Beanbag shotgun's
1. Knocking somebody over is extremely over powered, especially in a situation where such a device would be practical whether its a cop or conflict situation
2. What sense does it make for civilians to openly carry around a beanbag shotgun?
3. How far of a distance? Only way I see this being balanced is if it can only reach like across the street.
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Pepper Spray
1. Aim should matter when using pepper spray, a body shot should not impair your vision. Should be headshots only.
2. The lingering effect wouldn't be terrible, but would have to be pretty short and a small linger area.
3. A limit of 3-4 uses before it runs out is pretty fair but should have a slight cooldown in between sprays if it causes a lingering effect.
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There would be no real reason that civilians need a beanbag shotgun. Maybe pepper spray but where would you get it?
If its a racket, would civs have access to it? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense for them to. It would have to be added something like a light weapons racket that has things like pistols and melee weapons rather than its own separate racket. Maybe then I could see it being somewhat plausible.
Even if only cops had them, both items would have to do actual damage so normal pk and escalation rules apply in cop and conflict situations. While both of these are non-lethal, they still do damage like a baton does. Being shot by a beanbag round isn't like being shot with a rubber bullet, you can fracture/break bones, and cause other serious injuries. And obviously pepper spray burns your eyes and throat.
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Overall, I don't hate the idea of either of these. They would just have to being incorporated in such a way where it doesn't give the user unfair advantages. I really only see beanbag weaponry being used by law enforcement. Pepper spray on the other hand might have actual civilian use if its done properly.
Edit: The main issue/reason I see people saying add other non-lethal alternatives is because tasers can be a lil weird sometimes. My answer to that is get good or maybe add a stun gun that you have to make contact with like the baton.