US gun company under fire for producing pistol resembling Lego toy

A US gun company is facing a backlash after it produced a real pistol designed to resemble a gun made of Lego bricks, with many describing the action as dangerous and irresponsible.

Culper Precision, a company that manufactures Glock19 pistols, has used plastic toy bricks similar to those produced by the toy giant, to customize the pistol that looks like a child’s toy gun.

Except that in this case, the “Block 19” pistol is “fully functional,” it said.

“Block 19” comes with a kit of bricks and glue to allow consumers to customize their own makeshift bricks gun by attaching plastic add-ons, such as slide mounted optics.

The company said it was “grateful for the attention that Block19 is currently getting across the globe” and that it built Block19 “to talk about the enjoyment of the shooting sports and the joy that can only be found in marksmanship practice and training.”

However, several anti-gun campaigners in the US described producing a gun that looks like a child’s toy as irresponsible and dangerous.

Shannon Watts, member of the Everytown for Gun Safety campaign group, said her organization contacted Lego about the customized Block19 last week.

She said the Danish company then sent a “cease and desist” letter to Culper Precision demanding that it stop producing the weapon, which is covered in toy building blocks similar to Lego bricks.

She said there was a risk that children may be drawn to use firearms “even when guns don’t look like toys”.

The weapon appears to have since been removed from the gun manufacturer’s website.

Review of the product from a commenter on the Firearm Blog: "This, if real, is the most irresponsible gun modification I have seen in a long time. Perfect fodder for the 'Everytown for Gun Safety' people. Not a help." https://t.co/T36lzybfhW

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) July 8, 2021