (and I’m in Canada, in a place where probably a quarter of the people think that a pistol is worse than a Ouijia board—which statistically, is very good for Canada.)

[itsahoot]

I have a Ruger LCP that is smaller than this and it fires 7 shots. Just put it in pocket holster.

[gaijin]

[Vaquero]

Yeah my son has an LCP. Nice. My LC9 is not much bigger. Easy to carry in pockets, IWB, anywhere.

[Spruce]

I wear a suit and tie every day for work

A Kimber Micro .380 in a Kramer pocket holster with 2 extra magazines is a part of my “Business attire”.

[Calvin Locke]

I read a mystery novel that had a cellphone pistol as the weapon used in the climax.

At the White House, no less.

[cpt jack 1]

Maybe my pants pockets are bigger than everyone else, but I can put a Glock 26 in my pants pocket.

[Afterguard]

Always thought these “hidie” style guns are kinda dopey. With this one you have to pull it out, then open it up in order to access the trigger. Just about any current .380 ACP handgun would be more effective/efficient than something like this. (With the possible exception of a Walther PPK which is pretty big for a .380, but I’d love to have one anyway because they’re so cool.) Just my $.02.

[Calvin Locke]

Now that I think about it, didn’t Steven Spielberg digitally remaster a movie to make all the handguns [two-way] radios?

And, in a Telecom Dictionary, it mentions the Mossad successfully rigging a terrorist’s cellphone (c. 1990) with plastic explosive. Don’t remember any details.

[George from New England]

So after you unload the magazine into a perp, do you use the same device to call 911 ?

[Kickass Conservative]

The Movie was ET.

The Government Agents chasing ET and the Kids were all disarmed by Speilberg using CGI. Liberals wish it could be that easy to do the same to us.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I have the P238.
Very concealable...

[mylife]

No Thanks.

[TexasGator]

“So after you unload the magazine ...”

Check the photo!

[mylife]

S&W compact M&P shield in a sticky holster works for me.

[Ex gun maker.]

Hmm, ATF proclaimed “Wallet Holsters” that alter the shape of a hand-gun to be “NFA” items.
Then refused to allow them to registered, at a cost of $200 each.

But this fancied up Derringer is legal?

ATF is insane, but then most gun grabbers are.