Non-Lethal Weapons

Paper Summary:

The paper outlines the heated debate over non-lethal technology. The paper examines the issues of safety, security, liability and effectiveness of non-lethal weapons from the view points of the public, victims and agencies. The paper looks at legal issues of abuse and severity levels of the non-lethal weapons. The paper suggests that the civilian introduction of non-lethal technology needs to be slowed until more research can be done.

From the Paper:

"Non-lethal weapons have become a major topic of interest to a great many people as the technology sparking their profusion continues to develop. Not least of all, new weaponry means new legal concerns and new groups pushing their way to the policy-making forefront. The history of such weapons, however, is surprisingly long - even if many of the new tools on the market are extremely recent creations. To wit, "varied weapons technologies" as we understand the term today first emerged en masse in the 1960s and non-lethal tools like tear gas and chemical "irritants" began to muscle their way to the forefront of riot control techniques in the 1960s and 1970s; not to be overlooked, "kinetic energy impact projectiles" took off at around the same time, as well (Davison, 2006, pp.2 and 4)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Davison, Neil. (2006, December). The early history of non-lethal weapons. Bradford Non-Lethal Weapons Research Project. Retrieved February 19, 2007 from <http://www.bradford.ac.uk/acad/nlw/research_reports/docs/BNLWRP_OP1_Dec06.pdf>
• Gammon, Robert. (2003, December 13). Oakland: Less-than-lethal weapons come under scrutiny. Commonnews.org News Center: Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community. Retrieved February 19, 2007 from <http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1213-08.htm>
• Hambling, David. (2005, May 2). Police toy with "less-lethal" weapons. Special Reports: Weapons Technology. Retrieved February 19, 2007 from <http://www.newscientisttech.com/channel/tech/weapons/dn7326>
• Hart, Sarah V. (2002, May 2). Less-than-lethal weapons: Statement before the subcommittee on aviation committee (Committee on transportation and infrastructure). NIJ: National Institute of Justice. Retrieved February 19, 2007 from <http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/speeches/aviation.htm>
• International Committee of the Red Cross. (1994). Report of the ICRC for the review conference of the 1980 UN conventions on Prohibitions or restrictions on the use of certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects. International Review of the Red Cross, No. 299, pp.123-182.

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