Taser Maker Insists Stun Guns Are Safe

Tom Smith, who testified before the House of Commons public safety committee in Ottawa, said Tasers have been tested on 600,000 police officers and more than 400,000 ordinary citizens like himself, and no serious health complications arose. Smith said the trials were done on all types of people, in the hopes of mirroring the different people who might need to be subdued by a Taser gun in real life. Some of those tested had heart conditions, while others were under the influence of alcohol when they were stunned. Some of the subjects were made to do intense aerobic activity before being hit so that they were fatigued when they were shocked. "I do believe the research that is out there today - while you'll never be able to look at every possible scenario that exists - certainly covers the vast majority of cases that exist within the human body." The public safety committee is studying the growing use of Tasers in Canada, where more than 6,800 officers are armed with the stun guns. The committee will hear testimony from RCMP officers, customs officials and airport workers before drafting a report to Parliament. The probe comes after Robert Dziekanski, a 40-year-old Polish man, died at Vancouver International Airport after being stunned with a Taser by police on Oct. 14, 2007. About 300 people in North America have died after being hit with a stun gun, about 20 of them in Canada, the public safety committee heard Wednesday. ... But Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh noted that studies have emerged questioning the safety of Tasers. A Chicago study unearthed by CBC News on Wednesday concluded that pigs hit with Taser guns were left with heart rhythm problems. Two of the 11 pigs tested died soon after. Dosanjh said he believes police should have a non-lethal alternative like a Taser, but he wants to be sure that the stun guns are, in fact, non-lethal. "I was the attorney general in British Columbia when, for the first time in Canada, the device was introduced with Victoria police," Dosanjh said. "I was assured that this is absolutely non-lethal, and that it would be used sparingly by the police, and I have now come to believe that it is riskier than I was led to believe, and in fact, it was not used as sparingly as it ought to be used." . . . http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/080130/canada/canada_tasers_committee

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