Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Pepper spray

By reklicom

In 1973, OC pepper spray was developed as an aerosol spray and used by FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) for incapacitating animals as well as humans for temporary duration. Since then the US department of Justice has been successfully using pepper sprays.

Thus was born the pepper spray. In modern times pepper spray is not just used by women world over for the purpose of self defense but, also for riot control, crowd control, and for providing defense against animals like dogs and bears. With so many varied and interesting uses, the history of pepper spray also makes for an interesting read. So if you want to known when the pepper spray actually came into existence, read on.

Pepper Spray History Although the use of pepper spray can't be dated back too long ago, but history reveals that red chili pepper was being used for self-defense in ancient India and China. In ancient India, it was not as popular as it was in China. Chinese people and even warriors had their own innovative method of using this spice; and it included wrapping grounded cayenne in rice papers so that they could throw it at the faces of their enemies, opponents, or intruders. It was accepted as a weapon of choice for self-defense because of its ability to incapacitate a person temporarily.

A secret martial art society of people in ancient Japan called the Ninjas has been using grounded pepper for disabling their opponents for a long time. Historical evidence reveals that in the Tukagawa Empire era in Japan, the police used a weapon called the "metsubishi." Metsubishi was, basically, a box consisting of chili pepper and the police used to use this box for blowing hot pepper into the eyes of people who were found guilty of some crime.

In fact, pepper spray was not only being used by the law enforcement agencies in the United States but also across the world. In 2003, police officers in Netherlands were given the go ahead to use the OC pepper spray.

California: In California, civilians need to ensure that pepper spray canisters are less than 2.5 ounces.

Civilian Use Of Pepper Sprays Pepper spray is also known as oleoresin of capsicum (OC) spray and it was actually introduced not by the lawmakers but by the US Postal service in the 1980's. The FBI was able to endorse it as an official chemical agent only in 1987 and it took another 4 years before it could be legally accepted by the law enforcement agency. But when it comes to civilian use, not all brands or types of pepper sprays can be used. There are some states in the US and some countries as well that forbid the use of pepper sprays by civilians. For example: it is illegal to use pepper spray, mace or teargas in Canada.

Law Enforcement Use Of Pepper Sprays Law enforcement officials have used pepper for a long time but pepper sprays came into existence only in the 20 th century. The FBI was one of the first law enforcement agencies to use the pepper spray in the 1991 followed by NYPD.

In NYPD (New York Police Department), the use of pepper spray was restricted to their emergency services unit only. The pepper spray was replaced by mace in October 1994. Today 97% of the law enforcement officials including the police use pepper spray as a non-lethal weapon for tackling attackers, mobs, and other unsocial elements.

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