Rubber bullets are not safe: study

[schumi]

About three in every 100 people injured by rubber bullets died as a result, according to a review of recorded casualties published Tuesday, calling for alternative crowd control measures.

A team of US-based researchers looked at 26 scientific reports published on injury, disability and death caused by rubber bullets between 1990 and 2017 in Israel and the Palestinian territories, the United States, India, Northern Ireland, Switzerland, Turkey, and Nepal.

A total of 1984 people were injured, they found, of whom 53 (three percent) died.

"Some 300 (15.5 percent) of all survivors were left with permanent disability as a direct result of the rubber bullet impact they sustained -- usually to the head and neck," the team said in statement.

"Blindness, and removal of the spleen, or a section of the bowel as a result of abdominal injuries, accounted for most of this disability."

Also known as kinetic impact projectiles (KIPs) or rubber baton rounds, rubber or plastic bullets were introduced by the British army in the 1970s for use against rioters in Northern Ireland, deployed against South African protesters in the 1980s, and adopted by the security forces of Israel and further afield.

More at : https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/sci-tech/2017-12-19-rubber-bullets-are-not-safe-study/

 

[requiem]

If I find myself rioting and attacking police officers I will forever be grateful that they used rubber bullets instead of real bullets

 

[pinball wizard]

They should do a study of 2000 people shot with real bullets as a comparison.

 

[skeptic_SA]

As opposed to marshmallow bullets? Duh.

 

[Zoomzoom]

However .... if they are meant to be non-lethal then a 3% mortality rate and a 15% permanent disability rate isn't very good. Sure compared with real bullets then yes safer, but compared with the goal of being non-lethal then not so great.

 

[Hemi300c]

Well then don't get in a situation where there is a chance you can get shot by one.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Well then don't get in a situation where there is a chance you can get shot by one.

Precisely that!

 

[TheMightyQuin]

However .... if they are meant to be non-lethal then a 3% mortality rate and a 15% permanent disability rate isn't very good. Sure compared with real bullets then yes safer, but compared with the goal of being non-lethal then not so great.

Remember...it's the DA's fault.

 

[satanboy]

/cares

 

[MisterFiftySomething]

Guns don't kill people. People with rubber bullets kill people.

 

[Vrotappel]

/cares

+1

 

[Glock26]

Such a load of crap.
I think they are comparing the old 37mm "stopper" baton rounds with the modern rubber bullets which are almost exclusively single and double .68 rubber balls fired from shotguns. Those are pathetically weak, and the common shield for them by rioters is a piece of cardboard.
More false news, or trying to sensationalize something that is basically the equivalent of your kids playing paintball.
The old 37mm baton rounds WORKED. They did what they were supposed to do. Nowadays, cops aren't allowed to hurt rioters too much, would be bad for pr.
In fact, they generally stand around and watch.

 

[Milano]

Rioting is unsafe?

 

[ponder]

 

[Spliffcat]

Just use real bullets, problem solved.

 

[3WA]

If, as a protestor, you're not willing to ride those odds, then you probably weren't serious about the cause to begin with.