What if non-lethal weapon were more popular?

What if non-lethal weapon were more popular?

The following is not the POD for a timline but just one example for a possible POD. Most of the described weapons are post 1900 therfore i put it here but of course it might still be moved.

Let say for example the concept of non-lethal warfare and riot control becomes popular much earlier.
For example Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle, hears about the revolts by silk workers November 1831 in Lyon, France. He sees his last chance too show the value of aerial warfare with baloons.
He asks to deploy his newly invented weapon. As a chemist Coutelle was familiar with a rather infamous accident that happened in generic city earlier in this timeline.
This is OTL description: "But perhaps the worst aroma was that which caused the evacuation of the city of Freiburg in 1889.Attempts to make thioacetone by the cracking of trithioacetone gave rise to ‘an offensive smell which spread rapidly over a great area of the town causing fainting, vomiting and a panic evacuation laboratory work was abandoned".
Instead of causing bloodshed infuriating the population of Lyon even more, he suggests instead of creating martyr to create a farce.
His idea gets successfully implemented and the floodgates for more "out there ideas" are opened.
One could use the system for gas lamp gas distribution to spread this stench gas or sleeping gas or other stuff through a city in case of a revolt.
There are numerous weapons who could deployed in actual warfare like blinding dazzlers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzler_%28weapon%29 especially if their are widespread used before anti-weapon treaties are negotiated. After all crippled soldiers are are a bigger drain on enemy resources as dead soldiers. In the same vein there could be use for sonic permanent deafening weapons.


Then there are of cause some weapons right out of Aperture Science:


http://www.cracked.com/article_16710_6-non-lethal-weapons-thatll-make-you-wish-you-were-dead.html


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_foam


Yes, stuff to make the ground slippery:
http://www.sumobrain.com/patents/wipo/Anti-traction-material-dispensing-system/WO2006091236.html
 
The term you're thinking of is probably 'less lethal'. 'Non-lethal' is a misnomer, as is 'less than lethal', as any weapon can be used to kill, and anything you can stop someone with, might kill them, whether by accident, by using it to long or to hard, using to many of them, or because the victim had health problems.

The concept is interesting, though.
 
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