I've stolen the idea for the Izzard gun from Eddie Izzard. I'm not sure how well known Eddie Izzard is in the States, but he's a British alternative comedian who does an extremely funny set about the phasers on Star trek where he muses about why they should only have two settings, kill and stun. There ought, he argues, to be something else. How about phasers on "bit of a limp" or phasers on "sudden interest in botany" - bad guys run towards the crew who fire phasers on "sudden interest in botany" and the bad guys break off their attack to look at the flowers growing by their feet. In this case you should imagine the Izzard gun can "fire" pretty much any emotional state I want it to.