After witnessing the Keystone Cops incident in Lombard, Il while at the USPRA conference this year, I wrote here that I had reformed opinions on the use of stun guns, especially when rent-a-cops and/or "private" law enforcement personnel gets their hands on them.
Here's the problem, as my peanut-sized mind sees it: because they are billed as being an essentially "non-lethal" method of forcing compliance and submission to authority figures, people who would never be allowed to carry a firearm in the course of their job duties are given these damned things as an alternative. The problem here is that there is a growing perception of non-lethality when using them, which I suspect makes carriers of this weapon more inclined to use them.
Numerous studies have indicated that stun guns may be much more deadly than previously thought, and while they are unequivocally safer overall than a hunk of lead traveling at 4000 feet per second, they still have the capability of killing someone.
Dead is dead; doesn't matter if it's by bullet or by bugzapper.
My original disgust and outrage over the treatment of the man in the mall remains unchanged but I would state here that I recognize the value of these weapons when used correctly and for the right purpose.
Unfortunately, because human beings are in control of these weapons, one can never be certain whether the operator will use it correctly and for the right purpose.
Therefore, if a stun gun is to be utilized, a simple method of determining whether it is to be used or not is to treat it as we do other weapons of deadly force; is the life of the carrier or another in danger as a result of the behavior of the intended target? If the answer is yes, then by all means, use the stun gun. If it is no, alternative methods of control should be attempted.
NewsChannel 5.com - Nashville, Tennessee - Man Dies After Shot With Stun Gun
Here's the problem, as my peanut-sized mind sees it: because they are billed as being an essentially "non-lethal" method of forcing compliance and submission to authority figures, people who would never be allowed to carry a firearm in the course of their job duties are given these damned things as an alternative. The problem here is that there is a growing perception of non-lethality when using them, which I suspect makes carriers of this weapon more inclined to use them.
Numerous studies have indicated that stun guns may be much more deadly than previously thought, and while they are unequivocally safer overall than a hunk of lead traveling at 4000 feet per second, they still have the capability of killing someone.
Dead is dead; doesn't matter if it's by bullet or by bugzapper.
My original disgust and outrage over the treatment of the man in the mall remains unchanged but I would state here that I recognize the value of these weapons when used correctly and for the right purpose.
Unfortunately, because human beings are in control of these weapons, one can never be certain whether the operator will use it correctly and for the right purpose.
Therefore, if a stun gun is to be utilized, a simple method of determining whether it is to be used or not is to treat it as we do other weapons of deadly force; is the life of the carrier or another in danger as a result of the behavior of the intended target? If the answer is yes, then by all means, use the stun gun. If it is no, alternative methods of control should be attempted.
NewsChannel 5.com - Nashville, Tennessee - Man Dies After Shot With Stun Gun
Man Dies After Shot With Stun Gun
Posted: July 3, 2008 12:00 PM
(Associated Press)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A man died after Metro Louisville police used an electrical stun device on him to break up a fight.
A police spokeswoman told the Courier-Journal the man went into what she described as a "medical emergency" after a police officer shocked him with the stun gun late Wednesday night.
Police performed CPR on him until an ambulance arrived, but the man was pronounced dead at a hospital. Police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley said the man and his brother were fighting and the first officer on the scene called for backup.
The man, his brother and the two officers were not immediately identified. In September 2006, Louisville police shocked another man with a stun gun and he also died.
A coroner's report concluded that man died of a condition known as excited delirium.
