IDG Contributor Network: Should Apple simply hide the handgun emoji?

Apple’s recent decision to substitute a squirt gun for the handgun emoji has caused an explosion of criticism. Many folks seem to think that Apple has jumped the shark in terms of being politically correct.
But a recent post at Emojipedia.org points out that there is a real danger that comes from Apple’s decision. What looks like a squirt gun in iOS and macOS, appears as a real handgun emoji on other platforms such as Windows, Android or Linux.
This has the potential to cause misund