We first saw
Taser's XREP Extended Range Electro-Muscular Projectile shotgun shell when it was
demoed to the military a little more than a year ago, and with the shells about to go into field testing, some more information is starting to come out. XREP projectiles fire out of a standard 12-gauge shotgun, deploying three fins for stability while they fly toward the target. Once they hit, the four barbs on the tip deliver enough juice to drop the unfortunate victim for about 20 seconds -- and if the perp tries to grap at the projectile and pull it off himself, the XREP's
reflex engagement electrodes discharge through his hand, causing "overpowering Neuro Muscular Incapacitation." Field testing is expected to go on for six months to a year starting this fall -- would-be rioters had better get their kicks in soon.Read - Taser XREP product page
Watch - Taser XREP promo video
posted Jul 10th 2007 3:49AM
Does it come with a Gasoline dispensing attachment?
Anyone know where/who they're testing these on?
I wouldn't mind making 10k dollars being a meatshield.
Listen chaps were going in strong and fast, set shotguns to stun!
Victoria Snelgrove was accidentally killed by police near Fenway Park by a pepper spray projectile fired from an FN 303 classified as a less-lethal weapon – which hit her in her eye causing her to bleed excessively. Following this incident several police forces including Seattle's have temporarily discontinued use of this weapon until after the results of the investigation are published.
If you take a good look at the probes on this thing, be certain that this thing could do serious damage to a person if they were hit in the wrong area of the body.
OH! Fun!
This truly does worry me, given some of the unfortunate events associated with their other products.
Don't be silly, what could possibly AARGHMYHEAR-
Yes, because this is so much worse than a standard bullet (or shell, in this case).
Nonlethal weapons like this are better for everyone, even though they cause accidents. Sure, you hear about the person who was tased to death a few months ago, but you never hear about all the perpetrators tased daily without any serious repercussions.
Nonlethal force allows law enforcement to take down armed individuals with little risk to their life, instead of trying to use lethal weapons to hit their arms, legs, etc. They can also resort to this much more quickly in a situation than by using standard weapons, due to the low risk of permanent injury. Ultimately, it means fewer criminals and law enforcement are injured or killed, even though there are a few taser accidents.
If there was a perfect solution we would use it. But that is rarely the case, so we settle for the lesser of two evils.
@kamo
No. "Non-lethal" weapons are more prone to abuse since they lack the same result as their lethal cousins.
Is it better to be shot by this rather than a real bullet? Of course. But a better question is... should you have been shot in the first place by anything?
or how about not engaging in an activity that requires you to be shot ... like say, rioting?
Yes Shaun, some people really really do need to be shot. Multiple times.
@Shaun Sanders
You're joking, right? Tell me you're joking -- that you don't *actually* believe that bullshit rhetoric you're trying to spread. Because, yes, some people do need to be shot. Period.
This is not Wonderland; you are not Alice. There are violent people in this world who can only be stopped by violence. Our society, which firmly believes in the presumption of innocence, dictates that law enforcement attempt to apprehend "suspected" violent offenders using minimal force of violence. But sometimes those "innocents" don't agree with being apprehended. In that case, the law enforcement entities of our society have the duty to use *violence* to stop the suspect. A LUCKY suspect will get gassed or tased.
So Shaun, yes, it is better to not be a violent offender and therefore to not get shot by the police. But if you are shot, it's better to be tased than to be "slowed down" with 12-gauge buckshot. Understand?
gee, there must be some real money to be made in investing in R&D for military / weapons applications in the USA. What with 99.999% of US-related tech stories being military and all.
I hear even http://www.fisher-price.com/ is looking into investing some R&D into a new line of HomeLand Insecurity products.
Wow. Nice irrelevant comment. That was a horrible attempt and cracking a joke/making a political statement/being an asshat. I hope someone mails you a bag of AIDS in the near future.
looking forward to my bag of AIDS. Cheers, Naysayer.
I happen to be one of these people that thinks the level of military-related US tech stories is more than a little alarming. Excuse me for noticing.
Now you can annihilate me at will.
I don't know why we hear about the American stuff more, but you are crazy if you don't think other countries are working just as hard (if not harder) to make things that hurt you. These stories say nothing of the United States; everyone makes weapons. Maybe we just like to talk about it more, I don't know.
They wish to cure us... and I say we are the cure.
please get out more
Dear God, I wonder what one of these costs per round.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/10/taser_shotgun/
$99 a pop.
me shall quietly await those video to surface on youtube......
I like it, should be called the 'Shotstun' kinda catchy, always better electrocuted then dead I suppose, though rather dead then burning to death :D
"...always better electrocuted then dead I suppose"
Electrocute
1 : to execute (a criminal) by electricity
2 : to kill by a shock of electricity —electrocution.
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary
Now Jack surely you didn't mean that.
I was merely dumbing my coments down so the average Mac user would understand :p
Go for the balls THE BALLS!
This would make an awesome replacement for paintball
would effectively remove the "Rubbing off paint issue" that is associated with paintballing.
Anyone else amused (and by amused I mean vaguely appalled) by the contrast between the blue-eyed shooter and the non-white targets?
I noticed the same thing but you beat me to typing it
I can't seem to get into their site, but if you're talking about silhouettes, you realize that's not a real person, right? That's just a piece of paper, right? Most silhouettes don't come with afros, last I checked.
And the reason they use black silhouettes is because it makes it more difficult to tell whether you hit the target - just like a real body. A white silhouette makes it too easy to adjust your aim based on where the previous bullet hit. You would not get that feedback in real life, so you don't want it at the practice range.
BARBS? Is this meant to break the skin? The human body's resistance under the skin is VERY low, a 9V battery could kill if the current passes through the heart.
Actually, the barbs are designed to attach to clothing since these things would most likely be used outside of a nudist colony. (Hopefully) ^^
The current tasers have barbs on them.
Those barbs look like they would do some serious damage (and that's without mentioning the electricity). For some reason I doubt any military is going to take these things seriously, since bullets are so much cheaper (and if there is one thing warfare is about, it's money). I could certainly see some SWAT or riot police functionality for this thing though.
Oh, and remember kids, don't pour petrol on yourselves and then go and get yourself tasered. It's not a good combo
There's a market for LTL (less than lethal) products. And not just for law enforcement/riot control. From a liability standpoint, you have a much better chance avoiding criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits for killing a burglar in your home if you can demonstrate that you tried to stop them first without killing them.
Hit them with a rubber slug or beanbag load first (or one of these taser loads) and then hit them with the real thing if they don't get the message the first time. It makes you look a lot less bloodthirsty.
"Your honor, my client feared for his life and his family's safety, but wanted to avoid killing anyone unless absolutely necessary. He fired a taser round first which was ineffective. At that point, he had no choice but to fire a full load of 00 buckshot into the intruder's face. Twice."
donno about you.. but i would rather be hit by a real shell... that thing would just HURT :( lol..
You sir are an idiot.
yeah....because as we all know its better to be hit with dozens of little pieces of metal that shred out bodies apart and cause irreversible damage than getting hit with a single electric discharge meant to incapacitate you for 20 seconds... What was i thinking lol...
Something I learned at another site from "oldschoolgadgetlover." The best home protection method ever:
1. Buy a reliable semi-automatic shot gun and learn to use it safely.
2. Have a buddy who reloads shells create a couple of rock salt loads.
3. Make this rock salt load the first shell you use for home protection. It will blind and sting people
4. Have a second round chambered that will also scatter in case there are fast moving perps still heading your way. If this is necessary, these are hard people who will not be scared by shotgun noises and thus need to be incapacitated
5. Have a 3rd round chambered (that's the advantage of the semi-automatic) with a deer slug, which travels further and through stuff in case there are hold outs. Rinse and repeat.
6. Have a lawyer on retainer in case you reach steps 3-5.
John. . . You scare me.
Do you have that much trouble with home invasions that you need to do such a thing? I mean, I lived in Detroit, and I never felt the need to have any friends make rock salt loads for me, or keep a shotgun loaded in my home.
Woe upon any girl scout or paperboy who steps on YOUR porch. You'll learn `em a thing or two. Yeeehaw!
The issue isn't whether it's "better" to be shot by real shells, but whether equipping our law enforcement officers and military with these weapons will give them license to more readily fire upon civilians.
I picture these being used to great effect if someone steps outside of a "free speech zone" at a political rally, or on masses of protesters as they march down the street exercising their rights. I see this being a great weapon against the masses whenever they become too uppity or vocal about their government's decisions. I see these weapons being deployed freely and without mercy in the future because the cops don't have to worry about guilt, or the possibility of killing a civilian activist in the process of shutting them up.
A guilt-free shotgun? I bet all the fascists are lining up to get one.
Bravo my dear sir, good to see someone looking into the future!
The EE in the house recommends anyone expecting to get tased to wear a layer of relatively thick aluminum foil under your clothing. Some teflon would be useful, too, but it's probably not necessary.
If all goes well, all the current will flow through the foil rather than your body. The "smart" circuitry in the xrep would probably go for electrocuting the aluminum foil rather than you simply because it seems like a better contact.
I really don't think high voltage is the right "low-lethality" solution. If you know what you're doing, it seems pretty easy to defeat ("seems," I admit), and it clearly is can be quite lethal and is definitely prone to misuse.
And if anyone knows anything about electronics, the taser circuit is ridiculously easy to design--pretty much explains why they have so many leftover funds for all the advertising.
Does anyone get this sort of evil-scientist-running-company feeling from taser? I keep on thinking "virtucon" whenever I see that "protect life" slogan under the taser logo. I mean, seriously, who the heck thinks of a shotgun round which will repeatedly electrocute you whenever you try touching it? I can't help but think it sounds a bit like torture.
some of you people that left comments on this page are so stupid A COUNTRY CAN BE MESSERED BY HOW IT TREATS ITS HEROS and let me tell you something it doesnt look good what going to happen when are heros stop comeing to are aid becouse of stupid people like some of the ones that have left some of the comments ive heard everytime we get something that makes are jobs easier people get bitchy about it so keep smoken it up poy heads and start learning to defend yourselfs if you think you got it so BAD................
I'm all for it. joe needs to go back to school. Or just to school. You look like a big jackass when you misspell an all caps message.
As a paramedic, in a large metropolitan area, I have responded to several Taser applications. I have responded to only 1 Taser related death. The person engaged officers in a violent manner then attempted to flee on foot. Officers gave chase on foot and deployed the Taser to stop the person from continuing to run (and from running across the freeway w/ traffic exceeding 75 MPH). The official autopsy showed the subject to have a heavy concentration of cocaine in his system. The only other Taser related death in this area showed the subject also had a high concentration of cocaine. Tasers products are based on traditional stun-guns, some of which deliver over 100k volts (Tasers only deliver 50k volts) and require that you be in physical contact to use. Taser allows officers to use this technology from a distance, thus allowing for officer safety. Tasers have allowed officers to arrest many people that may have been killed in an officer related shooting if they did not have this less than lethal option.
PS: I have been tased in a training exercise and suffer no ill effects.