The chemical gun written about in this 1913 newspaper article is the predecessor of pepper spray. In fact, the vapor that shoots out of the gun is a pepper spray with other ingredients added to it for extra potency.
A Pistol That Shoots Stupefying Gas
Here Is The Secret Service’s Newest Weapon Against The Evil Doer
The New Gas Pistol, Actual Size. Its Vapor Filled Cartridge Enables You To Put A Burglar Out Of Commission Without Killing Him.
THE bulletless gun has at last made its appearance. It is a German invention and, instead of bullets, it shoots a gas which temporarily blinds and chokes the victim.
The cartridge used contains several ingredients which, when exploded, combine to form a vapor of a peculiar character. The gun itself differs very little in appearance and mechanism from the ordinary double action revolver. It holds five cartridges.
The action of the vapor may best be imagined by considering the position of the person shot at. The appearance of the weapon, the report and the flare of the powder combine to convince the victim that he has been shot at with an ordinary firearm. His eyes and mouth open in surprise and the gases generated by the combination of the chemicals envelop his head completely, penetrating his eyes and affecting his sight.
For several minutes he is practically blind. Simultaneously the mucous membranes and the victim sneezes and chokes. For a minute or two the victim finds it almost impossible to breathe.
It is obvious that no individual, even if he were as strong as Hercules, would be in a position to put up much of a fight while in such a condition.
The shotless gun is intended principally for the protection of tourists, commercial travelers, doctors, cyclists, automobilists, bank officials, mail carriers, watchmen and policemen. No one wants to kill a criminal unless it is absolutely necessary for one’s own preservation, and this invention is intended to make such a course unnecessary.
Chief William J. Flynn, of the United States Secret Service, has decided to adopt this weapon for use in the service. In rounding up bands of counterfeiters and other offenders against the Federal laws, the Chief believes the chemical gun will prove just as effective and, at the same time, more humane than the ordinary weapon, which frequently inflicts serious injury and sometimes kills the prisoner. Overpowered by the fumes of this new gun, any criminal, however dangerous, may be readily captured and by the time the effects of the vapor have worn off the prisoner is safely manacled.
At the laboratories of Bendiner & Schlesinger, at Third avenue and Tenth street, New York, one of the cartridges used with the chemical gun was thoroughly analyzed. It was found to comprise a pasteboard holder with a fulminating cap at one end similar to that used in the ordinary bullet cartridge. Immediately next to the cap was a small charge of coarse grain gunpowder. Then followed a large charge of capsicum, or red pepper mixed with lycopodium, an inflammable yellow powder consisting of the spores of club moss, and a slight trace of saltpeter. The remainder of the holder was filled with lycopodium.
With the pulling of the trigger, the cap explodes the gunpowder and the force of the explosion unites the red pepper and lycopodium and produces the blinding, suffocating vapor upon which the principle of the weapon depends.
To test the effect of this cartridge, Mr. Schlesinger procured a guinea pig from his laboratory and discharged it at the animal at a range of some three feet. The guinea pig seemed to suffer no pain, but was unable to open its eyes for the space of a minute and seemed to have some difficulty in breathing as the fumes penetrated its nose and throat.
The test, however, hardly did justice to the weapon, for, naturally enough, the guinea pig was not in the least alarmed at the sudden sight of the gun as a human being would be and kept his mouth shut and his eyes nearly so. With a human being, of course, the surprise and shock would operate to open the victim’s eyes and mouth and give the fumes a better chance to work.
“Several times in my experience,” said Chief Flynn, “I have wished for just such a weapon as this chemical gun. In dealing with Black Handers, counterfeiters and other criminals who usually operate in bands, it is almost always necessary to round them up at the point of a gun.
“The raiding officers are then in a position where for the preservation of their own lives they must show that they are determined to shoot and to shoot to kill at the first show of resistance. The first suspicious movement upon the part of the prisoners is the signal for the officers to fire, and yet they are naturally loath to take human life unless it is absolutely necessary.
“This chemical gun, I believe, solves the difficulty. If a Prisoner shows fight, he finds himself suddenly confronted with what he imagines is a loaded revolver. In nine cases out of ten, it is sufficient to take all the fight out of him, he throws up his hands and gives in. In the tenth case, perhaps, he is either too frightened to think of his danger or too desperate not to take a chance and he springs at the officer right in the muzzle of the gun.
“Then, of course, there is only one thing for the officer to do. He must shoot, or the criminal may possibly get the best of him. Armed with a real gun, such a situation would usually mean the death of the criminal, but with the chemical gun, the overpowering fumes released with the explosion of the cartridge right in the face of the advancing crook would place him entirely at the mercy of the officer, who would then put the handcuffs on him and march him off.
“For this reason, after I have given the new gun a thorough test, I shall insist upon all of my men carrying it when engages in work not apt to require a regular revolver. For the ordinary policeman, however, I hardly think that the gun would be sufficient, for in the majority of cases in which the police officer is called upon to use a gun at all, he shoots to bring down a fugitive, and, obviously, the chemical gun would not do that.”
Source: El Paso Herald. Newspaper. April 07, 1913.
