Pentagon Contracts with Taser International under a $2.5 million contract

Testing Military Weapons on Civilians?

Discover Magazine reports how your tax dollar is being used. They note, If you’ve caught an episode of COPS lately, then you’ve probably noticed that so-called less-lethal weapons have caught on with police departments across the country as a way to force unruly suspects into compliance. Tasers, which delivers an electrical current to the suspect via two dart-like electrodes, are often the weapon of choice. Now, the Pentagon wants to use beefed up Taser technology on the battlefield.
 

The puny little electrodes that the police weapons use just won’t do for the military. That’s why the U.S. Department of Defense has been developing a long-range electric shock device that fires from a 40-millimeter grenade launcher and can subdue an enemy from just under 200 feet away. The new Human Electro-Muscular Incapacitation (HEMI) projectile is being developed for the Pentagon by Taser International under a $2.5 million contract and should be ready for prototype testing some time after the new year [Popular Science]. HEMI’s range is three times longer than Taser International’s XREP shotgun-style projectile, which has generated controversy because of concerns that the projectile could be deadly in untrained hands.  Read More HERE

TWB publisher says: One has to wonder if Taser International is testing these weapons on civilian populations?


This is just another reason to support the day of blogging against taser torture. Go to the website, Stop Taser Torture. Please register for the Stop Taser Torture Blogging for Justice Day – 12.4.09