Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Variable Lethality

I don't like "non-lethal" "less than lethal" or now "variable lethal" firearms.

Now from the people that brought you Tick-Me-Elmo!:


The Lund Variable Velocity Weapons System by Lund Technologies. And Spiegel! Chicago, 60609.

It's got an on-boad range finder and will lessen projectile velocity, already slowish, at closer, more dangerous to the recipient, ranges. Compressed air propellant. Development stages, not ready for deployment yet.

First, only cops would use them. While most cops never abuse stuff/people, some cops will and do, and they have enough things to abuse the citizenry with NOW. I don't want to give them MORE tools to violate folks with. AND, I bet they'd not trust me with such a weapon, so again, why should I trust them? (not that's I'd have much use for such a thing. I'm not in the law and order bidness, so the only purpose I'd have for such a monstrosity is to torture someone with it. And I don't want to do that.) There is nothing a cop should get that the people they police don't also have. They are cops upholding the law, and they have to play fair, not soldiers fighting for victory, where cheating for advantage is a virtue. A cop IS a civilian, despite the attitude of some. If they insist on acting like soldiers they should be under posse comitatus, I say.

Second, no matter your intentions on lethality, no matter how clever you are with your technology, it will fail to be non-lethal. And someone will die. Killed by someone that didn't intend to kill. By people more likely to deploy such a weapon. And with the perfect alibi if they had original nefarious intentions, and avoid standing by their mistake if un-nefarious, "Don't fire me Sarge! I didn't MEAN to kill 'em!"

All this applies to tazers, tazer-shotguns (!!!! Imagine the mistake to pull the trigger on the wrong shotgun !!!!), microwave cookers, sonic guns, and other new cop toys. I am not pleased about the concept.


[Note: I said nothing about the Healthcare Hoo-Haw. Reason? I couldn't work in the gun content. I'm trying to stay on topic with at least one of the day's posts, and I had nuthin'.]

1 comment:

Old NFO said...

Yep, they're coming... and the potential for mis-use will be there... as will the lawsuits.