Pros/Cons Tranquiliser Guns

[Uninformed Gun Owner]

Hi, can I please get a list of the pro's and con's of tranquiliser weapons in law enforcement and the military. And what progress can be made towards non-lethal weapons in the future?

Thanks.

[von_Moo142]

There is are good reasons why this type of thing isn't used (unless you are a vet or zoologist).


Any drug will take some time to start working, especially if it is injected into tissue or fat rather than into veins. This amount of time is not always predictable. Even using massive doses (to assure incapacitation with the risk of killing the subject) cannot overcome this.

Depending on the exact location hit, the amount of fat, liver function, etc., the amount of drug needed to incapacitate someone would vary by quite a margin. Also these factors (and more) effect the amount of time the subject is incapacitated for.

With many sedatives and traquilizers, the onset of life threatening side effects could occur within the dose levels needed to ensure effective incapacitation after factoring the above variables in for a decent range of people.

Many of these types of drugs are not designed for anything other than IV or oral administration.


The police in the UK have recently had some success using baton rounds and tazers for incapacitating dangerous subjects.


See, for example, the use of barbituates as a general anesthetic for the problems faced under controlled hospital conditions.

[walford]

Hi, can I please get a list of the pro's and con's of tranquiliser weapons in law enforcement and the military. And what progress can be made towards non-lethal weapons in the future?Thanks.
It certainly would be entertaining to see a foot chase end w/a tranquilizer gun on COPS. It would also make it easier for our fat, donut eating peace officers whom do not make it on the air -- and I assure you we have a few.
http://cops.com/caught_pr.gif

ps. this thread really belongs on the Equipment and Gear section.

[aartamen]

Just ask yourself what would be the purpose of a tranq gun on a battlefield?

There were field trials (haphazard and probably unauthorized) of tranqs in Vietnam. They were found to be useless in that setting. They either act too slowly or are likely to kill the subject.

[Uninformed Gun Owner]

Very good points guys, thanks.