Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Get your own stun gun

Taser International Inc., the stun gun maker whose shares have more than tripled this year, said it is in talks with Sharper Image Corp. about distributing a new consumer version of the weapon. The shares rose 19 percent.
  Argus article

If you've got $700 to dole out for one. Of course, I'm sure you could put it on your charge card.

Taser's weapons send electrical energy through a body, causing a subject to lose muscular control.

The guns use compressed nitrogen to shoot two copper wires as far as 21 feet (6.4 meters). The wires are tipped with probes that apply an electrical shock.

I predict this is going to do wonders for personal space. Finally people will stop crowding me.

The company has continually used the twisted logic so dear to corporate America that its product is actually helping save lives and cause less injury. But, Amnesty International has shown that police officers throughout the country have been trigger happy with the Taser gun even after they have a person in custody, simply because of the gun's "nonlethal" categorization. Taser's guns send 50,000 volts of electricity through a person's central nervous system, causing them to instantly fall into a heap. But, since these guns aren't marketed as killing machines, law enforcement officials seem encouraged to use them handily. Also, the after-effects of these guns hasn't been studied, according to Amnesty, which has since February 2003 called for a ban on the guns.
  The Killing Train blog post

But the humor value is priceless. Watch this guy! Zap. Human puddle. Oh yeah, I can't wait to get mine. I already have a couple guys in mind.

Do you think this might actually escalate violence?

Well, just remember, actual bullets travel further than 21 feet. So be careful who you decide to stun.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

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