Some People Are Pissed Twitter Got Rid Of The Pistol Emoji

Illustration: Twitter/Emojipedia

While I honestly can’t remember the last time I used the pistol emoji (perhaps to express how Monday makes me feel), Twitter has gone ahead and gotten rid of the pistol emoji forever.

Twemoji 2.6 is out now and replaces the realistic pistol emoji with a water pistol / squirt gun https://t.co/srPCdA93ui pic.twitter.com/CoPHHSB0ZB

— Emojipedia (@Emojipedia) April 11, 2018

According to NY Post, Twitter has finally removed the pistol emoji from their batch following the the same decision that Apple and Samsung made. Instead of a pistol emoji, a cartoon water pistol will be there instead. And at least one person is upset:

The infantilisation of society continues. The gun emoji on Twitter’s been changed into a water pistol. Oddly, bomb, dagger, and crossed swords are unchanged, indicating a one-track mind.

— Stephan Brun (@tibfulv) April 12, 2018

This person is also not a fan:

They’ve really changed the gun emoji to a freaking water gun. This world is full of sissies.

— Joseph (@BuckeyevsTworld) April 12, 2018

Neither is this one:

man fuck the water gun emoji. it’s not intimidating at allllll

— MvckT (@MvckT) April 13, 2018

NY Post

Obvious defining features on the new emoji include a fun curved shape, an orange tip and a plasticky yellow trigger. The change is likely a bid to help clean up Twitter’s reputation online.nTwitter has been struggling to get to grips with trolling, bullying, harassment and threats of violence on the platform.

Changing the pistol emoji could soften threatening tweets — a water pistol has very different connotations, after all. The decision also comes at a time of heightened tension around firearms in the USA.

Unsurprisingly, people are divided over Twitter’s decision to scrap the emoji, with some users blasting the social network over the change:

One irate user said: “Honestly, someone was offended by the little tiny gun emoji? Your five-year-old is playing GTA and you are worrying about an emoji!”

Hey, we haven’t gotten gun reform yet, and students are still unsafe at schools, and old guys in the White House are cool with that, but at least there is no more pistol emoji. Right?