Slashdot Mirror
Russian Man Aims To Reinvent "Taser" Technology
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."
...to humanity.
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.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
The answer is to make all cops wear video cameras and record what they do.
Transparency/accountability is the best weapon against state oppression.
No sig today...
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.
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.