PISTOL FIRES RED PAINT AT FLEEING AUTO (Feb, 1932)
Filed under: Crime and Police — @ 12:12 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1932
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Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1932
| Buy on Ebay
PISTOL FIRES RED PAINT AT FLEEING AUTO
So that gangsters and hit-and-run drivers cannot escape pursuing police cars in crowded city streets, a St. Louis, Mo., inventor has devised a pistol which shoots a small celluloid shell about the size of a hen’s egg. Upon hitting the body of a fleeing automobile it creates a large splash of red dye. This identifies the car as one wanted by the police. The barrel of the pistol is about two inches in diameter, and the projecting mechanism is a spring which will shoot the shell over 900 feet. The nose of the shell is soft rubber, underneath which is a pin valve that releases the dye.
Oh, my! It’s a prehistoric paintball gun! Big sucker, too, considering your average paintball ball is less than 1″ diameter, and this thing is a little under 2″.
Comment by mrchurchill109 — October 4, 2007 @ 5:47 am
I keep seeing anti-Gangster technology on this website.
Were they really that much of a problem?
Even in those days I bet more money was stolen with a pen than a gun!
Comment by jsl151 — October 4, 2007 @ 9:09 am
That actually seems like a really useful invention. I’m surprised something similar isn’t used these days, as you’d have an instant tracking device, especially if you filled them with some Day-Glo or even phosphorescent ink.
Comment by glindsey — October 5, 2007 @ 6:24 am
jsl151, you’d probably lose that bet. Seeing as how Prohibition wasn’t repealed until 1933 “Gangsters” were a reality. The sources I have say that the term “white collar crime” wasn’t even coined until 1939. Dept of Justice statistics show a pretty healthy homicide rate for that period http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/g.....mrttab.htm
Comment by Firebrand38 — October 8, 2007 @ 5:47 am
glindsey
A standup comedian said everyone should have magnetic dart launchers in their car.
Passing on the right? Changing lanes without signling?
Shoot a dart at their car.
Any car with 3 darts gets a ticket.
Comment by jayessell — October 8, 2007 @ 5:39 pm
There actually is a state where the police shoot a dart onto a car so they don’t have to start a chase. It has a GPS tracker on it. sorry for no link to info.
Comment by Rigo — November 24, 2007 @ 8:18 pm