Flash-Ball is a registered trademark for a less-lethal hand-held projectile launcher developed by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

hunting firearms manufacturer Verney-Carron. Flash-Ball is intended to be used by

riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police who act in the role of riot police in particular situations or they may be separate units organi ...

as an alternative to lethal firearms, bean bag rounds, and

plastic bullet A plastic bullet or plastic baton round (PBR) is a non-lethal projectile fired from a specialised gun. Although designed as a non-lethal weapon, they have caused a number of deaths when used incorrectly. Plastic bullets are generally used for ...

Characteristics

The weapon exists in two versions of caliber 44/83. The super-pro version features vertically stacked barrels and is made from metal alloys, while the compact version is made from lighter

composite material A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...

s with the twin barrels side by side. Both versions of the weapon can be used to fire a variety of ammunition although a soft 44 mm rubber ball is the most common. According to the manufacturer's own publicity, the Flash-Ball's standard round packs the

stopping power Stopping power is the ability of a weapon – typically a ranged weapon such as a firearm – to cause a target (human or animal) to be incapacitated or immobilized. Stopping power contrasts with lethality in that it pertains only to a weapon ...

of a .38 (9 mm) caliber

handgun A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also brac ...

but considerably less kinetic energy per square centimeter, making it unlikely to penetrate the body of a normally clothed person even at ranges down to 5 meters. This said, various

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

groups have expressed fears that the widespread deployment of such weapons could result in police being less likely to apply de-escalation tactics when dealing with potentially dangerous situations.

Safety concerns

Numerous eye losses, comas, and brain traumas as well as major bone breakages and one death due to cardiac arrest have been attributed to the use of Flash-Ball by police.

Users

* : Law enforcement in France * : Grupo de Operações Especiais (Special Operations Group) of Macau Police * : Public Security Police

References

External links

* Multiple-barrel firearms Police weapons Riot guns Firearms of France {{firearm-stub

Characteristics

Safety concerns

Users

See also

References

External links