The last few years, BLM, Anti-fascist, and the houseless have experienced police violence in a fashion that hasn’t been seen for a while. One of the main tools that the police have in their repertoire is tear gas. The main method for distributing tear gas is through grenade launchers using the 40mm standard round. These supposedly non-lethal crowd control weapons are the same weapons used to fire military rounds in war zones. Police are trained to shoot at particular angles towards the ground, so that their rounds skitter across the surface and slow down. This does not always work, nor do the police always employ this training. These grenades are not only a danger when fired, in terms of a projectile, they are also hot. Tear gas grenades utilize combustion to disperse their active ingredients, most commonly 2-chlorobenzalmalonitrile, into the air. Protestors who attempt to move these grenades out of the area by picking them up or throwing them suffer burns, often severe ones.
In protesting these last few years, in 2019 and 2020, I had an impulse to create tools for dealing with these tactics. This first tool I call a Reciprocator, and it is designed to pick up the standard 40mm round. There are a few versions of this tool, each for a particular level of manufacturing skill and resource. Firstly, there is the welded pipe Reciprocator, designed to use spring tension in the head to hold these active rounds, and provide a force-multiplier of the handle for throwing the rounds. Below is a digital rendering of this tool, in an imagined box.
Reasonable Precaution (Reciprocator V1), Digital, Zack Smith, 2021
With the rise in police violence of the last 30 years or so, it seems like a reasonable precaution for public buildings to have tools for the public to use to defend themselves. Similar to the cases containing fire extinguishers and fire axes, which are meant to be used in case of fire, these cases would contain not only the Reciprocator, but other personal protective equipment for being in a police riot. Gloves, knee and elbow pads, gas mask, disposable gloves, disposable rain gear, just to name a few. These are items that anyone engaging in a protest should consider having, in case the police decide that the protest must be dispersed. That dispersal will inevitably involve violence, and a person should be prepared.
The above link is to a 3D model for a version of this tool that can be 3D printed and attached to a handle with a few screws. This is meant for those without the means to fabricate the steel version. It uses a scoop to pick up the tear gas grenade, with whatever handle attached providing the leverage for increased throwing distance. I suggest a broom handle or similar dowel, though smaller dimension sticks can be used with some duct tape on the end to get a snug fit inside.
This version was made out of concern that a tool made from steel would be interpreted as a weapon, and be cause for escalation of violence. My hope would be that this version looks more toy like, though it would still be on a stick. Discretion is encouraged if and when these tools are utilized.