I believe any article about cell phone use that tries to correlate "guns" (an unspecific term for any number of firearms) with cell phones would be construed as having an alternative agenda and therefore not taken seriously. Not a hard and fast fact - just my perception...
That said, cell phones and most new technology present us with new issues that as a society we have not dealt with just yet. We can not legislate rudeness (unfortunately).
Loosely speaking, it is NEVER okay to put a live person on hold to take a phone call of ANY kind. If I am out to lunch with a friend who takes a cell call in the middle of our lunch I am very put off by this and consider that this person does not consider my time to be important. In other words it is disrespectful. So rule #1: a phone call must never interfere with a live encounter. This applies in a customer/sales interaction as well - for ALL parties.
Also - cell phones should be turned off or silenced in any large gathering such as a movie, pkay, concert, ceremony, meeting etc. If you have the phone silenced and you need to take a call you must excuse yourself from the room and not disrupt others.
Regarding kids and cell phones: we live in a different world today. I can see the benefit of a child having a cellphone with limited usage. Verizon has one by LG called "migo" it has four pre-programmable buttons and 911 button with GPS. I am strongly considering getting one for my son when he is away from me for more than a few hours at a time. Do I think kids should have a fully functional phone? Generally speaking no. Not until he or she can afford to pay for it. BUT - I can also see a very responsbile child being rewarded with one - an older child - high school aged. MAYBE.
Here is the thing: A lot is expected of us today - a tremendous amount of pressure to complete things - there is no more "off" time. Even on vacation we are expected to still take calls. We all have a lot on our plates which needs to be done immediately if not sooner and tools such as cell phones, wireless lap tops and pda's help us to get it all done - or maybe they have forced us into this position... either way, they are here to stay and we need to adapt.
The real dilemma is that courtesy is no longer the valued commodity it once was. There is no high priority on how polite we are with one another as is witnessed every time one goes into a freaking store or anywhere public anymore. No one holds doors for each other or greets one another with a smile or god-forbid a "good morning". SO the idea of "polite society" coming up with guidelines for cell phone use is sort of like Pamela Anderson's IQ - it doesn't really matter.