An updated Unicode 9.0 is set to be released this week, to be more specific, June 21. While expectations were high that the update will bring to life a rifle emoji, it seems this will not be the case thanks to the efforts of Apple and Microsoft.
The two tech giants are believed to be the main reason why the new Unicode 9.0 will not be coming in with a rifle emoji. Previously, it was listed as among the new emojis to be released when the update is made public. In addition to the gun emoji, it was also expected that the update will also bring tiny illustrations for a shrug, selfie, drums as well as an emoji of a really disturbing clown.
According to an insider, Apple and Microsoft were at the heart of this decision to remove the rifle emoji from Unicode 9.0 update back in May. Both tech giants argued against the gun emoji during the Unicode Consortium meeting, with Apple further confirming that it will not be including the emoji on its operating systems.
The rifle emoji was not the only one to be removed. An emoji known as modern pentathlon, which depicts a man firing a gun, was also removed from the list of new emojis to be included in the soon to be released Unicode 9.0 update.
The fact that Apple and Microsoft are against the use of rifle emojis meant that it was not possible to implement the same feature in the upcoming update. This is true because the Unicode Consortium is a body that governs the emoji standard, determining the type of new images to be added, and eventually, the approved characters will be supported across all operating systems as well as compatible services. Since Apple and Microsoft are part of this body, their argument against the rifle emoji idea meant that this feature had to be dropped. Other major names in the same Consortium as the two tech giants include Yahoo, Google as well as Facebook.
Now that there is no room for a rifle emoji on the new Unicode 9.0 update, lovers of these popular characters will only be left with the option of using the handgun emoji, which should still be enough to give out a clear explanation of what someone really wants to say, including discussing firearms.