Stun guns for everyone? Taser fires up debate

[struggle4progress]

Company eyes civilians, as police review use, experts urge studies

<snip> The civilian model is similar to what police have, with this key difference: Pulling the trigger on the police version provides a five-second stun. The civilian trigger starts at 10 seconds and can be squeezed several times continuously to get a maximum 30 seconds. <snip>

Arizona's attorney general favors police use of tasers, but worries that some civilian buyers might misuse the weapons if the company continues to market them as "non-lethal." He wants Taser, which has headquarters in Arizona, to drop the claim.

In California, state Assemblyman Mark Leno recently introduced legislation to ban personal use of Tasers after having staff research the weapons for the public safety committee that he chairs. <snip>

Taser "dodged" most of the questions his staff asked the company, he said, and the federal Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Taser to determine if it misrepresented the safety of its products to increase stock value. <snip>

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7295368/

[GOPFighter]

1. Hell, why not?

I say arm everyone, kids included, and let's not stop at stun guns, let 'em have any and every weapon they think they need for self protection. Grenade launchers, sting missiles, plastique, whatever. If the military has it, let the public have it as well. Thats what the Founding Fathers wanted, right? Anyone. Everyone. Lets just get this whole gun thing out of our system. If arming everyone stops the violence in this country we'll acknowlege the RKBA'ers as geniuses. If it doesn't, well, the survivors will probably want some changes. Just give me six months to move away, okay?

(Don't mind me. I'm having a terrible, no good, very bad day. :banghead:)

[struggle4progress]

2. You didn't mention nukes. Don't you think everybody should be able ...

... to have nukes? How can I possibly defend myself against my noisy next-door neighbors if you won't let me have nukes?

I think I'm having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad most-of-a-decade right now ...