Manufacturer Finally Admits Tasers Can Kill
TASER Restrictions: Aim for what now? [Quoting from the Arizona Republic.]The maker of Taser stun guns is advising officers to avoid shooting suspects in the chest with the 50,000-volt weapon, saying that it could pose an extremely low risk of an"adverse cardiac event."
The advisory, issued in an Oct. 12 training bulletin, is the first time that Taser International has suggested there is any risk of a cardiac arrest related to the discharge of its stun gun. But Taser officials said Tuesday that the bulletin does not state that Tasers can cause cardiac arrest. They said the advisory means only that law-enforcement agencies can avoid controversy over the subject if their officers aim at areas other than the chest.
So what use is the TASER if you can't fire it at the largest target possible - center mass? We guess we'll be going back to shooting and killing non-compliant subjects and mentally disturbed individuals shortly.
First of all...WONDERFUL. Even a cop I semi-respect predicts that taser restrictions will mean"going back to shooting and killing non-compliant subjects and mentally disturbed individuals shortly." Note: he doesn't say"violent" or"threatening" subjects but uses the word"non-compliant." As in the non-protestor who was forced to his knees by police for a trophy photo during the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh? If the student (who was returning home from a pizza parlor) has been less compliant in kneeling before the ring of policemen, would he have been tasered and/or shot? What an honororable profession it is to be a policeman!
Second and last of all...I wish people would stop calling tasers"non-lethal." There are dozens of cases in which tasers have clearly caused death. What they are is"less lethal" than guns...at least, guns in the hands of cops. In the hands of people who use guns responsibly, the weapons prevent violence and do not cause it.
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