- Netgun
Netguns are non-lethal weapons designed to fire a net which entangles the target. Netguns have a long history of being used to capture wildlife, without injury, for research purposes. A netgun is currently in development for less-than-lethal
riot control .Popular Culture
Netguns are becoming increasingly popular in both fiction and non-fiction settings, often seen as an "easy-fix" weapon for capturing a target without causing serious harm to it.
One notable example of a netgun is used in the Predator series of films, most notably "
Predator 2 " and "Alien vs. Predator". This version is somewhat lethal, as it tightens around the target and cuts them likerazor wire . Other examples include the films "Total Recall " and "The Running Man", in which a netgun is used to capture the characters played byArnold Schwarzenegger . In "Birds in a Truck", an episode of theDiscovery Channel television series, "MythBusters ",Jamie Hyneman constructs ajury-rigged netgun usingPVC , an air tank, afishing net , and sometennis balls in an attempt to capturepigeons . The netgun functioned as planned, but Jamie failed to catch any of the pigeons. Recently, a netgun was seen on theMTV television series, "Rob and Big ", as a means of non-lethal home protection from unwanted intruders [http://byrev.net/tag/netgun/|] . After one was featured on "Rob and Big", internet searches for netguns drastically increasedFact|date=January 2008.The term has lately been adopted for
fantasy weapons used in imaginary or text-based combat. These fantasy weapons work in the same way as real-world netguns: an explosive charge or compressed air propels a weighted net toward a target. The net envelopes the target and immobilizes it.External links
* http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=13&art_id=ct20040327112531981T620991&set_id=1
* http://www.codaenterprises.com/
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