Taser issues advisory on use of stun guns

(AP) -- Taser International is advising police agencies across the nation not to shoot its stun guns at a suspect's chest.

The Arizona-based company says such action poses a risk - albeit extremely low - of an "adverse cardiac event."

The advisory was issued in an Oct. 12 training bulletin. It marks the first time that Taser has suggested there is any risk of a cardiac arrest related to the use of its 50,000-volt stun guns.

Taser officials said Tuesday the bulletin does not state that Tasers can cause cardiac arrest. They said the advisory means only that law-enforcement agencies can avoid controversy if their officers aim at areas other than the chest.

Critics called it a stunning reversal for the company.

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• Arkaleus - Oct 21, 2009
  • Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
  This on was a long time coming. Tasers have been killing people because they are intrinsically dangerous devices that interfere with the human nervous system. Cops that indiscriminately use the taser as a "compliance device" will find themselves in legal trouble. Tasers encourage police brutality, increases the tendency of the officer to resort immediately to force when dealing with the public, and exposes the public to lethal danger during non-life threatening situations.
  
  Tasers should be treated as lethal devices, used with care. Cops who Taser children and invalids should be fired and fined.
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• freethinking - Oct 21, 2009
  • Rank: 1 / 5 (2)
  This is unfortunate. Tasers have been saving lives because it gives the police a different option than shooting people or clubbing them both of which cause much more harm to a person than a taser hit.
  
  Can Tasers be misused? Of course it can. But if a cop is going to misuse a tool on me, I rather have it be a taser no permamant injury and I'm back on my feet in a few minutes if not sooner. Getting punched, being put in a joint lock, or being hit with a club... weeks or months before the injury heals. Pepper spray, intense pain for up to an hour.
  
  Cops who taser (or attack) anyone without cause should (must) be punished. Invalids, children, elderly, who pose a danger, should count themselves lucky if they get tased instead of shot. If people comply with cops, the chances that they will do anything to you is extremely remote.
  
  I tell my kids, if they are belligerant to cops, the chances increase signficantly that something bad will happen to you when you encounter cops.
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• ArtflDgr - Oct 22, 2009
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  how about a warning not to use it on pregnant women, children, and as a torture device while seeking compliance which cant be met while being tortured...
  
  
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• freethinking - Oct 22, 2009
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  how about a warning. If you are pregnant, or a child, if you spit, swear at, threaten, hold something that looks like a weapon while doing any of the above or even if you fight a cop, your likelyhood of being tased increases significantly.
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