Analysis by Physicians for Human Rights suggests that these weapons are more dangerous than single projectiles. They note that multi-munitions "cannot target a single individual or a single body part, resulting in excessive injury to targeted individuals (when they impact sensitive body parts) and to bystanders (when the projectiles spread to those not targeted)."

According to Physicians for Human Rights, “The finding of widespread injuries from multi-projectile KIPs – where multiple projectiles are fired at once – demonstrates the harmful effects of these inherently indiscriminate weapons. They cannot effectively target a single individual or a single body part, and their use has resulted in serious injuries.... The results of our analysis suggest that these weapons are more dangerous than single projectiles and lead us to call for a prohibition on their use...” (Physicians for Human Rights, Lethal in Disguise II, 2023, p. 11)

According to a 2023 report by Amnesty International and Omega Institute:

"Munitions containing, or devices firing, multiple [kinetic impact projectiles] are inherently inaccurate, they cannot be targeted only to an individual engaged in violence and will cause unwarranted injury, and therefore have no legitimate law enforcement use and must be prohibited."

Twenty-three organizations in Alameda County have called on the Board of Supervisors to ban scattershot weapons used by the County Sheriff's Office. Read their letter here. 

California AB 48 (Penal Code 13652) severely restricts the use of kinetic impact projectiles (KIPs) for crowd control. Among a number of restrictions in this state law on use of force by law enforcement, is that impact projectiles may not be used indiscriminately. For example, “An objectively reasonable effort has been made to identify persons engaged in violent acts and those who are not, and kinetic energy projectiles or chemical agents are targeted toward those individuals engaged in violent acts. Projectiles shall not be aimed indiscriminately into a crowd or group of persons.”

“Multiple projectile rounds were involved in a staggering 96% (n=1,511) of all ocular injuries from Kinetic Impact Projectiles.” (Physicians for Human Rights, Lethal in Disguise II, 2023, p. 45)

An initial review of some military equipment inventories shows that many law enforcement agencies in California own multiple projectile munitions, including the state prison system (CDCR), sheriffs in Alameda, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Kern, Merced, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, And Santa Cruz counties, and police departments in Bakersfield, Culver City, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Pomona, San Jose, Simi Valley. LAPD alone has more than 25,000 such munitions.