TASER INTERNATIONAL PHOTO
The TASER XREP, for eXtended Range Electronic Projectile, is a self-contained wireless projectile that fires from a standard 12-gauge shotgun and has a range of up to 30 metres.
Posted on 02/01/2008 5:16:10 PM PST by BGHater
Weapons maker's CEO defends safety of his products to MPs
The Arizona-based company that makes Taser stun guns is developing a new device that is launched from a 12-gauge shotgun and can fire an electric charge from 20 metres away.
The new technology has already led to inquiries from Canadian law enforcement agencies.
Tom Smith, founder and chief executive officer of Taser International Inc., told a parliamentary committee studying the safety of the current Taser models in use that no deaths in Canada have been caused by the weapons.
Smith said "scientific" research shows the stun guns are safe if used properly.
The new shotgun-launched model is to be studied jointly by the United Kingdom, the United States and the federally funded Canadian Police Research Centre, and may be available by this year, he said.
Smith said the two pistol-like models now in use in Canada have not been found to have caused or contributed to any of 300 deaths in the United States, or 16 deaths in Canada where a weapon was discharged.
He later modified that to some 270 U.S. cases, adding it was listed as a "contributing factor" in fewer than 30 cases where another weapon, such as pepper spray or a baton, had also been used.
But he insisted that in 16 deaths in Canada where a Taser's use was "peer reviewed through the process of an inquest," the Taser did not cause or contribute to the death.
Smith would not comment on whether the Taser was a factor in the October death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport, saying "we'll wait to see" the results of at least nine investigations into that incident.
Smith said the Taser was an "intermediate" device in the police arsenal – to be used where police meet active resistance, just as they would use pepper spray or a baton – not a substitute for a firearm or a tool of second-last resort.
He said it is up to individual police forces to design good policy and training for its use.
But Smith said "one of the limitations" of the current Taser models is the length of the wires that run from the hand-held weapon to its small electronic darts, which means the jolt cannot be delivered beyond about eight metres.
"One of the requests we had from law enforcement and military in particular, was that they would like to be able to reach, let's say, a person in a barricade situation," Smith told the committee.
The shotgun-launched Taser's jolt would be similar to the shock from the wired weapon. But unlike the wired device, which can arc 50,000 volts through up to five centimetres of clothing, the longer-range Taser darts would have to pierce the skin.
Liberal member of Parliament Ujjal Dosanjh and Bloc Québécois MP Serge Ménard – former attorneys general for B.C. and Quebec who approved Taser use in their provinces – said they had been led to believe the weapons were "less than lethal" and would be used sparingly, in situations whether a firearm was the only alternative.
Dosanjh said later that he still thinks police ought to have access to Tasers, but he did not believe Smith's claim the Taser played no role in any deaths. "That's a fairy tale. ... The fact is, the Taser was used and the death followed. I believe there is a relationship."
Smith rejected suggestions his company has paid police officers to vouch for the weapon. He said Taser had given money to just two Canadian police officers – one who designed a holster for a Taser, and another who taught a training course in Europe on his own time.
Smith also denied paying any Canadian coroners to give favourable reviews of the weapon, but he admitted the company had paid "travel expenses" to Ontario deputy coroner Dr. Jim Cairns so he could speak at "some conferences."
>> Smith said “scientific” research shows the stun guns are safe if used properly.
ROFL! “if used properly”, eh? What the ‘ell does THAT mean??!?
The Lesson here is don’t go pissing off the wrong Canuckistani Cop on your next smuggling run to B.C. for illegal Cuban stogies...
Here endeth the Lesson...
...would have to pierce the skin owwww! I have had the original Taser darts in my skin and pulling out the barbed darts was no fun at all. The shock wasn't much fun either but the piercing from the darts is even harder to forget.
Non lethal weapons absolutely should not look like real weapons. Otherwise it’s only a matter of time until they’re having a press conference about the cop who forgot what was in the chamber and blew a man’s guts all over the sidewalk for resisting a parking tarket.
***the longer-range Taser darts would have to pierce the skin. ***
Sounds similar to the weapons used by Captain Nemo.
In other news...
EL CID is out on DVD! EL CID is out on DVD!
A must have for the highway bandits in Utah, where they like to watch their prey “ride the taserâ€!
A must have for the highway bandits in Utah, where they like to watch their prey “ride the taser”.
Cool... use these bad boyz against any/all smelly granola eating hippie tree squatters.
Sorry but there is NOTHING showing the difference between a lethal and non leathal weapon here. ANY cop brandishing this is going to look like he is about to kill his victim.
Which means more and more criminals will go for broke and shoot them.
It would be fun to see AA-12 Automatic Shotgun shooting these rounds, becoming a riot control and anti-terrorism weapon.
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