Poetry in Letters:  from the Next American Civil War / Vol.1 Pg 2 – Accidental Haikus

They won’t foul the gun barrel

In the beginning

Rubber companies made a 

killing, folks like you

——————————————– References——————————————————————————-
– Sunday 2 August 1970
Rubber Baton Rounds Introduced In Northern Ireland
 The first rubber bullets were invented by the British Ministry of Defense to be used for riot control purposes in Northern Ireland during “The Troubles”. The British Army began to use ‘rubber bullets’ (baton rounds) for riot control. Between their introduction and their replacement with the ‘plastic bullet’ in 1975, approximately 55,000 rubber bullets were fired by the British Army. The rounds were intended to be fired at the legs of rioters or the ground in front of rioters, where the bullet would bounce, losing some of its velocity, and then hit the intended target. Often, the weapons were fired directly at people at close range, and on many occasions at totally innocent civilians. These “less lethal” weapons were to result in serious injuries, and at least 17 deaths, 8 of the 17 killed were children.

https://www.webworm.co/p/teargasandrubberbullets
David Farrier. “Tear Gas & Rubber Bullets: The National Guard Has Moved In: At 10 am, I set off to meet the National Guard. Things went well, before they didn’t”. WebWorm with David Farrier. Jun 08 2025

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/002580249703700209
Hiss J, Hellman FN, Kahana T. Rubber and Plastic Ammunition Lethal Injuries: The Israeli Experience. Medicine, Science and the Law. 1997;37(2):139-144. doi:10.1177/002580249703700209