Developed originally as a way for police
to control crowds during unrest in Northern Ireland, the ARWEN, the acronym for Anti-riot Weapon ENfield, fires plastic bullets
and is used by law enforcement agencies across the country, said Brian Kirkey, president of Police Ordnance, the company based
in Markham, Ontario, that manufactures and distributes the gun worldwide.
"It would be fair to say most medium to large agencies have an ARWEN system in their equipment
inventory for both their tactical team and their public order unit," he said.
The current model, the ARWEN 37, fires plastic bullets at a rate of 74 metres a second and can
be used as far as 100 metres away. Getting hit by one of the bullets feels the same as getting beamed by a pitch hurled by
a major league player, Mr. Kirkey said.
Tactical officers who fire the guns aim for a suspect's stomach, or extremities such as the upper
thigh and lower arm, as a way to disarm suspects or get them to comply with police.
"It'll break bones if it hits," Mr. Kirkey said. "You don't want to hit them in the head. You
don't want to hit them in the neck. That's where you have a potential fatality."
In August of 1984, Sean Downes died after he was hit in the chest by a plastic bullet fired by
a Northern Ireland police officer, an incident that garnered attention because of a photo of Mr. Downes's body showing a huge
bruise on his chest.
In Canada, the gun first garnered attention in Vancouver in 1994 when, during a Stanley Cup riot
after the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game 7 to the new York Rangers, a man was shot in the head by one of the plastic bullets.
Despite the potential for serious harm, Inspector Clark of Calgary police tactical team, said
the ARWEN is insrtrumental in providing an opportunity for police to disarm a suspect without inflicting a fatal wound.
The Calgary police department has been using the gun since 2007 and has discharged it five times.
Police forces across the country that employ the ARWEN include Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa,
Halton and Victoria.
