Sponge Cop Nerf Grants

The Sponge Gun (issued to police in NZ)

Not to be confused with the splooge gun which is a LGBT party favor.

The sponge gun is actually not a bad idea, but I wonder why they want to use super Nerf guns instead of Tasers. I would have loved to use a taser but they were only approved 5 or 6 years after I retired. We used chemical mace that would affect me almost as bad as the guy I squirted. We had several cops who were allergic to the stuff and had to be taken to the hospital ASAP if they were accidentally sprayed during an altercation. I don't believe the pepper spray now used presents the same problem.

Some Dallas police officers will soon be toting “sponge guns,” weapons aimed at reducing the chances of a deadly officer-involved shooting.

Police booster group Safer Dallas Better Dallas announced Thursday that it plans to raise $250,000 to help pay for more than 100 launchers that shoot sponge pellets. The “less lethal” weapons are meant to disarm and incapacitate someone from up to 100 feet away, police officials said.

Being hit with one of the sponge-tipped bullets is much like being pinged with a baseball or hockey puck. The guns are designed to cause enough pain on impact to force a person to drop a weapon or to the ground without breaking the skin, making it safer for police officers to approach.

“If they get hit in a soft spot, they go down,” said Deputy Chief Jeff Cotner, who oversees the police academy.

This worries me a bit. How accurate are these things? Obviously it's not a true Nerf gun and the projectile is more robust and has the same approximate velocity as a paintball (they hurt), so please define those "soft spots" that don't include genitalia.

The launchers, which will be bright yellow, would be dispersed among patrol officers throughout the city to help respond to incidents involving volatile or mentally ill people. The yellow coloring shows other officers and people in the community that police are trying to use less-lethal force.

I can see cops shooting each other in the ass for giggles, a lot of that.

Safariland makes a 40mm cartridge and the launcher for police use .... good grief, take a look at this Airsoft 40mm BB shower grenade. This is for adult play? Whaaaaa?