The Pentagon has been
dreaming of portable pain guns for as long as
we can remember, and if it has its druthers, said fantasy could soon become a reality. The Thermal Laser System (or the IR-Lesslethal device, if you prefer) has been brewing since at least 2005, but just recently the weapon prove to testers that it could create a beam strong enough to cause alarm and pain without actually damaging the skin or retina. Think of it as a portable crowd controller (or your worst nightmare, either one). Of course, there's still quite a bit of testing to get through before it's actually rolled out for military or police use, and there's the fact that leaving no marks leaves open the possibility for undocumentable abuse. Not like that would
ever happen, though.
[Image courtesy of
Deeper Thought]
posted Oct 1st 2009 7:27PM
One step closer to a phaser?
Balls, of steel.
My personal favorite:
Aaaaaahh...Much better *from 5 feet away*
Don't IR-Lesslethal me, bro!
IRL laser, the name makes sense.
i LOVE duke nukem 3D! i really wanted to see DNF come out though...eventually...:(
DNF kicks ass.
OOOOOO! clean oppression, no more messy deaths with tasers :) now they can trauma induce anyone with pain with no fear of pesky law suites
i got put up in a law suite one time and man, lemme tell you, it was SUITE!
I don't get it. How does a pain gun replace the cool, refreshing flavor of Colt 45?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pK5HmuCMBM
Colt 45 and two zig-zags, baby that's all we need.
We can go to the park after dark, smoke that umbleweed
And as the marijuana burn we can take our turn, singing them dirty rap songs.
But then I got high...
bata da da da, I was going to go to work, but then I got high...
Lets get one thing straight, Engadget: Nothing will ever replace the Colt .45.
yeah sure... on a different note, why did engadget use that gun from DN to depict a stupid laser which doesnt even have the ability to do that?! Find a better picture next time. Stop exaggerating sh*t. FAIL
that picture is perfect for this post. you fail.
Screw it... if they did something where you have to use a Colt 45 replacement why should we let them live? Prison population is already high. Seems like a good population control method to me.
seek help
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
I predict... Increased usage of pedestrian reflectors in demonstrations.
I suggest the ones made from plastic prisms.
Anarchist wont wear black anymore, theyll look like christmas trees.
Am I the only one who read that as "portable paint gun" and got really confused?
You had me at "portable pain gun".
Working on QA for this must have been great.
"We're going to shoot you with this gun and hopefully, you won't go blind."
They should let gangsta rappers voice act for the robots to make them uncompromisingly inhuman.
FREEZE OR I'LL SHOOT YOU IN THE FACE BITCH.
PUT DOWN THE PICKET SIGN MUTHERFCKKA
You know what else is a "portable pain gun"? A gun.
Dammit...I thought that said portal gun at first!
the past few comments have proven to me just how few of engadget readers actually read the posts ... or even the titles.
@shaun
LOL, i thought the same thing.
Crucio gun?
If the police have to subdue someone, I'd very much prefer they use "pain guns" instead of mace or a night stick. I guess I'm in the minority, here.
Yes you are, and if any cop would shoot me with a pain gun for 'crowd control' or some BS reason like that he'd be served the same medicine, even if it took me years to achieve it, but I'd have to use the old manual method though.
Honestly this type of shit pisses me off. No one should have this kind of power, You said it your self "leaving no marks leaves open the possibility for undocumentable abuse". Could you imagine our law enforcement having these things. They already abuse there power. I cannot stand cops I mean thers some really nice ones that due there job and are really helpful but thats only 2% of them. Cops should not allowed to use mace,nightsticks of this gun.All of these cause harm, the gun might not leave marks but it still inflicts pain. These types of weapons should only be used when someone is a threat, not becuase they dont move when asked or are protesting ya know.
This video pisses me off
www.metacafe.com/watch/2710782/am_i_under_arrest_or_free_to_go/
I'm not necessarily so anti-cop, but I think I totally agree with your thought process on this. This is going to totally be a nanny state soon. Big Brother is totally going to abuse this. They'll probably attach them to the myriads of cameras that invade our privacy. If a group of kids is loitering down at the corner convenience store - ZAAAAAAPPP! Where will it end? I think I'll move into the middle of the desert or a forest, but then they'll probably mount these things on satellites, and if I step out of my house in my boxers they'll zap the hell out of me for indecent exposure to a passing squirrel or deer. No where to run, do what we say or we'll make you! You'll live how we want you to live! I say stay with the current non-lethal measures. They've got shot gun shells that shoot painful bean bags. If someone is acting a fool during a protest, or elsewhere, shoot them with that. It gets the job done, but more importantly leaves a temporary mark. If law enforcement was justified, they'll clear themselves. If they weren't, the victim has proof to sue the hell out of them. Like you said though, you torture someone with this, it's the victim's word against theirs, no marks. This shouldn't exist, it shouldn't be produced!
2 times +1
Coming soon at a G20 near you !
So true, unfortunately, it's to show feudalism is still alive and in control.
What do we use when the alien invasion comes and they are immune to such things as pain?
We'll force them to read all the posts made by apple fanbois till the alien heads burst, induced by the stupidity of the posts.
I'm looking at you, Paul A Chapel.
i thought they'd have invented ED209 by now.... :(
I personally would rather take a bullet to the brain than a portable pain gun that could fry my brain and leave me with some neurological condition severely crippling me/leaving me in constant neuropain/leaving me a vegetable.
Fire that shit at me and lawsuit city baby.
Not to mention people like me with pre-existing neurological conditions. This is just a cruel and unusual torture device.
Plenty of people survive a bullet to the brain... it's quite resilient, and yields easily to the path of the bullet. You would be surprised.
So enjoy your life with a huge dent in your head from the exit path, and/or the loss of teeth, and eyes/sight, jawbone...
Yes but generally speaking guns are used by law enforcement in particular high risk situations. Otherwise when no one’s life is in immediate danger and you have a suspect who is uncooperative you'd use a tackle, then a stun gun/baton, etc. With a device like this, something so simple, doesn't draw attention and generally safe to by standards cops will go to this first rather than break a sweat with a tackle or use a baton/pepper spray. It's just an all around terrible terrible idea and a scary prospect for even law abiding citizens. In summation enjoy your unbridled hatred of guns.
I love guns.
If only cops could just use them more often...
Come get some!
sorry guys, but i think doom beats duke nukem. i would say wolfenstein was good too, but the new one was just horrible.
Duke Nukem is better than Doom because it has humor and more range of movement. DOOM has no jump button and you certainly can't fly with jetpacks or duck into crawlspaces.
I love DN3D because the maps are creative and killing in it is fun, unlike DOOM.
Both games are great thoug. They are staples of gaming. Pick it up and play.
Asimov. Neural whips. Took 'em long enough....