60 Min Hocks New Military “Ray Gun”
Posted on June 2nd, 2008 at 11:53 am by dr.hoo

This week’s 60 Min on the military’s new Active Denial System (ADS). ADS is a one of many “non-lethal” weapons that are in development. The ADS is essentially a mid-range heat ray which they claim only penetrates 1/64 of an inch into your skin, just deep enough to hit your nerve endings and cause overwhelming pain. Enough to make you stop what ever you are doing and run away.

The 60 Min story was your classic, thinly veiled, promotional piece to help the military get the public support to start using these types of non-lethal weapons in the field. While I can see how useful it would be for law enforcement to have non-lethal options to deal with dangerous folks, 60 Min takes a cue from the Bush admin in its sales tactics by focusing on “how many lives would be saved” in Iraq by using these ray guns.

The funny thing is that in all of the military demonstrations they show, the targets for the ADS are NOT insurgent troops, but soldiers holding anti-war protest signs and throwing rocks. Every example they actually show is about domestic protest control while they never actually mention this use in the story. While they never mention it, the scenarios they are obviously preparring for are more about keeping uppity US citizens in line than stopping truly evil bad guys.

protestors
‘Simulated Hippie Peace-niks”

While the reporter swoons over the effectiveness, the range, and the safety (he zapps himself so many times you start to wonder if he actually gets off on it), he never mentions the idea that this technology might be used against anyone except really “bad” guys. The idea that non-lethal weapons will likely lead to widespread use against anyone the police, the military, or private security organizations, might find unacceptable. The fact that these weapons are non-lethal makes the user more likely to use it on someone, since the consequences are lower.

From a PR perspective, because the range is so long (over 1/2 mile) and the weapon does not produce any visible gory effects, this kind of deterrent will be a great tool for anyone who wants to keep folks away from themselves, without looking brutal themselves. And with the invisible ray beams, just imagine the religious claims you could make (“The heathens were deterred by the power of GOD!”)

Good luck at the next protest or food/water riot!

LINKS:
60 Min ADS Segment on Yahoo (Be sure to check out the “Out Takes”)

Wikipedia on ADS

[Edit – appended by Steve]
Hey, I’m sure that domestic military/law enforcement personnel would never use one of these “less-lethal” weapons against peaceful, law-abiding American citizens who are simply exercising their Constitutionally-protected rights to peaceably assemble and to speak freely…
Andrew Meyer being Tased by campus police at a John Kerry speech
Above: Andrew Meyer is attacked with a Taser by University of Florida Law Enforcement at a campus forum where he persistently questioned U.S. Senator John Kerry. Meyer famously shouted, “Don’t tase me, bro!”

Um… never mind.