Andover, Massachusetts August 24, 2023, updated September 1, 2023
Introduces New Handheld Less Lethal Launcher and Patented Fin-tail 12-gauge Less Lethal Ammo
Byrna Technologies Inc. (“Byrna” or the “Company”)(NASDAQ: BYRN) introduced its first ByrnaⓇ handheld launcher in 2019. It has since sold more than 300,000 units, driving revenues from approximately $925,000 in fiscal 2019 to over $48 million in its most recent fiscal year ended November 30, 2022, highlighting the appeal of less lethal alternatives. This spring the Company launched the sale of its third generation handheld launcher, the Byrna LE. Like Byrna’s earlier offerings, the Byrna LE looks like a gun, feels like a gun, and works like a gun, but is designed to offer an effective alternative to the use of deadly force from the discharge of a traditional firearm.
The Byrna LE, like its predecessors, uses a CO2 cartridge rather than an explosive to operate. Instead of lead bullets, it can shoot kinetic, pepper, or chemical irritant filled projectiles designed to incapacitate an assailant from a safe stand-off distance of up to 60 feet. Because the launchers are not “firearms”, there are no background checks, licenses or carry permits required in the U.S. Ownership of Byrna launchers by adults generally is legal for personal self-defense in all 50 states, which makes it ideal for people traveling across state lines such as truckers, private pilots, and boaters because they will not have to worry about whether or not it is legal at their destination. Owners must, however, check state and local laws that may regulate the ownership, use and carrying of Byrna launchers in certain places, including by certain categories of persons or in certain venues. For example, there are some cities such as San Francisco and New York City where carrying a CO2 powered weapon like Byrna launchers is not permitted.
Byrna Technologies also recently introduced a new, less lethal, kinetic shotgun shell, using patented fin-tailed technology designed to improve accuracy. This less lethal 12-gauge shell can be used in any shotgun alone or in combination with regular lethal shotgun shells. According to Bryan Ganz, CEO and President of Byrna Technologies, this offers people who own shotguns the option to use less lethal rounds first and, if there is still a threat to their safety, they can discharge a standard shotgun shell.
Byrna launchers were developed in order to provide people with alternatives to using deadly force in the event they need to protect themselves and their families. Ganz says many gun owners will experience trigger hesitancy when confronted with a real world threat due to the legal, financial, and psychological consequences of taking a life.
Ganz believes that increased use of less lethal weapons like the Byrna for self-protection, in place of traditional firearms, could begin to have a significant impact on the amount of gun related casualties in the country every year. Over the last four years Byrna launchers have been used to stop carjackings, thwart muggings, and prevent home invasions. Ganz also noted that Byrna launchers can offer a valuable de-escalation tool to law enforcement professionals in situations where lethal force is not necessary from a safer stand off zone than alternatives like stun guns. ByrnaⓇ launchers have been supplied to over 300 law enforcement agencies at the local, state, and federal levels. They have been used to apprehend dozens of criminals and to de-escalate dangerous situations without a single life being lost or taken.
Ganz says Byrna has received pushback from people on both the Left and Right sides of the Second Amendment debate in the United States. He says that on the Right, this comes in the form of people believing that the Company is trying to promote gun control. Ganz himself is a gun owner, and says this couldn’t be further from the truth. He carries a Byrna because he feels not every situation warrants deadly force. The Company is simply offering an option on the “continuum of force” in an attempt to help reduce unnecessary gun violence and its collateral consequences.
On the Left side of the debate, Ganz says people accuse Byrna Technologies of promoting gun culture, contributing to gun violence. That is not Ganz’s intent. “We are not passing judgment on any group or trying to drive a political agenda. We are trying to provide gun owners with an alternative to deadly force and provide people who are not comfortable carrying a firearm with an effective means to protect themselves.” Personal safety without unnecessary loss of life should be a unifying goal that everyone should support.
“Not everyone wants to carry a gun, and in many situations in which lethal force is used, it could be avoided. With the Byrna launchers, people can feel safe and have a viable alternative to using a firearm in the event they have to defend themselves,” concludes Ganz. “We need to have common sense solutions to ending the wave of gun violence sweeping the country, and with the Byrna we’re not trying to infringe on anyone’s Second Amendment rights or invoke policy towards gun legislation. We are simply providing a way for people to avoid the use of lethal force.”
Forward- Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of securities laws. All statements contained in this news release, other than statements of current and historical fact, are forward-looking. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," and "believes" and statements that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "would," "should," "might," "occur," or "be achieved," or "will be taken." Forward-looking statements include descriptions of currently occurring matters which may continue in the future. Forward-looking statements in this news release include but are not limited to our statements related to the growing interest in and impact of less lethal weapons, the performance of and market reaction to of the Company’s products, the expected utility of Byrna launchers for protection in future events, de-escalation, and reduction of gun violence and the Company's future prospects. Forward-looking statements are not, and cannot be, a guarantee of future results or events. Forward-looking statements are based on, among other things, opinions, assumptions, estimates, and analyses that, while considered reasonable by the Company at the date the forward-looking information is provided, inherently are subject to significant risks, uncertainties, contingencies, and other factors that may cause actual results and events to be materially different from those expressed or implied.
Any number of risk factors could affect our actual results and cause them to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this news release, including, but not limited to, disappointing market responses to current or future products or services; introduction of competing products, negative publicity, or other factors; product design defects or recalls; regulatory or legal developments; changes in consumer or political sentiment affecting product demand; and other events that could negatively impact Company's products. The order in which these factors appear should not be construed to indicate their relative importance or priority. We caution that these factors may not be exhaustive; accordingly, any forward-looking statements contained herein should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. Investors should carefully consider these and other relevant factors, including those risk factors in Part I, Item 1A, ("Risk Factors") in the Company's most recent Form 10-K, should understand it is impossible to predict or identify all such factors or risks, should not consider the foregoing list, or the risks identified in the Company's SEC filings, to be a complete discussion of all potential risks or uncertainties, and should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.
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