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Next Generation Stun Guns?
RoyalCheese writes "Well, I've just been reading an interesting little article on New Scientist's website about new crowd control weapons that electrocute/stun the targets. Seems we will soon be at risk of being stunned by ionised air generated by laptop sized lasers..." Reader Spetiam adds "News.com.au reports on a new weapon that will be able to zap you from afar, wires not included: 'We will be able to fire a stream of electricity like water out of a hose at one or many targets in a single sweep,' XADS [Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems] president Peter Bitar is quoted as saying." So, this company has a free-hosting website and and a free-email address for their "president", and the photo looks like cardboard tubes wrapped with green camouflage tape. Hmmmm.
Surely it would be possible to deflect the beam by carrying a charged sphere (or similar device) next to you to attract the charged/ionized particles...
Due to lack of disk space this user has been discontinued
This is a massive growth area for all sorts of companies - usually ones who have been in the traditional defense markets for years until it became unpopular. Basically they carry on doing the same sort of thing as normal, just point to the non-lethal weapon line and say "Hey, at least these don't kill people"
Yeay, right. Cos' a jolt that'll put you down and twitching isn't going to stop a weak heart, or mess up a pacemaker.
It's like the pulsed "non-lethal" laser - the first shop vapourises a small section of the target's surface , and the next ignites the cloud of gases. On low power it knocks people down with mild burns(hope it didn't hit your face), on high it chews through brick walls.
Why are these so bad? Simple - by the simple act of labelling these as non-lethal the authorities greatly increase their ability to use them in all sorts of situations.
After all, a "democratic" government that authorised use of automatic weapons on a rioting crowd would have a few questions to answer - But hey, CS gas, Rubber bullets, tasers are all fine...
'Don't worry' said the trees when they saw the axe coming, 'The handle is one of us.'
While i'm inclined to agree with everyone else that this is a scam, I can't be too sure. So here's my assumptions about why it's fake (in addition to aforementioned free website/e-mail):
1) In the picture, the "soldier" doesn't look older than 14
2) The "soldier"'s shirt is not tucked in, nor are there any insignia on the shirt. A definite no-no.
3) The "soldier" is not wearing combat boots, nor are his pants tucked into the boots. Another no-no for real soldiers.
4) The "weapon" definately looks like a paper tube wrapped in gift wrap. Additionally, whatever that spring thing is at the end of the tube looks rusty. Call me a sticker but methinks that a weapon that shoots electricity would not have a rusty thing at the end.
Now here's why I think this could be real, just incredibly, incredibly stupid looking:
1) WHOIS indicates that the website has been registered since 1997. While not entirely unplausible, it seems unlikely that for just a joke someone would have registered the website that long ago, and would have reregistered it.
2) A Google search show some interesting things. Like the Pete Bitar who is the president/register/etc. is VP of American Aviation where his bio mentions this xtremeads thing. A little bizarre that a professional company would mention a fake project for the bios of their personnel.
3) The google search also found an article from the Inside Indiana Business that mentions the company and the president. Once again, it seems unlikely this guy could fool that many people. Although not entirely unplausible.
Anyways, those are my feelings, what do you all think?
I do. Civilians attacking troops with deadly weapons (knives, thrown rocks etc.). At the moment they have three choices:
- Fire back with lethal weapons. Kill civilians.
- Don't fire back. Die.
- Try to defend yourself with hand-to-hand combat. Possibly get injured, possibly get accused of brutality.
An area effect stun weapon would allow them to disable the protesters (who may well have real grievances, but who are currently a danger to themselves and others) without causing loss of life. Would you rather that they fired into a crowd?This is a weapon designed to use in case of protests or riots. What kinds of governments need this sort of weapon?
Take 5,000 peaceful protesters. Add a sprinkling of drunk or over-psyched individuals. Watch your peaceful protest turn into a bloodbath as fights break out and others get trampled by those trying to escape. How would you suggest the police deal with this situation? Being able to knock everyone out and then sort them out later seems a lot better than the kind of tragedies that these things often degenerate into.
Would you want the LAPD to have this weapon?
You don't want them to have non-lethal weapons, but you're happy with them carrying guns?
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Two references - one for paraglider canopy artwork, one for stun guns. Same phone number. Hmmmmmm....
0 22 .htm
y ou _should_know_about_custo.htm
http://www.dodsbir.net/awardlist/abs022/navyabs
http://www.ultraflight.com/issues/jan2002/what_
Looks to me that they made the right choice for a server, after more than half and hour as a slashdot article, the server is still up and the large picture loads quickly. Granted, phrases like "We have succeeded with what could be termed a 2003 version of a short-range "Phaser on Stun"" and calling 20 feet "long range" doesn't inspire confidence, but it seem like a item which could be developed into something useful.
The grass is only greener, if you don't take care of your own lawn.
No, I don't want a company to waste 10 - 15% of a grant on website marketing. I would, however, expect someone to put at least a couple tenths of a percent into their website, especially when they're trying to sell a PROP from a SciFi Convention costume contest!
Not even an especially convincing prop at that...
Never attribute to malice what can as easily be the result of incompetence...
Earlier, I called the number and when it was picked up, I chickened out and hung up. Well, Pete called back and did a great (hilarious) job of convincing me that this company is indeed real.
Nice talking to you, Pete.
Just so you know, I like to start signatures with the phrase, "Just so you know."
How much will they cost? How much will the civilian version cost? Or as I've read in many other articles about nifty new next-generation nonlethal gadgets, will it be marketed only to military and official law enforcement folks?
"I'm sorry, our nonlethal line is only available to law enforcement sir. Would you be interested in our line of top quality firearms?" Lethal force is only for civilians... what a time to be alive!
(5 mod points and I had to comment.)
Trying to use sarcasm in text-based forums does not work.
Demonstrators at a protest in the United Kingdom were seen running around with lengths of copper wire trailing across the ground from their trouser-legs.
Heh! That's pretty funny. But if there were such a simple way of countering 'taser' weapons like this, would it be outlawed? There would likely be some legislation against anything that could specically protect you against crowd control.
"You are hereby charged with conspiracy to resist arrest."
Crowd control weapons seem more sinister than 'regular' weapons to me. Odd, but then what are the legitimage uses of them? Guns, etc, are used against enemy combabants and armed criminals, but who is the intended target of weapons like this? Protestors, passive resistance, people who occupy buildings or access roads?
It just seems to me that creating new technology to control crowds is to miss the real problem; and a little anti-democratic, eh?
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
No, God forbid the LAPD be able to protect citizens that aren't protesting...
Like the ones driving harmlessly by, who get dragged out of trucks and beaten severely and end up in critical condition.
Or the Korean store owners who got vanadlized 24/7 during the rioting.
Thank God welfare payday came up and they all stopped protesting and went to sit somberly in line.
Blessed be he who reads this post, Cursed be he who tells my boss.
Yah, I concur. Doesn't look awfully credible, especially when you start using made-up words like "XTreme". That usually sets off the Snake Oil alarm bells for me. It's like seeing an advert for a loan shark^H^H^H^H^H agent, advertised with a new "Turbo Bonus Cashbuilder+ Plus" plan.
- Oisin
PGP KeyId: 0x08D63965
... the "performance art" weapon spoof from two months ago? The long range "implant" gun supposedly shown at the beijing international arms show? It was a hoked up gun that allegedly shot microchip tags at long distance, and the dude actually managed to fake out a buncha military guys and a significant portion of ye old intarweb audience interested in such things.
With that said, they do have a variety of electronic weapons coming down the pike. You can already get sonic nausea weapons from shomer-tech I think it's called, a mercenary supply outlet, and the military has microwave weapons for "crowd control" that only heat up to what an normal household incadescent light bulb reaches, yet apparently they claim it won't hurt your eyes. Of course they are being cute for public consumption, it's only a matter of an amp to make it lethal. And they got frikkin lasers, some mobile, some static. And I KNOW I've seen these latter weapon discussed here on slasherdotts.
My bottom line is, whatever sort of weapons they admit to in public, they already have for deployment the next generation, and they got two more generations under development.
Just like their aircraft....
With the skin effect, a suit of armor (however light) would keep that charge off the body.
As for the wind moving the gas plasma into some sort of blue-on-blue bug zapper nightmare - I think we're talking channels of plasma so thin and tenuous that they don't exist much longer than the charge. Scale your time and you'll see what I mean.
kulakovich
Here's an interesting list of alternate forms of weaponry, some realized and others speculative.
Here
Actually, there is a vehicle mounted (or wall mounted) stun gun based off of a super soaker. A group of us got the idea when we were watching a bug zapper, holding a super soaker in one hand and a beer in the other thinking...
Anyway, my dad built the thing. It has been licensed for use in some non-US prisons for riot control.
http://www.jaycor.com/eme/watcan.htm
as far as small stun equipment, check out the same company's sticky shocker:
http://www.jaycor.com/eme/nlp.htm
Network Security: It always comes down to a big guy with a gun.
Non-lethal my ass
;-)
Now if only I can get them to demonstrate it by taking a pot shot at the 500KV power line nearby and producing an ionized current path...
The truth shall set you free!