Blunt-impact munitions are a type of non-lethal weapon(NLW) that law enforcement and military personnel aroundthe world use primarily for crowd control. Although bluntimpact munitions are designed to induce pain or musclespasm at the point of impact, they have the potential tocause more serious injury. IDA researchers ascertained thesignificance of possible rib injuries from blunt-force traumato the human thoracic cage from rubber, plastic, or beanbagmunitions that are developed as NLWs for the U.S. military. Thepurpose was to improve NLW developers’ ability to accuratelyquantify their weapons’ risk of causing a significant injury.
