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Taser Fired From Grenade Launcher Electrifies Safety Debate

by Caleb Johnson on November 3, 2009 at 02:57 PM

Despite its wares being billed as "non-lethal," we'd rather not find ourselves on the business end of a product from Taser International, which designs weapons that use a strong dose of electricity to incapacitate people. After learning about the company's latest venture, we don't think we'll change our minds any time soon, either.

According to New Scientist, Taser is set to deliver prototypes of a new weapon -- the Human Electro-Muscular Incapacitation (HEMI) -- to the Pentagon early next year. The weapon can hit a target that's more than 60 meters away when fired from a standard 40-millimeter grenade launcher. Once the cartridge makes contact with the target, it delivers a powerful electric shock for as long as three minutes or until someone removes it -- which could be quite a while depending on the distance between shooter and target.

While law-enforcement agents will surely love the HEMI, it's not without critics. Steve Wright, a specialist in non-lethal weapons at Leeds Metropolitan University in the U.K., says, "We should be worried about undesirable effects if people are going to be subjected to bouts of prolonged incapacitation." Not to mention, there's concern over the effect of nearly three minutes of electro-shock therapy on the body. However, Wes Burgei, a project engineer with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), says incapacitation time will meet government regulations, and engineers are working to make sure impact is minimal.

So step aside Taser shotgun; there's a new bad boy on the block. Honestly, we're not buying into the controversy surrounding this gun. Why? Because you won't find us causing trouble at a political event. Especially since we know this weapon exists. [From: New Scientist]

Tags: department of defense, DepartmentOfDefense, electricity, guns, lawenforcement, pentagon, police, selfdefense, taser, top, weapons

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