Bill Skinner wrote on May 5
th, 2019 at 2:34pm:
Wow. I guess a sling would be a good weapon for a rioter.
This is purely conjecture and not based on any actual statistics or historical evidence, but I wouldn't be surprised if slings have been used in the majority of riots and popular uprisings in history to some extent. It's an incredibly simple weapon to make, it can be devastating and large sections of the population (lower class sections but a large number of people nonetheless) would have had some experience with using them, even if it was just as children.
Honestly, if I was involved in revolution, one the first things I'd pick up is a sling. As Jaegoor was saying, even modern armour struggles against getting hit with a fast moving rock. My martial arts instructor (Choi Kwang Do) is a policeman and was on duty in Birmingham during the riots that happened across England a few years ago. He was in full riot gear and got hit in the head with a brick. He was actually uninjured but his helmet was badly damaged and the psychological impact was obvious. This is a guy with a handshake that could break your hand and could shout (kihap = "spirit yell") so loud it would leave your ears ringing and his voice was breaking as he recalled what happened and that was with a hand-thrown brick. Even two or three slingers mixed in with general rioters would be devastating.