The citizens and police of South Africa have a new option for personal protection – a Turkish company called Albayraklar Group just launched a new handgun-shaped taser called the Wattozz.CEO Sertan Ayçiçek told Hürriyet Daily News that the Wattozz could prevent unnecessary injuries at the hands of police officers, as the weapon is capable of administering non-lethal electric shocks from a distance without the wires that limit conventional electroshock weapons.
Taking a Fall
Albayraklar Group published a bizarre promotional video demonstrating how the Wattozz works. Basically, the handgun-resembling weapon comes loaded with two projectile “bullets” that can stick to a target and be controlled remotely to deliver electric shocks at various strengths. In the video, a Wattozz-wielding man faces various would-be assailants holding knives, bats, and chains — shooting them with the bullets and watching them fall to the ground.
Growing Market
The Wattozz is already available in Turkey and Malaysia, Hürriyet Daily News reports, where it has since grown in popularity, perhaps because of the company’s claims that the weapon is less likely to cause serious or permanent injuries than other electroshock weapons. However, the weapon looks so similar to a real handgun that it’s easy to imagine it confusing police and escalating already-tense situations.