[imagesource: Mary Stevens]

Sharks with frickin’ laser beams are out.

Honestly, they’re entirely impractical and despite what Dr Evil will tell you, largely ineffective.

Bug guns with lasers are in, and the inventor of Bug-A-Salt, a toy gun designed to kill flies with a burst of salt, has the bank balance to prove it.

According to Forbes, Lorenzo Maggiore (pictured above with journalist Jane Wells) launched his business in 2012 and raised in excess of $600 000 via an Indiegogo campaign that same year.

He sold 50 000 units in 2012, and now business has really taken off.

So much so that in 2020, the company sold 750 000 units worldwide, bringing in more than $20 million in sales.

Bug-A-Salt has now arrived in South Africa, with this video rolled out in May to commemorate the occasion:

The camo shirt and gun combo is an interesting touch.

Props to whoever designed the South African website, with a fly scurrying around the screen as you scroll.

The site says that all stock is local, so your delivery time should be good.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if you had to order it from overseas.

Even products that don’t ship to South Africa can be ordered via Postbox Courier, which provides you with a free overseas address.

Within three to five days of arrival at that address, they’ll be shipped over as a single delivery and touch down at your front door, and you can start putting them to use.

Back to your Bug-A-Salt, and the ‘how the gun works’ section comes with this write-up:

A miniaturized shotgun effect is generated through this ingenious design. Ordinary table salt is utilized as a lethal projectile with accuracy range of within 3 feet.

 

Bugs will remain whole for easy clean up.

Insect hunting as sport has entered the 21st century with this fun, new non-toxic device.

Insect hunting might not sound like a great sport, but how about these glowing testimonials?

Nah, Steven S., but it becomes a problem if people start using it to mow down schoolchildren and go on mass shooting sprees.

Maggiore wants to show you how that laser works:

Bug-Beam activated.

The ‘Support’ page states that the Bug-A-Salt is “extremely effective at killing mosquitoes”.

Always good to know.

People talk about that one simple idea changing your life. For Maggiore, that is certainly true.

[sources:forbes&bugasalt]