The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that little pink Tasers, which look like electric shavers, have become a hot seller. Taser International is even promoting Tasers as Valentine presents, saying, "If you love her, protect her."
At the same time, I am seeing stories from state after state where legislators are considering bans on civilian Tasers.
Here are stories from Maryland, Michigan and Canada about the debate over whether civilians should be allowed to carry Tasers. A half-dozen states have restrictions already, according to one article.
The Enquirer says:
Customers have jumped at the new products, snapping up thousands of
C2s in their first few months on the market, (company spokesman Pete) Holran said. Taser also
sells a holster embedded with an MP3 player. Prices range from $300 to
$380 for C2.
In Arizona, one woman even throws Taser parties,
letting other women test her pink C2 the way they would a new shade of
lipstick or plastic gravy boat. Dana Shafman, who doesn't work for
Taser, said she tried moonlighting as a door-to-door Taser saleswoman,
but years of negative press about Taser made it tough.
"I got
tired of being pushed out of people's offices," Shafman said. "Nobody
wants to purchase a product that they think is lethal or going to kill
somebody."
The C2 works like the cops' stun guns, with a few
differences. It's smaller and slimmer, Holran said, easier to carry in
a pocket or purse than the bulky old models. Its range is 15 feet, 10
to 20 feet shorter than the distance afforded officers.
And its burst lasts 30 seconds, six times as long as the law enforcement Tasers.
The
longer time means a person can shoot the stun gun, then put it down --
while it's still attached to its target -- and get away. Taser, in fact,
encourages just that: The company will replace the C2 if its owner
produces a police report documenting what happened.
"The mission of the company is to protect life," Holran said.
But Tasing -- which Cincinnati police spend eight hours training for - can come with consequences.
The story says if a Taser owner shoots and it turns out not to be justifiable self-defense, the shooter could face a felony rap and eight years in the cooler.
