Is that an enemy? As I recall* they're an item that only the player can use, they never appear out in the wild and you don't have to fight against them (unless they ricochet back at you). Also, this is just my interpretation, but they seem mechanical to me, not alive.
* which is clearly not as reliable a source as it could be
You're right (and upvoted accordingly), but if said evil company is as much of a clusterfuck as OP said, I wouldn't bet on them having competent security measures in place.