Set Your Phasers on ‘Stun’

Posted on June 18, 2004 by Allen

Read Real ray-guns to learn about advanced energy weapons being developed. Some of the Taser-like items include:

  • A weapon under development by Rheinmetall, based in Dorf, Germany, creates a conducting channel by using a small explosive charge to squirt a stream of tiny conductive fibres through the air at the victim (New Scientist print edition, 24 May 2003).
  • Meanwhile, Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems (XADS), based in Anderson, Indiana, will be one of the first companies to market another type of wireless weapon. Instead of using fibres, the $9000 Close Quarters Shock Rifle projects an ionised gas, or plasma, towards the target, producing a conducting channel. It will also interfere with electronic ignition systems and stop vehicles.

    • Some human rights group are complaining that the weapons might be used as torture devices. Well, duh! A bottle of Coke and a chair can be used as a torture device. Almost anything can be used as a torture device.

    I don’t know about Amnesty International and that group, but I would welcome a non-lethal weapon that can be used as crowd control. Much less likely to result in mass killings. And a weapon that can stop a car barreling at a checkpoint is far preferable than several hundred rounds from a SAW.

    [Via BoingBoingBlog]

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    2 Responses to Set Your Phasers on ‘Stun’

    1. Leonard says:
      June 19, 2004 at 11:13 pm

      Maybe we should try the non-lethal weapons on them and then the leathal ones and let them decide which should be used.

    2. Leonard says:
      June 19, 2004 at 11:12 pm

      Maybe we should try the non-lethal weapons on them and then the leathal ones and let them decide which should be used.