Reply #60: It's no toy

[Rose Siding]

And I really don't recall any stories of police shooting old women in nursing homes.

Training and kinks are not this weapon's only problems.

Report: Lab backs away from 'safe' finding on Tasers

According to a report in Friday's New York Times, the laboratory cited by Scottsdale-based stun gun manufacturer Taser International in a release calling the weapons "safe and effective" now is saying they may be dangerous and that more study is needed.

In an Oct. 18 statement, Taser officials cited a Department of Defense study by the Human Effects Center of Excellence (HECOE), which was established by the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program. "The HECOE study is the latest chapter in a series of comprehensive medical and scientific studies which conclude that Taser technology is safe and effective," said Rick Smith, Taser's chief executive.

According to the Times article as reported by Reuters, the Air Force Research Laboratory disclosed last week at a symposium that the guns may be dangerous and that more information is necessary to evaluate any risks.

Taser weapons "may cause several unintended effects, albeit with estimated low probabilities of occurrence. Available laboratory data are too limited to adequately quantify possible risks of ventricular fibrillation or seizures, particularly in susceptible populations," the laboratory said, according to the Times.

http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2004/11/22/daily37.html

That doesn't even address the fact that the weapon's supposed non-lethality itself has led to its abuse.