Wooden bullets are wooden projectiles designed to be fired from a gun. They are intended to be used as less lethal weapons for crowd control by enforcing pain compliance at a distance.[1] They have been known to raise large welts or bruises on their targets.[1][2]
| Wooden bullet | |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-lethal weapon |
History of use
During the Second World War, some German troops were equipped with wooden bullets,[3] while British troops were trained with wooden bullets to avoid the cost of metal bullets.
Wooden bullets were also used by British troops in Hong Kong.[2] During a 2014 protest in Missouri following the shooting of Michael Brown, the police fired wooden bullets at protesters.[1] During the 1999 WTO anti-globalization movement in Seattle, the police shot wooden bullets at protesters.[4]
A team of research engineers in Wisconsin used 12-foot-long (3.7 m), 15-pound (6.8 kg), 2-by-4 pine bullets propelled at 100 miles per hour (45 m/s) by an air cannon to test the resistance of tornado shelters made of wood.[5]