Wooden bullet
TypeNon-lethal weapon

Wooden bullets are wooden projectiles designed to be fired from a gun. They are intended to be used as less lethal weapons for crowd control by enforcing pain compliance at a distance.[1] They have been known to raise large welts or bruises on their targets.[1][2]

History of use

During the Second World War, some German troops were equipped with wooden bullets,[3] while British troops were trained with wooden bullets to avoid the cost of metal bullets.

Wooden bullets were also used by British troops in Hong Kong.[2] During a 2014 protest in Missouri following the shooting of Michael Brown, the police fired wooden bullets at protesters.[1] During the 1999 WTO anti-globalization movement in Seattle, the police shot wooden bullets at protesters.[4]

A team of research engineers in Wisconsin used 12-foot-long (3.7 m), 15-pound (6.8 kg), 2-by-4 pine bullets propelled at 100 miles per hour (45 m/s) by an air cannon to test the resistance of tornado shelters made of wood.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jon Swaine (12 August 2014). "Missouri police fired wooden bullets at crowd during protest over teen's death". The Guardian.
  2. 1 2 "LESS LETHAL FORCE: Proposed Standards for Massachusetts Law Enforcement Agencies" (PDF). American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  3. ↑ History: Wooden Bullets, Trailblazersww2.org
  4. ↑ McNichols, Joshua (19 November 2019). "A cop shot this wooden bullet at me at the WTO protests in Seattle. Here's the story it tells". Kuow.org. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  5. ↑ Barry Adams, On Wisconsin: Wooden bullet helps researchers make affordable shelters, Madison.com, 11 May 2014
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