Grenade Launcher Taser Can Hit People 197 Feet Away [Weapons]

[Geek]

This is exactly what the world needs: Another taser. This one can be fired using a standard 40-millimeter grenade launcher, which gives it a 197-foot range—three times the range of the XREP. Supposedly, it's non-lethal. Some disagree:

There is a known risk of severe injury from impact projectiles, either from blunt force at short ranges or from hitting a sensitive part of the body.

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That's what security researcher Neil Davison says. Given the strength of the grenade launcher, it sounds logical. On the other side, Wes Burgei—an engineer at the US Department of Defense's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate—says that the device is designed to "reduce the projectile's mass and mitigate the impact forces on the target through innovative projectile-nose design." Whatever. I bet the target would prefer this to a bullet round.

The development cost for the military taser is $2.5 million, but it'll be totally free for soon-to-be-incapacitated victims worldwide. [New Scientist]