Pistol emoji to be replaced by squirt gun on iPhones

This is the way it ends, not with a bang but a squirt. After facing controversy for including the pistol emoji on iPhones, Apple will be replacing the symbol with a far less innocuous squirt gun in its iOS 10 update this fall.

"Apple has stood up to the bullying tactics of the NRA and gun industry by showing that there are many more life-affirming ways to express oneself than with a gun," Leah Barrett, the executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, told CNN.

Apple replacing pistol emoji with water gun https://t.co/KJZaCDyZ5o pic.twitter.com/hTImWMPyB6

— The Hill (@thehill) August 2, 2016

Unicode debated universally adding the pistol across platforms on the grounds that shooting is an Olympic sport; the consortium members ultimately rejected the proposal. Microsoft's Windows is the only company to already use a toy gun emoji, with Samsung, Facebook, and Twitter currently using realistic-looking firearms.