Real ray-guns

Following up on our previous post about the Pentagon's new Active Denial System (energy beam) and other "non-lethal" weapons, here's a New Scientist feature about the state-of-the-art in ray guns:

"…the $9000 Close Quarters Shock Rifle projects an ionised gas, or plasma, towards the target, producing a conducting channel. It will also interfere with electronic ignition systems and stop vehicles.

'We will be able to fire a stream of electricity like water out of a hose at one or many targets in a single sweep,' claims XADS (Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems) president Peter Bitar."

Amnesty International and other human rights groups are none too thrilled. Link