“Salt Supply Co. has designed a paintball-style gun that shoots pellets filled with pepper spray that rupture on impact,” fox2now.com reports. “The Salt gun is designed to be a safe alternative to traditional firearms so that nobody gets killed, including children who might discover the gun and think it’s a toy, or a family member that’s mistaken for a burglar . . . The $300 handgun is powered by CO2 cartridges and holds seven .70-caliber slugs. They contain ghost pepper extract encased in a ball that breaks on impact like an egg. [The inventor] said it causes the lungs to constrict, as they would during an asthma attack.” What could possibly go wrong?

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103 COMMENTS

  1. False advertising. If the lungs constrict like they do in an asthma attack then the odds of this being non-lethal are literally zero.

    • It sounds like a great way to get killed by the guy that actually has a gun.

      Besides I doubt that it can keep a pierced co2 for any length of time without it leaking. I have yet to see any other airgun do that.

      • There are a lot of failings of a pepperball gun as a defense weapon. A CO2 capsule seal shouldn’t be one, considering that a 35 dollar airsoft pistol from walmart will hold a charge for a minimum of 3 months.

        • From what I read on the website, “We have a proprietary permit on our CO2 cartidges which allows the CO2 cartride to stay sealed, and in the gun, until it is needed. Upon the first pull of the trigger of our Salt Gun, the CO2 cartiride will be penetrated , and the second pull will then release a round.”

      • The CO2 cartridge doesn’t puncture until the trigger is pulled. So it will stay sealed until you need it. I wouldn’t just leave a punctured cartridge in it hoping it has some left when I need it.

      • co2 is only pierced on the first shot, i’ve seen cartridges from the 60’s still in perfect working condition, some even pierced and in the airgun. (few last pierced as seals harden over the many years)

    • Let me just say for all the naysayers…
      “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”
      A couple of .68 pepper ball rounds to your face, AND YOU’RE LEAVING!
      Whatever plan the perp had is GONE AND FORGOTTEN!
      THIS IS WHERE I CHOKE THEM UNCONSCIOUS AND MAKE THEIR BODY DISAPPEAR…. LMFAO!

        • It was bad enough when he had no clothes, now he doesn’t even have a cloth. 🙂 Which he’s going to need to wipe the pepper out of his eyes after he’s murdered the wielder of the SALT, and before he can go on to effectively loot their home.

      • I’m not sure you are correct. While you can fire pepper ammo through the TiPX, Tippmann claims that the PG7 is considerably more powerful, providing the higher velocity required to break the much harder pepper rounds. Salt Supply says the same about their gun.

  3. Free enterprise again–trying to fill a [rightly or wrongly] perceived market of half-way gun muggles. I think they are aiming at a non-existent market myself, aside from the fact that the whole thing sounds like a gaggle of lawsuits (“they said it was safe!”) just waiting to happen.

    • You see how PC the video was, I think they know exactly what market they are targeting. This is for Prius owners. People that want a car, or in this case a gun, but don’t want their lefty friends judging them. Like the Prius, Wether or not this gun delivers on its promises is secondary to the promise being made. These are people who don’t have any idea how anything works, but as long as it is called safe, they maintain moral superiority. For some that is all that matters. I would pump and dump their stock (not their product). This could really sell in CA and NJ.

      • In NJ you you would need to get a FPID and a pistol permit to have one and if you used it you would most certainly be in violation of NJ’s numerous no discharge laws as it would be considered a firearm just like a daisy red rider.

        You would not be able to carry it without the unicorn that is a NJ carry permit.

        • Don’t forget that Jersey will not view the Salt at a mace aerosol spray canister(in the teeny tiny authorized amount for civilian carry). They will view it as a less lethal weapon(firearm); AKA Taser, less lethal munition, ect, meaning that you can’t deploy it unless deadly force is authorized, anyway. So, you use your less lethal that you had to go through the same background check and permit to own, while your attacker uses the illegal lethal force against you.

      • Stupid stereotypes, again! I’ve owned 2 Prius. Guess what? I carry a real gun every day. Guess you’re wrong. Oh yeah, I’m liberal and have more than occasionally voted for Democrats.

      • I think the market is for people who want to be able to defend themselves without killing someone.

  4. I like things like this for those threats that ought not to be dealt with by lethal force. You know, like those kids that teepee people’s houses. However, it ought not to be used for serious life/death defense scenarios.

    • Im still pretty sure any lawyer worth his salt (pun intended) would have a field day if you shot someone putting toilet paper on your house. They would say that you were in no great bodily harm and launching a projectile, no matter what your intent was, is lacking moral judgment. They would say you could have done any number of things to get them off your property. This has absolutely no purpose.

    • Well, that application sure would make it easy for police to capture the suspect … all they would have to do is follow the smoke and the screaming.

  6. Did you find that at “The Onion”? Couldn’t possibly be for real. Totally moronic.

    If I’m “shooting” someone it is going to be because then need killin.

    • “Did you find that at “The Onion”? Couldn’t possibly be for real. Totally moronic.”

      You do remember that stupid strobe light, siren and pepper-spray gun-kinda-like thing about a year or so back, don’t you?

  7. “The Salt gun is designed to be a safe alternative to traditional firearms so that nobody gets killed …”

    … except for the person who mistakenly thought it would actually stop a violent attacker.

  8. Two dooods wearing skinny jeans gonna sell me a gun? Yeah, no. “the violent bang” what the fnck ever, boys.

    • Also, I can attest that the FN 303 is fun little thing. Border Patrol had one that they let people shoot at a meet and greet event in San Diego several years back.

      Outside of milsim style paintball games/force on force training, not much application for an ordinary person. More suited for an NGO or LEA application.

    • As a long time paintball player I can tell you that a paintball is good for at least 50 feet under nominal conditions.

    • 15 feet accuracy?
      You’ve never actually used a paintball marker have you?
      At 15 feet I’m not aiming at a person, I’m aiming at one inch targets and hitting them 90% of the time. In fact, that’s so close that hitting someone on something other than equipment is going to sting.
      I’ve taken outs scores of people at 100 YARDS.
      In fact, you shouldn’t miss a stationary target within 150 feet.
      Paintballs for self defense have numerous issues, but accuracy is not one of them.

      • I have. And I have also watched cheap paintballs curve so bad they bend at 25 yards. 100 yards is pushing it, but doable with a good marker, gas system, and quality paint.

        • My experience with paintball markers (granted, 20 years ago) was minute-of-human anywhere inside 50 yards. You might not hit right where you aimed, but you’re going to hit some part of the guy.

          Still, follow-up shots were always in order, especially as the distance got longer. Even though your odds of a hit were pretty good anywhere inside 75-100 yards, you’re effectively shooting a semiauto musket, and a lightweight ball from an unrifled barrel can take a weird turn at any moment.

  10. I could see a use for something like. Barking dog at 2AM, my brother at Christmas, but I agree with others if its life or death for me or mine then I am probably going to reach for more than a tabasco gun.

    • Could be interesting to shoot the deer in the garden with one of these. They’ll learn not to return.

  11. Rebranded Tippmann TiPX paintball pistol. Same thing as Pepperball’s rebranded Tiberius T8.1, main difference being the TiPX hold a 12g CO2 cartirige under the barrel and the T8.1 hold 12g in each magazine

    • I own both TPX & Tiberian & to me the most important difference seems to be that the TPX doesn’t pierce the CO² until the first use so it can stay in the drawer for quite some time without leaking.

  12. Without getting into whether this is a good idea or not, I tried to find out more about it…

    Their Indiegogo campaign disappeared, so no further info there. I even tried “saltsupplyco.com”, but it just tries to resolve to the no-longer-there Indigogo page.

    Interesting: It appears that the gun is really just a Tippmann TPX or TiPX paintball gun. Further curiosity: It seems Tippmann and others already sell pepperballs.

    I suspect the Salt Supply Co. folks were trying to find a new way to market ideas already developed by others – and are getting shut down by those who have already done the work.

  13. Let it go to market. We’ll soon see which alternative homeowners and criminals prefer.

    Gotta work on the name, though. What does salt have to do with this? Is it a step down from an “a-salt” gun?

  17. Did he just say “the violent bang of black powder.” How many people use black powder cartridges for self defense?

    Also, mmmm….ghost peppers.

    • I always load my blackpowder dueling pistols when an intruder breaks in
      We square off in the back yard count twenty paces and fire.

      • I prefer Mark Twain’s suggestion when it comes to dueling:

        “… it occurred to me that Gatling-guns at fifteen paces would be a likely way to get a verdict on the field of honor.”
        ‘A Tramp Abroad’ Chapter VIII The Great French Duel

  18. What a croc! The worst thing about this “gun” is that it will give homeowners a sense of false security.
    If some dude comes into my home some night, he’s gonna get real lead! That’s spelled “LEAD”.

  19. Pellet hits center mass. Wind is blowing sideways. No inhalation, no effect.

    Pellet hits center mass. Perp is running. Toxins do not reach face, no effect.

    Pellet hits center mass. Perp is already running towards pellet shooter. Toxins do not reach face, no effect.

    Nice try though…

    • Or Pellet hits center mass, perp gets a whiff and doesn’t care, beats the crap out of you anyway. Contrary to popular public belief, even getting shot with a real gun doesn’t necessarily stop a bad guy immediately.

  21. I can just see some “I didn’t want to hurt him” ninny pulling this thing at 2AM to deter a home invader and collapsing almost immediately from the tearing and burning.

    Pepper balls in the house, bad idea.

  22. Doesn’t that felon Dog the Booty Hunter and his special family use some sort of pepper or tear gas pellets in paint ball guns? I seem to remember them creeping around someone’s house with something like that, thinking you’re going to feel pretty stupid when a Keltec barrel gets pointed at you…but then remembered it’s all staged anyway.

  24. Pepperballs for riot control purposes have existed for years and this marker is literally a Tippman TiPX, which they probably licensed for this stupid endeavor. Makes me wonder if a regular TiPX and some regular pepperballs (or paintball casings, which you can buy, full of pepper powder) would be cheaper than this gimmick.

  26. This is just going to piss the intruder off more; in stead of torturing you for two hours, they are going to torture you and your family for 8 hours.

  27. I’m not buying one, but that has nothing to do with them trying to sell it.

    I wish them all the best of luck with their product release.

  28. What about a pellet full of jellied gasoline (Napalm) which bursts and ignites on impact? You could start a fire from 20 yards away!

  29. So I’m thinking…..paint a target in my grill lid with some high temp paint and my buddies and I can have some fun peppering our meat pile.

  30. Checked out the Tippman site.
    The CO2 cartridge is activated by pulling the trigger. Essentially the “gun” won’t fire on the first shot. It doesn’t list how many shots you get off a 12 gram but I wouldn’t bank on many. The “gun” is full of o-rings that need to be kept lubed and will eventually break down just sitting there. That translates to gas leaks and fewer/weaker shots. Also the magazines are spring pressured. It might not be an issue on a weekend paintball game but sitting in your dresser, that spring pressure will deform those pepperballs. They could then fly erratically or explode in the barrel. If they are hardened a great deal more than standard paintballs then they might not even break on heavy clothes like a winter jacket. In my paintball playing days I’ve had tournament grade stuff bounce off of a single fold of a flapping jersey.
    No thanks. I’ll stick with noisy black powder.

  31. “The Salt gun is designed to be a safe alternative to traditional firearms so that nobody gets killed…”

    The moral imperative is to preserve innocent life, not all life. Some people need killing. Period.

  34. They should just invent a gun to shoot hugs and jobs.
    Or how about a self esteem pistol made in chicago?

  35. I saw the “Salt Supply” and instantly figured that there was now a commercial shotshell on the market loaded with rock salt. Nothing’s better than a side-by-side loaded with rock salt. Just step out on the porch and let a couple fly, Bidnen Style.

  36. is this from the same company that makes that table salt shooting fly killing thinger? those are awesome.

  37. Glad to see these back on the market– they were readily available in the early 90’s. With the newer high-tech paintball guns, these have a lot of promise.

  38. The only “less lethal” rounds I keep are bean bag rounds for a shotgun. And that’s only for maybe a drunk idiot…

  39. So when the guy isn’t actually stopped and you need to escape through a cloud of the pepper, what happens to you?

  40. Takeaways other than the ineffectiveness against a determined attacker part.

    • OK, if it actually worked, it puts the guy down for a few minutes. He’s still writing around and mobile, maybe enough to return fire with his real gun, or stab at you with a knife.

    • The guy goes down, then what? Wait for the cops to arrive and hope the hell the salts don’t wear off? And good luck restraining him.

    • An above poster mentioned that this type of paintball gun needs some TLC. I’m willing to fathom someone who purchases this will probably blow through a few practice sessions with it, then chuck it in the drawer where it will remain for years. In the intervening time the CO2 will leak out, and those seals will dry up. When it’s go time, this gun will probably not fire. Yeah, a traditional gun needs lubrication and cleaning, but I’ll wager a GLOCK from 1992, left in a drawer since then, would still function well enough to get the job done.

  41. If I wanted a safe alternative to using deadly force I’d just load a beanbag shell before I put in my buckshot.

  44. There might be some applications for this but they are probably quite a bit more rare and uncertain than those calling for a real firearm.

    Mostly because if I’m at the level of needing this item then I’m at the level of wanting to have a firearm to back it up as well. In that case it’s not much of a substitute. But I guess for some people who can’t own a ‘real’ gun for some reason…

  45. If you think about it, there’s a market in several states and many countries for an effective self-defense weapon which doesn’t fall under the definition of a firearm. What that weapon is, I don’t know, since many places where guns are restricted, you’ll also see laws restricting air guns, airsoft weapons, knives, and sharp sticks.

    Like, I thought – “Oh hey, with (major) refinements, this could be a huge seller in the UK…” – bzzzt – wrong. The UK would restrict the hell out of this too. With all the bureaucratic nonsense involved, at that point you might as well just jump through the hoops and get a real gun.

    • In the UK it would legally be the same as a firearm with the pepper balls as would pepper spray. In general the tipx is legal but you see more tiberius t8 in use on the pb field.

      Just fill the thing with glass balls and hope that the gas expansion law works out ok.

  46. Might be good in some instances, but if an intruder shows up at my house, he’s going to get real bullets. I once watched a guy high on PCP grab a 100W incandescent light build and say it wasn’t hot, as he watched his hand smoke.

  47. I’ll give one compelling reason why this thing won’t work:

    METH

    A meth addict on a high simply won’t notice the pepper balls.

  50. This thing is great!

    I want one. I want to use it to shoot my eggs in the morning…I love ghost peppers!

  52. Actually, maybe this will be like training wheels before the owner graduates to a real thing. Hopefully, not too late

  53. I read it all yes its just a tippman shit I wish I knew that befor I spent 400 bucks I could have got a better deal from tipmat there the ones who sent it enyway shooting practas rounds into a pile of shirts they dint even brake the balls what a wast of money oh well im stuck with it now home defence? not a chanch

  54. Maybe those of us with stupid felonies like obstructing official business just want something for home protection. We can’t own a real gun to protect ourselves!

  56. OK so I can post without FBI Book or GOOGLE-CIA verification. Nice. That means I can speak my mind. Yes I realize this is an OLD topic, but these pepper ball guns are making a lot of controversy right now in 2021 on Youtube. This site is one of the 1st to pop up. The OLD 2015/2016 comments here are mostly from narrow-minded individuals who are trying to slant this as a political left wing agenda. Maybe, just for a second, THINK. This is NOT political.
    Lets correct a few things.
    1) “Its just peppers.” Yes, I grow Carolina Reapers too. Its all I can do to enjoy them in a hot sauce. I certainly don’t want them in my eyes. You guys saying its just chiles, Have you ever cut a Jalapeno and then took a pee? What happened? IT HURT!!! That’s what happened. I’ve seen the videos of green berets and army colonels taking a shot by this pepper ball, and they couldn’t take it. They folded over in pain, salivating, snot hanging from their noses. What makes us thing YOU can do any better? We call you guys keyboard warriors.
    2) Media slant: If you shoot the wrong “gentle giant” and someone catches it on their phone camera, doesn’t matter if he was in the wrong, doesn’t matter if he had strong-arm robbed a store 5 minutes earlier, or if he was (say his name) a career criminal, if the media gets wind of it, your life could come to a screeching halt. There’s a narrative out there. You know what Im talking about. Im not looking to be that martyr. Would I rather send him home crying? YES. We both live another day and there’s no media circling my home in choppers. Ill let someone else kill him when he robs them, and THEY can be all over CNN front page for weeks. THEY can be the hate face on all those protest signs. Not me. I just made him cry and I left to return to life as usual.
    3) “WTF, who would actually believe this?”: Law enforcement does. Police worldwide are already using this. Remember the riots of 2020? I saw pepper ball guns being used on several videos. If its good enough for law enforcement and swat, its good enough for me.
    4) “What if he has a real gun?”: WHAT IF?? I shoot him in the face with pepper ball he cant do anything but drop to his knees and I can kick the crap out of him while hes down! Or I can just walk away. Fact is Ive seen the real life tests of this stuff. When you’re shot with this, whether your naked or wearing 3 thick coats, you’re going down. It WILL break when it hits its target, and they WILL more than likely be incapacitated. Sure some people on certain drugs may continue raging forward, but thats by far the exception, not the rule.
    5) WHO determined this was political??? Its about self defense. I voted for Trump both times, and Id carry one of these. The Byrna SD / HD looks a lot better honestly than the salt. And the fully automatic assault rifle looking pepper guns.. Dang they’re just MEAN!! Do some research before you spew off stupidity. This is about salvaging a bad situation. Maybe the guy was just dumped by his girl. Maybe his mom just passed away. Maybe he just got fired. Maybe he was on crack. Either way maybe he was having a bad day. We all have them. Doesn’t mean I want him dead.
    6) I know a man who knew a man, who, like me, carried daily. He pulled his gun out of his pocket and had forgotten that his keys were in the same pocket. Stupid yes, but we’ve all done stupid stuff. He was shot by the very gun he used to protect himself. Spent weeks in the hospital. That’s what attracted me to this actually. I have dropped my 9 many many times. I have accidentally stuck an ink pen in the same pocket, and it could have ended badly. Some clothes, cargo shorts in particular, have slightly overlapping pockets. What if a sharpie or a key in the bottom leg pocket somehow ends up pushed through the top pocket into the trigger zone? It CAN happen. Could be when I sit a certain way, or get down on the ground to look under a vehicle. Anything is possible. I don’t want to get shot by my own gun! I literally never take my gun off except for date night and sleep. If i was carrying this instead, the only thing hurt is my eyes and my pride. No trips to the ER.

    Just saying watch some Byrna videos and maybe educate yourself before you rattle off bs over a perfectly sane and rational product.

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