Russian Man Aims To Reinvent "Taser" Technology 131
Lanxon writes "A Russian man is hoping to overhaul the technology within Taser-type weapons — transforming them from single-shot, short-range devices that stun for a few seconds, into more effective long-range, rapid-fire weapons — by modifying the wires and the type of shock they generate, reports Wired. Non-lethal weapon developer Oleg Nemtyshkin's design uses bare wires, rather than the insulated wires favored by Taser and other stun gun makers. These wires weigh only about one sixteenth as much as insulated wire, providing less drag on the darts and improved accuracy. Nemtyshkin demonstrated his bare wire technology with a prototype – 'Legionary" — in 2001. His latest version is the S5, and a video of the weapon in action shows it firing repeatedly — almost as fast as the trigger can be pulled."
Thank you for your wonderful contribution... (Score:5, Insightful)
...to humanity.
Carbon fibre jacket liners. (Score:5, Insightful)
Mobs will be led by people with carbon fibre jacket liners and helmets. Innocent people will get killed. Given the ability of our own police to shoot innocent electricians, guys carrying chair legs, and kill innocent bystanders in demonstrations, presumably pour decourager les autres, this thing is bad news for civil liberties and brings closer the risk of retaliation against the police. It sounds to me like a perfect "unintended consequences" weapon.
Re:A few caveats... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Interesting, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
The answer is to make all cops wear video cameras and record what they do.
Transparency/accountability is the best weapon against state oppression.
Am I the only one? (Score:3, Insightful)
99.999% (Score:3, Insightful)
of everything is bullshit. ;():
"I'd rather be hit with a tazer then a 40cal any day."
What's that, a 9mm? Of course you'd rather be hit by a tazer than a 40cal! Bullets: 25% chance/death, 30%/chance perm.damage (Red Cross figures)
Tazer: "Although the company spins it otherwise, Taser-associated deaths are definitely on the rise. In 2001, Amnesty International documented three Taser-associated deaths. The number has steadily increased each year, peaking at 61 in 2005. So far almost 50 deaths have occurred in 2006, for an approximate total of 200 deaths in the last five years." Not very save at all, it would seem, but better odds than any bullet.
"Nothing is 100% safe," agreed
"and besides 99.999% of the time you did something to warrant getting hit, so its your own damned fault if you die."
That's just utter bollocks. "friendly fire","mistaken identity","weapon system error","overzealous operator", i could go on, i seriously think a more realistic figure would be 25% of the time you did something to warrant getting hit.
(and yes i've been in the army and handled many different weapons).
Some food for thought on how these systems are going to be used (on us
http://trueslant.com/allisonkilkenny/2010/03/07/normalizing-the-police-state-and-how-it-ends-with-taser-firing-drones/ [trueslant.com]
Re:This is going to be very bad for good citizens (Score:1, Insightful)
99.999% of the time you did something to warrant getting hit, so its your own damned fault if you die.
i'll accept your made up statistics on faith
I have never personally seen a case where the suspect didnt have some hand in instigating
as long as we're sharing irrelevant anecdotes, i've never seen someone undergo knee surgery
Re:A few caveats... (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem with that is that the "less lethal" weapons then get deployed more often, and the cops are held less accountable because they tried to use the "soft" weapons.
Re:Interesting, but... (Score:3, Insightful)