Firm unveils gun that can fire around corners

Houston Chronicle ^ | 12/15/03 | Houston Chronicle

[freedom44]

SHOHAM FIRING RANGE, Israel -- Veterans of Israeli anti-terror units today demonstrated a new gun that can fire at a target from around the corner, making it particularly effective in urban combat.

Israel plans to start using the weapon next week, U.S. forces have already begun training with it and U.S. SWAT and police teams have expressed interest in purchasing it, Amos Golan, the device's developer, said at a demonstration Monday at a firing range near Tel Aviv.

"The Americans are very interested in this," Golan said. "I believe from what I have seen and heard that it can be a big success in Iraq because the Americans are dealing with an urban area there."

The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv had no immediate comment.

Golan thought of the idea for the weapon after years of pondering a failed Israeli army operation in the West Bank during the first Palestinian uprising in the late 1980s. Several Israeli soldiers were wounded when they stormed a house through the door and were hit by automatic fire shot from inside, Golan said.

An Israeli-American company, Coral Gables, Fla.-based Corner Shot Holdings, showed how it can be fired through an exploded doorway around the corner into a house, or from a hall into a room. A soldier sees the target on a small TV screen mounted on the barrel of the gun.

Armies from 15 countries are testing the system, said Golan, a former deputy commander of Israel's anti-terror unit.

The system is the only weapon that allows the user to stay safe around a corner and away from a target, Golan said.

The device swivels at the middle, 63 degrees to the left or right, with the stock, trigger and the small screen at the hand-held end. The entire firing mechanism, fitted with a pistol that sits over a mini-camera with a zoom lens, is located at the front end.

A lever positioned under the stock allows the user to quickly move the firing end to another position to better focus on the target.

The development of the idea took three years, and sales began three months ago. The weapon system costs between $3,000 and $5,000, depending on the components.

The device can be fitted with different kinds of pistols, including the Baretta 92, which is used by the American army, the Glock and the Colt. It can also be adapted to fit an M-16 rifle or tear gas launcher.

The camera can view between 200 and 400 yards, depending on the model. Accessories include an infrared laser illuminator, rubber bullet launcher, various lenses and a silencer. A video-out socket allows the shooter to film action in a room around the corner and transmit the images to commanders far away.

The mechanism has been patented in the United States and will be sold only to official government agencies, Golan said.

[Twenty Muleteam Borax]

Package here from ACME.

[Mark Felton]

This technology has been around a long time. This article is pretty much just an advertisement regurgitated by a lazy reporter.

[isthisnickcool]

BILL: Hey that thing is bent like my thing..........

[South40]

This isn't it.

[Joe Brower]

[StatesEnemy]

Be careful! Wile E. Coyote had a few of these backfire on 'im.

Acme was one of the first corps to offshore their manufacturing - quality control went to hell

[Viking2002]

Damn - I thought this was like the smart bullets Gene Simmons shot at Tom Selleck in the movie 'Runaway'....LOL

[jim_trent]

Some of my guns do that without even being asked.

PS. I have a picture of a gun used by the Germans towards the end of WW2 that did the same thing (shot around corners).

[EggsAckley]

LOL! I was just going to ask if it's made by the Acme Gun Company!!

[Onelifetogive]

BILL: Hey that thing is bent like my thing..........

Yes...but is it available is such a small caliber?

[Atlas Sneezed]

Why not just shoot at a mirror, so that the bullet reflects off toward the target?

[ibbryn]

I once saw a hand grenade that works around corners.

[budanski]

Reuter's video: http://mediaframe.yahoo.com/launch?p=news&l=SAM&a=0,30&provider=reutersav&.test=1&f=31042383&lid=rnv-56-s.5465369,rnv-100-s.5465370,rnv-300-s.5465371,wmv-56-s.5465372,wmv-100-s.5465373,wmv-300-s.5465374,&t=Top%20Stories%20AudioVideo%20%2d%20Reuters%20%2d%20New%20Gun%20Shoots%20Around%20Corners&bw=http%25253A%25252F%25252Fstory.news.yahoo.com%25252Fnews%25253Ftmpl%25253Dindex2%252526cid%25253D1057&dw=http%253A%252F%252Fstory.news.yahoo.com%252Fnews%253Ftmpl%253Dstory2%2526u%253D%252Freutersav%252F20031119%252Fav_nm_nw%252Fe5d1acf7fdd03295bb7b2b78d44e3f04

www.helopoint.co.il

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Where did you get that thing? Tapco?

[ExSoldier]

Remember the movie: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" There was the live action character, the drunken detective played by Bob Hoskins and he pulled out a 'toon gun that fired little animated bullets that went the wrong way. Hoskins muttered: "DUM DUMS...." So if these rounds turn the wrong way....?

[Zeroisanumber]

Neat.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

With nothing in a straight line behind the direction of fire good luck keeping aim for a second shot.

[gitmo]

So that's why I keep hitting the wrong target at the firing range.

[squidly]

Didn't the Germans come up with something like this in WWII?