KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — America’s obsession with guns may come in handy in the fight against Covid-19 as the pandemic ravages the world’s largest economy.
With 5.44 million confirmed cases and 170,000 deaths, the US is the worst-hit country and yet, the mask debate rages on despite research showing that wearing one can slow the spread of the disease.
YouTuber Allen Pan put his DIY skills to good use and created a mask launcher that shoots masks onto people’s faces without compromising anyone’s liberty.
In a clip lasting over nine minutes, Pan spoke about combining his country’s Second Amendment — the right to bear arms — with a glaring public safety issue to come up with an “American solution” to curb coronavirus cases.
According to tech site Engadget, Pan’s mask launcher was made using “a brake line, a solenoid valve, an 800 PSI CO2 canister, a spray paint pistol grip and projectiles with magnets to craft a pneumatic launcher”.
How it works is similar to that of a net gun but with the aim of launching a mask onto a person’s face where the cords wrap around their head to secure it in place.
While testing his creation at his workshop, the mask launcher worked on the first try on a dummy as well as on Pan but the popular YouTuber admitted it was tricky to get the right angle using the gun’s laser beam and he missed the mark several times.
But it was a promising result nonetheless and Pan decided to take his homemade mask gun to Huntington Beach in California to see how it would fare.
The popular Southern California surfing town has become a symbol of mask resistance and made headlines last month after the futile attempts of two US comedians handing out masks to passersby went viral.
He then tested the mask launcher on locals, many of whom were seen wearing masks, to Pan’s surprise.
The locals he approached seemed eager to try their hands at the new mask gun, taking up Pan’s offer to test it out on a dummy.
They even told him the invention was “fun” and “priceless”.
“If you saw someone walking in a Walmart and they weren’t wearing a mask, would you shoot them with this?” Pan asked.
When one of the volunteers exclaimed “Yes”, Pan replied saying, “Because we’re allowed to use the Second Amendment to protect ourselves”.
The clip which was uploaded on August 15 has since gained over 501,000 views.
