PROVO, Utah (KTVX) — Lego isn’t playing around with a Utah-based gun company that has been manufacturing a pistol made to look as if it’s covered with toy building blocks.
In late June, Provo-based Culper Precision posted a photo of the “Block19,” saying in part, “We wanted the second amendment to simply be too painful to tread on, so there was only one logical solution.”
The prototype is described as being comprised of “miscellaneous pieces and a red lightsaber.” The company says it was superglued together and “surprisingly it survived a little over 1500 rounds in full auto.”
The slide is built out of red block, with the sights built out of stacked blocks and lightsaber pieces. The grip appears to be a blue Lego sheet while the frame is yellow and the trigger, green.
Just weeks later, Culper Precision issued a new statement on social media, saying in part, “We have decided to take the product down after some communication with Lego.”
A spokesperson with the Danish toymaker told Nexstar’s KTVX, “We have contacted the company and they have agreed to remove the product from their website and not make or sell anything like this in the future.”
The makers of the gun-toy mashup said in their Wednesday post that what they are “deeply concerned” about is “the number of people who evidently grant their children unsupervised access to firearms.”
The firearm modification company said Block19 was created in pursuit of “freedom, fun, and responsible gun ownership,” adding that they had received a number of good and bad comments, some from the “millions of angry, freedom-hating people out there who wish to exercise their First Amendment rights.”
The webpage for Culper Precision’s Block19 is no longer active as of Wednesday morning but the gun is still featured in several of the company’s social media posts.
This comes as interest in owning firearms has skyrocketed. Since the pandemic began, numerous states, including Utah, have seen an increased demand for firearms and ammo. The Associated Press reports U.S. gun sales hit a historic high in January 2021, continuing the 2020 surge.
U.S. gun violence has also spiked this year, prompting President Biden to meet with law enforcement, local elected officials and advocates earlier this month to discuss efforts to address the bloodshed.
Utah recently relaxed gun restrictions, enacting a law to allow concealed weapons to be carried without permits.
Culper Precision did not immediately return requests for comment.