The PSP-2 uses a piezoelectric pressure chamber to accelerate irregular ceramic-composite shot — colloquially called 'gravel' — through a flared, ported barrel at velocities sufficient to cause severe soft tissue trauma at close range. Unlike conventional propellant-driven scatter weapons, the PSP-2 generates its launch impulse by compressing a stack of lead zirconate titanate crystals through a pneumatic ram driven by a small compressed-gas reservoir. The result is a sharp, high-pressure wave behind a 12-gram load of jagged ceramic pellets, each roughly 4-6mm across and shaped irregularly to maximize tumbling and tissue disruption on impact.

The weapon's defining characteristic is its near-zero electromagnetic signature. The piezoelectric firing mechanism generates no radio frequency emissions, no electrical arc, and no magnetic field detectable by standard security scanners. The ceramic shot is likewise invisible to ferromagnetic detection systems. This makes the PSP-2 exceptionally difficult to detect with the building-security scanner arrays common in mid-tier arcology commercial zones, and has earned it a quiet, persistent presence in spaces where conventional firearms cannot go. The gas reservoir — which looks identical to a standard asthma inhaler canister — provides approximately 8 shots before requiring replacement.

The PSP-2 is manufactured by ARCTURUS DEFENSE SOLUTIONS under a 'less-lethal research' designation, a legal fiction that has persisted because the weapon's lethality at under 4 meters is genuinely inconsistent — it maims reliably, kills only sometimes. At longer ranges it is primarily an incapacitant, shredding exposed skin and eyes without reliably penetrating clothing. This ambiguous lethality has kept it in a legal gray zone, sold openly in several GLMZ districts as a 'personal safety device' while remaining functionally a close-quarters weapon capable of ending confrontations permanently.