The biggest challenge in creating the Byrna was to pack enough stopping power into such a small piece of real estate. If the launcher could not easily fit in a glove box, purse, or jacket pocket, it might not be available when it was needed most.

The Byrna needed to have ample stopping power. Our goal was to give ordinary citizens the ability to disarm, disable and deter a would-be assailant without causing permanent injury or death, in order to give them and their family time to get out of harm’s way.

With most .68-caliber launchers, the CO2 cylinder is punctured when it is loaded into the launcher. Over the next 24-hours, the CO2 will leak out, rendering the weapon inoperable. In response, Byrna developed its patented first-shot, pull-pierce technology. This allows the CO2 cylinder to remain in the launcher, unpunctured, until needed. Then, when the trigger is pulled, the CO2 is punctured and the projectile is fired simultaneously, meaning that the Byrna is always at the ready whether it has been sitting for a week, a month, a year, or several years.

With batons and stun guns, you are in hand-to-hand combat before they are effective. Even with pepper spray or a Stun Gun, you are range-limited to 10 to 15 feet. By then, the situation has escalated out of control. The Byrna SD and EP have a 60’ effective range and the Byrna LE has an 80’ effective range.

Byrna’s handheld pistols carry up to 7 rounds in a magazine and can fire multiple magazines from a single CO2 cylinder. Stun Guns, by comparison, are limited to just one or two shots. The ability to fire multiple shots without reloading, allows the user to put multiple rounds on target and/or confront multiple threats simultaneously.

The Byrna is NOT a toy. It is a very sophisticated piece of technology. Whereas a traditional handgun has approximately 35 parts, the Byrna has more than 110 parts – and unlike a handgun, it must hold air at 800 psi. The Byrna is constructed to exacting specifications from the same glass infused polymers, military grade aluminum and stainless steel as the most well-known and well-respected firearm brands.