Weapons manufacturers don't typically enjoy boasting about a shotgun's non-killing power, unless that manufacturer is Taser International. But even as the leading name in "less-lethal" released a new stun cartridge for 12-gauge shotguns with a range of over 100 feet, some journalists point out that safety and field tests have yet to disclose public results.
Shocking Shotgun: Taser's XREP wireless shocking projectile can be fired from 12-gauge shotguns.
The eXtended Range Electronic Projectile (XREP) first surfaced a few years ago as a less-lethal alternative for the Marine Corps, which wanted to use the shotgun cartridge during room-clearing operations to nab potential baddies. The device is a wireless shocking projectile with a max range of 100 feet, or roughly twice the effective range of other 12-gauge less-lethal munitions. Taser is not marketing a shotgun of their own to accompany the round.
Wired's Danger Room notes that Taser International has not revealed the results of field trials using the XREP. That could cause some hesitation for even the most eager would-be buyers, given that Taser weapons have attracted more than their share of controversy in the past. A United Nations committee previously deemed the Taser effect as a form of torture, and none of us are likely to forget "Don't Tase me, bro" any time soon.
Yellow Means Less-Lethal: A Mossberg/TASER X12 Less Lethal Shotgun can fire a specially designed XRED shocking projectile to subdue targets.
Still, Taser has plowed ahead with a full-bore marketing campaign for its next possible successor to the XRED cartridge, during the run-up to its annual conference on July 27. The mysterious X3 device has already begun building its social capital on Facebook and Twitter with messages such as "Check out my color screen. Like a Tele-Tubby … only a little more intense!"
The teases have revealed little actual info, but a Taser press release highlights that the X3 will be the "first multi-shot ECD (electronic control device) capable of simultaneously incapacitating multiple targets." That could put some real scatter in less-lethal shotgun action, but also raises potential safety and abuse questions.
For now, rest assured that the X3 probably won't go off accidentally. A YouTube video shows the device being subjected to electric shocks, and other tests have apparently involved the cartridge "doing 4 foot free-falls on concrete at 20 below," according to a tweet from X3.
Germany’s Merkel shrugs aside new book about communist-era past, says she never hid anything 2013 05 25
Chancellor Angela Merkel has shrugged aside a book that suggests she may have been closer to East Germany’s communist system than previously thought, saying she’s never hidden anything.
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Mishra Mrutyuanjai raises some points that we discussed with Mikael Jalving about in our Red Ice Radio program, in January earlier this year.
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Stockholm riots spread west on sixth night 2013 05 25
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Stockholm experienced a sixth straight night of riots early Saturday, with cars torched in several immigrant-dominated suburbs, as Britain and the United States warned against travelling to the hotspots.
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Marc Abramsson from the National Democratic Party comment on the Husby Riots in Stockholm 2013 05 25
Sweden could be paying a tough price for its policies on immigrants and multiculturalism. A Stockholm suburb erupted into violence for a few hours, as crowds of angry, masked youths from migrant families burned cars, smashed windows and hurled stones at police officers.
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Youth gang riots in the Swedish capital Stockholm have entered fifth straight night. Hundreds of mostly immigrant teenagers tore through the suburbs, smashing windows and burning cars in the country’s worst outbreak of violence in years.
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Germany’s Merkel shrugs aside new book about communist-era past, says she never hid anything
‘Lack of public debate on immigration caused Stockholm riots’
Stockholm riots spread west on sixth night
Marc Abramsson from the National Democratic Party comment on the Husby Riots in Stockholm
‘They don’t want to integrate’: Fifth night of youth rioting rocks Stockholm