Apple is replacing the black and silver gun emoji with one of a bright green water pistol, doing its part in the debate over gun control.

The company previously opposed inclusion of a rifle emoji into a new list of characters by the Unicode Consortium.

Gun control organisations have endorsed its latest move to use the water pistol emoji with a toy-like appearance.

Some people, however, questioned whether the change would have any impact.

The change to the gun emoji comes as the company adds 100 new emojis to be released with iOS 10 in September.

The tech company said in its official statement that it worked with the Unicode Consortium, the organisation that manages emojis, to "ensure that popular emoji characters reflect the diversity of people everywhere".

The new characters will include a rainbow coloured flag, females in a variety of different professions, single-parent families, and male versions of emojis such as the dancing ladies wearing bunny ears.