[shelterguy]

Doesn’t exactly look like a smart phone, does it. And if the cops think cell phones are guns then perhaps they can arrest every one they see with one and arrest them for carrying a concealed weapon.

The cops use any excuse they want to take away our rights.

[LostInBayport]

Doesn’t exactly look like a smart phone, does it. And if the cops think cell phones are guns then perhaps they can arrest every one they see with one and arrest them for carrying a concealed weapon. The cops use any excuse they want to take away our rights.

The link said "collected via email circa 2002", and phones sure don't look like that anymore. You are spot on: someone found this article to concoct a new "reason" to stop the public from filming cops. I'll bet that Snopes page is making the rounds in cop circles from coast to coast. Sadly, our Supreme Court would find it plausible (I wonder how many SCOTUS judges have smartphones).

[Sherman Logan]

I don’t think it’s reasonable for cops to assume a phone contains a hidden gun. But it’s not unreasonable for them to examine a phone, or other stuff someone they have stopped might be carrying, for possible hidden weapons.

For example, there are a lot of belt buckle knives out there.

http://www.bowenknife.com/

I haven’t seen any smartphones that can fire bullets, but I don’t see any particular reason it should be impossible to build one. Though it probably would be a smartphone case with a concealed gun. I doubt it would be functional any longer as a phone.