No matter where you stand on the gun control debate, both sides would likely agree that enough is enough with the amount of gun violence in the U.S.
While stricter gun laws may be what we need to combat the incidence of tragic mass shootings, our Second Amendment rights prevent laws from making it impossible to get our hands on a semi-automatic rifle.
But there is one place nobody will be able to access a rifle: on their iPhones.
Unicode 9.0 is set for release on June 21 with new emojis like avocado, bacon, and even a pregnant woman being added. The list of new emojis also includes those related to the upcoming Olympics, including medals and objects to represent various sports.
However, the rifle, which represents the sports of shooting and hunting, has officially been removed from Unicode 9.0.
While many might think having a rifle emoji is harmless, especially if it's just to signify a sport, others may think it is insensitive to include one after the recent Orlando shooting. Plus, users already have a gun emoji, the pistol. How many do users really need?
The decision to remove the new rifle emoji was made by the Unicode Consortium, the group in charge of approving new emojis, after facing opposition from none other than Apple.
Whenever emojis are approved and added to the most recent version of Unicode, these characters are commonly included as part of updates to Apple, Google and Microsoft operating systems, if they choose to, which is why these tech companies are voting members of the consortium.
But during a quarterly meeting in May, both Apple and Microsoft voiced their concerns about the rifle emoji being released.
In fact, according to sources who spoke to BuzzFeed, it was Apple that started the conversation and really championed the issue, reportedly telling the board that the company would not support having a rifle emoji on its platform. After debating the decision, the Unicode Consortium canned the emoji from the list.
At the time, the new gun emoji was already approved and had entered the encoding process to get ready for the June update. This makes the decision unusual since approved emojis are generally launched.
All of the Unicode members agreed with the tech giants on their request and had no problem taking it off the table.
Code for the rifle will still exist but only as a black-and-white symbol, so it won't be supported on devices.
The Unicode Consortium also removed the modern pentathlon emoji, with a man holding a gun to represent the sport.
At least gun control is happening somewhere, even if it's just with emojis.
Source: BuzzFeed
