Texas custom gun maker under fire for turning a real Glock into a Nintendo Duck Hunt Zapper

A custom firearms manufacturer from Texas has sparked outrage for modifying a Glock to look like a Nintendo Duck Hunt Zapper. Inspired by the NES Zapper used in the old-school Nintendo light-gun game Duck Hunt, Precision Syndicate's retro replica shares the gaming peripheral's trademark grey, white and red colours with the logo along the barrel.

Precision Syndicate revealed their version of the product (previously made elsewhere) in a post on 6 April. The post has since been shared over 153,000 times and accumulated over 9,100 comments.

While some people thought the modded weapon was cool and enquired about its availability, others criticised the manufacturer for creating a potentially dangerous weapon that bears a remarkable likeness to a childs toy.

"The fact that this exists is why cops don't have the time to make the decision if it's a toy or a gun," wrote one commenter. Another said: "Worthless craps for making those! Not only would a child have a hard enough time telling the [difference] if it's real or fake, imagine all the law enforcements that now might second guess it and lose their life and others around!"

Worried that the company would go on to produce a line of real guns that look like the famed toy game controller, many argued that the danger of confusing a real gun for a fake one could potentially result in tragic consequences and that no weapon should be created to look like a toy.

"I'm pro Second Amendment, but never doubt the stupidity of the human race," one commenter said.

Responding to the criticism, Precision Syndicate said in a statement on Facebook that they had no plans to mass produce the weapon.

"In light of the 'Nintendo Glock' drama, we feel that the media and our fans need to know that this firearm will not be mass produced nor will it ever be," Precision Syndicate wrote. "This is a one off custom build for a friend of ours. Due to the thousands of emails and messages we have received in the past 2 days we have been unable to contact everyone in a timely manner; please be patient we will get to you as soon as possible. Thank you all for your support! Oh, and please... keep your guns locked up and away from children, it's common sense."

Released in 1984 in Japan, the Nintendo Zapper allowed NES gamers to point the fake laser gun at their television screens.

According to research compiled by gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety, more than two million children in the US live in homes with unsecured guns with about 1.7 million living in homes with guns that are both loaded and unlocked. At least 68 child shootings, where a person under 17 accidentally killed or injured someone with a gun, have taken place in 2016 so far. In 2015, at least 265 child shootings took place in the US, 83 of which were fatal.