VALPARAISO | Picture this: The person across from you pulls out a cell phone, punches four buttons, and you've been shot four times.

Judges in Porter County can picture it, and they are following the lead of their peers in Allen County and at the federal level by banning cell phones and like devices from county court buildings beginning Aug. 1.

Courthouse security have alerted officials that cell phone guns capable of shooting several bullets are now available on the Internet, according to Porter Superior Court Judge David Chidester.

A cell phone stun gun also is available, he said.

"These cell phone guns are exact duplicates of normal cell phones and I, for one, don't seek to learn more about it close up," said Chidester, who serves as the judicial liaison to courthouse security.

Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper has already banned cell phones during trials to avoid the potential of someone recording testimony and violating the rules by sharing it with another witness.

Banning cell phones all together will eliminate the distraction created when they ring during court, she said.

"Every Tuesday something goes off," she said, referring to her busiest court day.

Porter Superior Judge Roger Bradford, who along with Porter Superior Judge Bill Alexa was unaware the ban had been approved, said it appears to be in keeping with the state's code of judicial conduct prohibiting cameras from courtrooms.

The details of the ban are still being worked out, but exceptions may be made for attorneys, police and courthouse personnel, Chidester said. Consideration also will be given to allowing future jurors time to return to their cars during the day to access their cell phones to call family members and employers.

Everyone else who shows up to the buildings with a cell phone will be turned away, he said. Courthouse security officers currently hold on to some weapons and cameras while visitors are inside the building, but that will not be the case with cell phones.

The courthouse security team reported finding 107 knives, 10 containers of mace and 49 miscellaneous weapons during May from visitors at the courthouses in Valparaiso and Portage, and the county's juvenile services center.

The ban will apply to all three buildings.

To see a video of the a cell phone gun in action visit: http://tinyurl.com/yt33gu