Company develops shocking shotgun shell

UPI
Feb. 24, 2006

Stun-gun maker Taser International of Scottsdale, Ariz., is developing a shotgun shell that will be far more powerful than current ones, a report said.

Taser's eXtended Range Electro-Muscular Projectile, or XREP, is meant to combine the blunt-force trauma of a fast-moving baseball with the electrical current of a stun gun, the Arizona Daily Sun reported.

It will truly cause incapacitation, said company spokesman Steve Tuttle. The product, expected to be available next year, was funded by the Office of Naval Research.

Taser's stun guns largely are used by law enforcement agencies but also have been used by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, Tuttle said. The new product is designed to hit targets from a distance of up to 300 feet, compared to 25 feet for a Taser.

Human rights groups have criticized Tasers, blaming them for several deaths. The company rejects the charge, blaming instead drug use and health conditions for the deaths. It also claims Tasers saved several lives of people who otherwise would have been shot by police.