Photos: A temperature gun to the head has become an iconic coronavirus image

The history of violence associated with this type of handheld device in the public imagination is so established that it’s hard to see a pistol-like object aimed at humans in a neutral way. As health officials scramble to detect the Covid-19 infected—who may or may not show symptoms—agents aim unsettling temperature guns at ordinary people. The tool can measure someone’s surface temperature without needing to touch them, thus eliminating contamination risk, at least in theory.