Ammunition and explosives – Projectiles – Narcotizing
Reexamination Certificate
2003-02-20
2004-05-18
Tudor, Harold J. (Department: 3641)
Ammunition and explosives
Projectiles
Narcotizing
C102S444000, C102S447000, C102S513000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06736070
ABSTRACT:
DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of small arms ammunition and the like in general, and a specialty bullet adapted to deliver a tranquilizing fluid upon impact with its target, in particular.
2. Background Description
The tragic events of Sep. 11, 2001 in New York City, Washington, D.C. and elsewhere in the United States, have issued a wake up call to the free world. The circumstances leading to the terrorist takeover of commercial aircraft for the purpose of commandeering them to become “guided missiles” certainly reveals the extent to which civil disorder may be expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The bold presence of civil disorder is readily observable in both the public and private sectors, and bears witness daily to many blatant acts of lawlessness and terrorism. These unconscionable acts are unleashed upon the free world for any number of reasons, none of which can be justified or validated if they involve threatening harm to the innocent and unsuspecting general public. These activities represent major challenges to all those agencies charged with the ultimate responsibility for maintaining order.
The task now at hand is to prevent terrorists from killing themselves and taking as many as they can with them (leaving no witnesses). The time may also have come to challenge the “man-stopping power” of current standard ammunition and firearms-use philosophy. These “new wave” social problems will continue to grow within the world's population at a rate generally proportionate to the separation of the world's classes. The effects of uncertainty and fear will continue to threaten the many aspects of life we currently enjoy as free people in a free world. In particular, the threat of aircraft hijacking and other acts of terrorism, rebellion, lawlessness and war will call upon us to not just question the capabilities of conventional weapons and law enforcement techniques, but to re-evaluate them.
Because of the aforementioned issues, it is desirable to develop ammunition that will provide a much lower incidence rate of mishaps and fatalities resulting from bullet wounds in almost any given shooting situation. Characteristics of such an ammunition system should include reduced velocities and an intrinsic ability to produce much higher “hit survivability rates” over conventional ammunition. In addition, it is worth mentioning that the maiming and crippling effects of conventional ammunition would be drastically reduced as well.
Because of the aforementioned threats to public safety, law enforcement still needs to be provided with more options that are practicable and acceptable conclusive measures concerning public safety and requirements for commercial aircraft security systems. In particular, it is necessary to provide non-lethal solutions to security breach situations requiring the removal of a “public threat” from the private or public sector while maintaining the public safety as tantamount to the means of removal. It is easy to see the necessity or advantages of such a system in many situations that would call for the use of a firearm. This becomes obvious when there is a preference to capture the subject alive, as opposed to using deadly force. Of course, it is well recognized that it takes more than accuracy and luck to subdue a subject within a confined space such as an aircraft. This is but one example (albeit a most telling and ominous one) where the use of a revolutionary bullet system could have made a major difference in the events of the Sep. 11, 2001 tragedy. Although the destructive force of conventional firearm's ammunition on board commercial airliners “at altitude” could present as great a threat to the passengers and crew as that they were deployed to avert, even that option was not available. This is especially true, now that federal aviation officials are considering a return to use of the “air marshal” aboard commercial aircraft and/or providing aircraft pilots with firearms to maintain aircraft security. Although the “air marshal” or “armed pilot” will no doubt be well trained in the use of firearms, there still remains the threat that the firearm could be inadvertently misused. Even when properly used, the threat exists that conventional ammunition when discharged from the firearm could pass right through, or miss entirely, its intended target and thus strike an innocent bystander. In extreme cases, such ammunition could tear through the aircraft's fuselage, passenger seats and luggage or other critical aircraft components and thus endanger the lives of everyone involved. As such, there is an even greater need for the development of firearm ammunition that is capable of resolving a terrorist activity without the threat of causing even greater harm to surrounding passengers, crew, passersby and/or the infrastructure of the aircraft.
Presently, there is little that can match the raw effectiveness and man-stopping power of a conventional bullet as a deterrent in life-threatening situations. However, since conventional bullets do destroy life, tissue and bone structure, they also cause great collateral damage with the same effect (albeit unintentional) which can produce very undesirable results in certain circumstances. It is because of these circumstances and the “known capability of conventional bullets” that the law enforcement official becomes reluctant or unable to fire his weapon due to fear of killing the suspect and/or innocent bystanders. Even when the weapon is fired in such a situation using a conventional bullet the situation itself often produces a limited opportunity for the weapon to be precisely aimed. Under such circumstances “there is no guarantee but only a probability” for obtaining the desired result. Therefore, there remains a need to develop ammunition that can subdue and/or immobilize the subject with a “hit” placed almost anywhere on the body that will produce positive results while eliminating or greatly reducing the risks associated with the use of conventional bullets.
Products resulting from the development of a higher standard such as those referred to above can be expected to produce superior results by providing law enforcement with less lethal yet extremely effective deterrents to life-threatening situations. These measures can make huge inroads and contributions to the “front line” agent, air marshal and policeman by affording them more options for gaining the advantage and controlling the situation at hand.
Other non-lethal devices and projectiles have been proposed and used previously in attempts to address the above-referenced issues. Such products include stun guns, tasers, and tranquilizer dart guns of various forms.
Stun guns are highly effective as personal defense devices and are capable of incapacitating an assailant in a hand-to-hand situation. As such they are specialty weapons, with extremely limited range capabilities (typically an arm's length or less). When used properly within their effective range stun guns provide the upper hand to the user, but their limited range diminishes their effectiveness in many situations.
Tasers resemble a handgun in size and shape and have a maximum range of approximately 21 feet. Such weapons fire two darts, each of which must remain connected to the weapons cartridge by wire cables in order to transmit an electric charge and maintain the electric pulse required to incapacitate the recipient target. The darts and cables are contained in a single shot cartridge. Although, tasers are capable of penetrating through clothing they are only effective under the most ideal of circumstances. Tasers are not be very effective in crowded close quarters due to their wires and the necessity for both darts to strike and remain in contact with the recipient target.
Tranquilizer dart guns have proven themselves to be the hands-down favorite choice when there is a requirement to capture any type of wild or dangerous game. Such weapons are highly effective against any of the most danger
McGuireWoods LLP
Tudor Harold J.
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