Ban Or Better Regulate Taser Guns

[Guest Prosis]

After hearing about the Robert Dziekanski story as well as two others deaths in Quebec only in the last month after the use of Taser Guns, I've decided to start a petition so that the Ministers of Public Safety from each province as well as the federal Minister, Stockwell Day, reconsider the use of this Weapon and either better regulate it just as guns are or ban it altogether.

 

Sign The Petition

 

Thank You

[Guest Prosis]

I've moved the petition here:

 

http://tasers.symmetryinman.com/

 

Now you can put your name and it will not show on the website.

 

Help out guys! ;)

 

I'm working on getting Amnesty Canada to help out as well!

 

Thanks

[Ravenous megin-sane]

done and done!

[Guest Prosis]

Thanks and thanks ;)

[Zukiki]

I dunno. I believe there should be better training, and that some police officers need a better understanding of when it is and when it is not okay to use a taser, but the outright banning just seems dumb.

Yes people have died from a good tasering, but it doesn't change the fact that tasers are safer then guns.

Regardless of what tools you allow police to use, they can and will find ways to kill innocent people with it, and if all else fails, they'll just beat them to death with thier fists. Law enforcement officers are only human, they really are no better then us. There are some amazing police officers who have saved lives due to the invention of tasers, and then there are police offiers who made bad fucking choices.

 

If we're gonna ban something cause it's resulted in death, we should start with guns, driving, drinking, video games, harry potter...

Edited November 19, 2007 by Zukiki

[Ravenous megin-sane]

harry potter has resulted in death? oh shit!

[Some Random]

maybe they should train police officers to apprehend unarmed people without having to shoot them with a taser. oh wait...they do.

 

edit: i'm not signing the petition. i believe their use should be better regulated, i don't think they should be banned. the petition isn't specific enough for me to put my name on it.

Edited November 19, 2007 by Some Random

[Guest Prosis]

Zukiki: Dude, if I'm not mistaken (and I know I'm not cause I made the post/petition) it says Ban or Better Regulate which means exactly what you said.

 

Also, if you read the text on the petition, you will see that, what is actually asked is for the Ministers of Public Safety to impose moratorium on their use until they either better train their police officers or decide to ban it altogether.

 

You have to remember they introduced the taser gun to control people when they were either dangerous or agitated...but that doesn't mean they should have a chance to die from it. If an police officer had shot Robert Dziekanski in the leg so they could control him and had blown an artery, they would've been accused of criminal negligence. Same should go with improper use of a taser gun.

 

And I don't understand that "They're safer and the person won't always die even if it will happen some times so that makes it OK" frame of mind...I've seen it a couple of times.

[Some Random]

Also, if you read the text on the petition, you will see that, what is actually asked is for the Ministers of Public Safety to impose  moratorium on their use until they either better train their police officers or decide to ban it altogether.

i read the petition, fully, and i'd still be uncomfortable signing it. for me (this is just how i read it) it seems like you're asking for the moratorium, which i'm confortable with, and suggesting two possible solutions. i am only confortable with one of the solutions.

[Guest Prosis]

Well it was aimed at Zukiki mainly

 

But you know I understand why you wouldn't want them banned. I know that they would be a good replacement of the gun...if they were used properly

 

Problem is, there will always be some idiot who's gonna use it wrong which is why I'm suggesting banning as one solution.

[Azalroth]

What would you suggest they use then to help apprehend violent perpetrators? What would they use as an alternative?

 

I agree that people shouldn't be dying from these things but guns will do it too and so will just about anything that's going to stun the person so that the Officers can control the situation.

[Guest Prosis]

Good question J

 

Actually, I hadn't already thought of an alternative although there is always pepper spray. Bare in mind though that, in the current situation they were four officers for one unarmed man, so the taser wasn't needed at all.

 

But I think it would be good to arm them with pepper spray guns. Then, if the perpetrator is still going strong, which happens in some cases, the taser gun could be used.

 

I think you guys are right that they shouldn't be banned. But my aim is to ensure that no more unneeded deaths happen.

[Sparq]

You have to remember they introduced the taser gun to control people when they were either dangerous or agitated...but that doesn't mean they should have a chance to die from it.

Edited November 19, 2007 by Sparq

[Guest Prosis]

No I'm not kidding

 

Accidents happen, I can't argue with that. But this has nothing to do with it. If it is known that a weapon (because that's what it is) may cause death then it should be used only when necessary like guns.

 

But if they cannot make sure that these deaths don't happen (because the thing was invented so they don't have to use guns which are officially the deadly equivalent to this "undeadly" weapon...) then those weapons are not better than guns.

 

If the police is not able to use them responsibly which mean:

 

1-Recognize that there is a death threat which they don't

2-Use it ONLY when it's a major case and when they would normally use a gun. In that case, it's safer yes. But don't use it to control anyone...

 

In the Dziekanski case, they wouldn't have used a gun, then the taser didn't have its place either.

 

Oh I hear people saying "well no because guns kill almost everytime not the taser"...so a part time killing weapon is OK? You're in a bar and you're bigger than the policeman who came to arrest you so he shoots you with a taser gun and you die...that's OK? Because that's pretty much the way the Dziekanski case was handled...

 

Other than that, either they put more men to arrest them or they use non deadly manners. If there are none, then more people have to be involved in controlling people who resist arrest.

 

But NO ONE deserves to die because they're resisting arrest.

 

I don't give a flying fuck that it doesn't happen all the time. It does sometimes, so use another way of doing it. Period.

 

Don't ban it? Fine, but if they don't they'll have to make sure that tasers are treated as a deadly weapon...because it is. Like I said, if they had shot Dziekanski in the leg and had blown an artery, they would have been accused of criminal negligence. Same goes with this weapon.

[Sparq]

Right, I understand your position on all that, but you can't classify something as a deadly weapon when it is lethal in an extremely low percentage of cases. If you could, then police would already be barred from using batons, flashlights, their vehicles, even their bare hands to subdue an opponent. If 1/100,000 people die from eating carrots, the FDA doesn't call it lethal poison and ban it. The taser exists to provide a less-lethal alternative to shooting someone with 9mm parabellum. It has done that. No system is perfect, so I don't know what you want here. Are you saying that police should only be allowed to use force equal to that of the suspect, but in greater numbers?

 

Again, I'm not saying that they aren't over-using the tasers. It's quite likely that they are, because the device is safer, more efficient, more effective, and causes less injury compared to brute force in most cases. Apparently, too useful for it's own good. But banning them is not an answer. Regulate, sure. Impose strict guidelines for when, where, and how they may be used.

 

I suppose if the man who died had been aiming a gun at the officer, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

[Zukiki]

I'm all for better training, and regulations as I said. While it won't put an end to the deaths it can certainly reduce the number of deaths.

I was just nit picking about the banning (like everyone else).

[Guest Prosis]

Yeah you guys are right no system is perfect. I'll change the text to remove ban.

 

The story touched me too much which made my petition text incoherent.

 

So now, we ask for a moratorium until it is better regulated.

Edited November 19, 2007 by Prosis

[Bizud]

Yeah, few people are going to have a problem with the taser being used on someone who is armed or otherwise a clear and present danger. The problem is that the police are allowed to use it to assist in the subduing of any resistant subject - that has to change. You shouldn't be allowed to tase unless absolutely necessary.

[Guest Prosis]

Now you guys can sign it ;)

[Kenwell]

I think that perhaps it is the officers who need more training on the matter. The man was deprived of food and water for 10 hours. Hell, the whole incident felt very American to me. It was the whole, shoot first and ask questions later mentality. So, in order to rectify this, why not better educate the officers using tasers.

[jjp21]

I was shocked with a taser gun, not tasered, but with a fucking taser gun. It's awful.

 

They should be banned.

Edited January 2, 2008 by jjp21

[Guest Prosis]

Why were you shot?

[jjp21]

Drunken disorderly (I wasn't at all disorderly, though I had been drinking and bar hopping in Charlotte) and resisting. I was resisting because I hadn't done anything. But they quickly pulled the taser gun and shocked me.

[Guest Prosis]

That's what I'm fighting against

[jjp21]

It is abuse and I am strongly, strongly against them. They cause nerve damage, make you loose all control of your body (I vomited), and are extremely painful and disorientating. How is that not torture?

 

Officers are trained in unharmed take down methods and they should stick to them. And of course I'm not advocating that unarmed should be the only method, but tasers shouldn't be used at all.