Eyewitness News: Cops up in arms over gun shaped iPhone cover

On Tuesday, New Jersey State Police posted images of the “faux gun cell phone case” to their Instagram and Facebook accounts. They come in hot pink, white and black and fit most iPhone 4 through 6 models.

“It’s a awful idea, and it’s very risky”, says the Instagram post.

Law enforcers in New York are taking the sale of the phone cases so seriously, they have issued a warning against their sale, branding them a “death trap”.

A new iPhone 5 cover, the “Gun Grip” case, is raising a lot of questions about its safety. The phone itself is held in the area one would consider the barrel and the case even comes with an app that completes the look.

Inspector Jason Ross, response manager at police national headquarters, said “on the face of it” the phone case would be regarded as an imitation gun and police would treat it as such until proven otherwise.

“The app means you can play games of Russian Roulette at parties!” said Japan Trend Shop, in its online product description. In no situation is it a good idea to make people think you’re packing heat when you’re not.

The plastic casing mimics the grip of a gun but could easily be mistaken for a real firearm, according to anti-gun advocates.

Prosecutors and officers are urging people not to buy the case, calling them a death trap.

“You’re putting everyone in danger when you have something that resembles a gun and if you decide to point that at an officer or anyone”, Ford said.

One of the highest-profile cases of this kind is that of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was holding a replica gun when a Cleveland police officer fatally shot him in November.