If the goal is to reduce injuries, then we need to stop pretending that chemical agents and kinetic projectiles are “gentler” options. Tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and impact munitions put people in emergency rooms. Sometimes they put them in hospitals. Always they create lawsuits, especially in blue states where juries reward bad behavior with lottery-sized verdicts.
There is a better tool, and it works.
Properly used water cannon trucks drastically reduce injuries. No chemicals. No burns. No broken bones. No permanent damage. Just water. A lot of it.
Water cannons are safe, effective, and humane when used correctly. Not to blast people off their feet. Not to injure. Simply to subject disruptive crowds to sustained, miserable conditions. Soaked clothing. Cold exposure. Total discomfort. The fastest cure is simple. Go home. Dry off. Get warm.
That is why the political left hates them. They work too well.
American law enforcement keeps deploying so-called less-lethal weapons against lawless demonstrators and rioters, then acts surprised when people get hurt and cities get sued into oblivion. The liability is astronomical. The injuries are real. The optics are terrible.
Water cannons solve all of that.
Europe has used them for decades. They disperse crowds quickly, predictably, and with minimal injury when deployed professionally. The optics are fine as long as officials are not trying to punish anyone. You are not cracking skulls. You are raining on the parade.
This is not the 1960s. This is not fire hoses used maliciously against civil rights demonstrators. Modern water cannon trucks are precision tools. They apply pressure through discomfort, not violence.
And yes, there are side effects. Phones get ruined. Signs get soggy. Spirits collapse. That is the point.
Hose them down. They retreat. They go home.
Fewer injuries. Fewer lawsuits. Fewer ambulances. More order.
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