New Rifle Tech Offers Variable Muzzle Speed

Ponca City, We love you writes "A gun that fires variable-speed bullets that can be set to kill, wound, or just inflict a bruise is being built by a Lund and Company Invention, a toy design studio that makes toy rockets powered by burning hydrogen obtained by electrolyzing water. The company is being funded by the US Army to adapt the technology to fire bullets instead. The new weapon, called the Variable Velocity Weapon System or VWS, lets the soldier use the same rifle for crowd control and combat, by altering the muzzle velocity. It could be loaded with 'rubber bullets' designed only to deliver blunt impacts on a person, full-speed lethal rounds, or projectiles somewhere between the two. Bruce Lund, the company's CEO, says the gun works by mixing a liquid or gaseous fuel with air in a combustion chamber behind the bullet. This determines the explosive capability of the propellant and consequently the velocity of the bullet. 'Projectile velocity varies from non-lethal at 10 meters, to lethal at 100 meters or more, as desired,' says Lund. The existing VWS design is a .50 caliber (12.7 mm) rifle weapon, but Lund says the technology can be scaled to any size, 'handgun to Howitzer.'"

Comments

Re:Oh, good.

[spun]

I've had good and bad experiences with police. I think cops have two modes, 'serve and protect' mode, and 'kick the shit out of the criminal' mode. You don't want to do anything that puts them in the second mode, which includes mouthing off to them.

When I volunteered with Food Not Bombs, we handed out free soup and bagels in front of city hall in San Francisco. The mayor did NOT like this, so he rounded up the worst cops and set them on us.

I've been beaten down for handing out free food. I've seen cops wrench my friend's arms out of their sockets, stomp on their heads, and drag them off. I've seen them pour soup into the gutter in front of hundreds of hungry people. That's a little hard to forgive.

I don't think all cops are bad. But there are problems with the police. First, who becomes a cop? A few people who really want to do good, a few people who really like power over others, and a bunch of people who just didn't have any better options.

Second, cops see the worst side of life and society, and it makes them callous and jaded. They expect the worst because they've seen it every day. Not enough emphasis is placed on proper psychological counseling for police. They really need it.

Finally, cops protect each other. Which makes sense when you are on the street together facing danger. But they take it too far, and protect each other from consequences of very bad decisions as well. Cops get away with things that they would instantly bust others for.

That being said, outside of protest situations, I've had nothing but good interactions with the police. They've been polite and helpful. But once you start making a fuss, not even busting up property but just protesting, they turn mean. They represent authority, and they will not have authority questioned.