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."
Re:Interesting, but... (Score:3, Interesting)
In my head that translates into "it is not lethal, so there is less of a barrier before it gets used" (and from what I can hear these electroshock weapons are pretty dangerous after all anyway).
There, fixed my own post with corrent quotes.
Another thing is that civilian ownership of such devices is not allowed here in Norway. I know that many people from other countries have another view on the right to defend themselves, but coming from this cold country with only five million inhabitants, I'd say "defend yourself from what?" We probably have some of the worlds highest rates of civilian firearm ownership, but having a police force that generally don't carry guns send a strong signal to the population that their government does not condone violence. Oh, and the life sentence here is 21 years, and you get parole after 16. This is why the police can even arrest murderers (most murders here are affection murders (in lack of a good translation), with a 98-99% rate of getting solved) without using weapons.
Re:Interesting, but... (Score:2, Interesting)
That was mostly tongue in cheek, after all.
But you go a bit too far. Many of those examples actually sort of support what I said. Certainly Russia (yes!), the country - places where it's really cold had native and apparently rather peaceful populations, subdued by influx of...Russians, the ethnicity. People forget that "Russia" is a fairly recent construct, spanning very diverse geographic areas and many ethnicities (at least originally). Likewise Tibet, if Dalai Lama is to be believed. Andes, too, I guess. Easy influx of alien populations, and generally the area being...not remote enough, seems to change the odds.
And you don't look at "being stuck with irritating people" in suffieciently long timespans ;p. That there would be some violence is the point - it would lessen the chances of survival for such "communities" (when it's cold and isolated enough, long enough ;p )
Re:This is going to be very bad for good citizens (Score:3, Interesting)
That is a false dilemma. You have a right not to be assaulted in the first place.
You're right. You must have viewed the video I pasted. It was indeed that teenage boy's fault for being tasered. It was his fault that his back and leg were broken and he was in confused daze when officers tased 19 times for not complying. It was his fault he was charged with resisting arrest.
Sarcasm aside, I suppose you believe police are infallible [sacpd.com] and there is nothing wrong with an unusually high number of otherwise peaceful people [boingboing.net] being arrested for minor infractions with charges of resisting arrest and assault on a police officer thrown in for good measure.
Wake up. You are losing your civil rights [youtube.com]. You probably don't realize it because it hasn't yet happened to you [boingboing.net]. Don't worry; at will [wikipedia.org] at some point.
Re:A few caveats... (Score:4, Interesting)
What about people with weak hearts... They would survive one hit, but what if some triggerhappy cop gives 10 shots to a big person with a weak heart? Not so non-lethal anymore..
The correct term for these weapons is "less lethal". There is no such thing as "non lethal", Even a paperclip can be lethal in some instances. Bean Bag guns, pepper spray, tasers, have all caused death in some instances. The idea is to use the "least lethal" form possible.