Taser Times Three Bro

Taser International (TASR) has now come out with a new device. The new Taser X3 can effectively hit up to three individual targets without reloading. The company is based out of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Three Taser employees were tased on Friday, 10 July 2009 at the Taser headquarters. Here is the YouTube link on Taser3X.

The word Taser is an acronym for a fictional weapon — Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle.

But, the Taser weapons are not without controversy. A December 2008 report from Amnesty International said 334 people had died after being shocked by Tasers between 2001 and August 2008.

Just how many deaths will it take to realize the dangers of this “non-lethal” weapon? Is the infliction of 50,000 volts on a subject really a humanitarian effort enacted by policemen? Wouldn’t something like tear gas or pepper spray be less lethal?

On October 14, 2007, Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski was tasered five times by Canadian police officers in Vancouver. Dziekanski died as a result from the incident. Here is the disturbing video. He was forced to wait 10 hours at the Vancouver International Airport before the fatal shooting.

Three of the shots hit the man. That is equivalent to 150,000 volts used on an unarmed man (he had a staple gun), that could not speak English, and obviously had become frustrated of his whereabouts. The third and fourth shots were fired simultaneosly, being equivalent to 100,000 volts at one time. Dziekanski had offered no threatening gestures towards the police.

On June 20, 2009, during the proceedings, it was discovered in an email what the officers had planned.  They had predetermined that they would use tasers even before encountering Dziekanski. The officers have not been charged with anything.

Zofia Cisowski, Dziekanski’s mother, commented to CBC News Dec 2008:

“I am so angry. I am so surprised that they made a decision like that. I am disappointed.”