At the Taser annual conference earlier this year,
the company's executives unveiled a number of new products.
Among them was the C2, designed mainly to discharge a single jolt.
"Use it, drop it and run."

SHOCKING STUN GUN CIVILIANS

Myriad websites offer stun guns - with far more voltage than Tasers - for sale.
A 200,000-volt model is sold on some sites for about $20.
A one-million-volt model goes for about $100.
Tasers, on the other hand, are rated at about 50,000 volts.

Sales boom as home parties show off new stun gun
by Omar El Akkad, Globe & Mail, Dec 1, 2007

LAS VEGAS -- At the Gun Store in Las Vegas, amid rows of rifles, bin Laden targets and the constant rat-tat-tat of gunfire from the backroom range, almost anyone can walk in and buy a Taser for about $350.

Anyone can buy a Taser, they just can't use it right away.

A few months ago, the world's biggest stun gun maker revealed a lower-cost model primarily for civilians. The device has energized a mini-revolution in Taser sales, fuelling everything from designer colours for the fashion-conscious to Tupperware-like Taser parties for Southwestern soccer moms.

For years, Tasers have been available to the public. However at about $1,000, the powerful X26 was too expensive for most, and designed primarily for police officers. The newly released C2 costs less than half as much, and is disappearing off U.S. store shelves quickly.

In states where the device is legal for civilian use, pretty much anyone can buy the C2. However, it can't be activated until Taser headquarters flicks the switch, something the company does only after conducting a background check on the owner.

Unlike the more expensive police model, which can fire multiple shots, the C2 is designed mainly to discharge a single jolt. "The idea is to use it, drop it and run," says a salesman at the Gun Store, a $7-million-a-year business especially popular with British tourists.

But anyone who does use the device, drop it and run doesn't have to worry. Send a copy of the ensuing police report to Taser International, the salesman says, and the company will send a new one free.

Taser has recently focused on the consumer market, especially women.

During a speech at a Taser conference earlier this year, Taser executives said the choice to make C2s available in a variety of colours was in part for female customers. The company's website features large banner ads advertising the civilian model, including one featuring a picture of a woman and the line: "I will control my own destiny." Another shows a picture of Santa, next to the words: "What does Santa bring you when you have been good but the world is getting bad?"

The C2 is quickly gaining popularity, fuelling such unique businesses as Shieldher, a Taser dealership that focuses on women, hosting home parties to show off the stun guns.

But the C2 is only one of the ways Taser International is looking to capitalize on its current financial success - the company's stock price has soared over the past year.

At the Taser annual conference earlier this year, the company's executives unveiled a number of new products. Among them was the C2, as well as a new electronic control device that uses cartridges that can be fired from a shotgun.

Tasers and other stun guns are illegal for civilian use in Canada. However, they sometimes end up in the country anyway.

In September, a 13-year-old Catholic secondary school student in Toronto was caught with a powerful stun gun in his backpack.

One of the easiest ways to get the illegal devices into the country is through the Internet. Myriad websites offer stun guns - with far more voltage than Tasers - for sale. A 200,000-volt model, for example, is sold on some sites for about $20. A one-million-volt model goes for about $100. Tasers, on the other hand, are rated at about 50,000 volts. And customers often don't need to submit to a background check before firing up their far more powerful Internet-bought stun guns.

Taser firm's relations with coroner to be probed
by Jessica Leeder & Caroline Alphonso,
Globe & Mail, Dec 1, 2007

TORONTO -- A federal Commons committee set to explore a string of deaths after taser use will expand its probe to include relationships the stun gun manufacturer has with Canadian officials, members said yesterday. That will include a look at the relationship between Taser International and James Cairns, Ontario's deputy chief coroner, who said this week he has allowed Taser and a second company closely linked to the manufacturer to pay his travel expenses for lecturing at their U.S. conferences. Dr. Cairns is one of Canada's best-known coroners and has been asked to testify as an expert on in-custody deaths, which sometimes occur after a person has been shocked with a taser. He told The Globe and Mail he doesn't view his participation at the conferences as a conflict of interest because he does not accept fees, and attends on his vacation time. "I am not an agent for Taser or anything else," Dr. Cairns said in an interview this week. "I do not own Taser shares. I wanted there to be no conflict of interest."

Members of the Commons public safety committee, which will begin their taser investigation in January, disagree. "This is clearly a case where someone is absolutely blind to the issue. The fact is there is a perception of conflict of interest," said Ujjal Dosanjh, the federal Liberal public safety critic. "When you are testifying in court or at coroners' inquests ... the public needs to know you have no conflict of interest and that there is no appearance of the conflict of interest," he said. Mr. Dosanjh said that public officials invited to Taser and related conferences should question the sponsors' motivations. "I'm sure Taser International wouldn't pay for anyone that disagrees with the use of taser. That should tell you there is a huge problem," he said, adding: "I'm just troubled that Dr. Cairns wouldn't see that there is a conflict of interest." NDP public safety critic Penny Priddy said: "When a coroner's office issues a statement, people take that as an absolute word. I just think that they cannot afford to do this. They should know better." Ms. Priddy said she thinks Dr. Cairns' connection to Taser International will "cloud any comments he's going to make" at future inquests. Ontario's Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Rick Bartolucci, declined to comment yesterday on whether the expense-paid trips constitute a conflict under provincial policy. A spokeswoman said the minister does not become involved in human resources matters.

SUSPECT-SUBDUING SICKO-LED (reader is sickened by the sick weapon Homeland Security has in the works)

Shotgun taser on the way (intermediate police arsenal device like pepper spray & baton). TorontoStar, Jan 31, 2008

Sales boom as home parties show off new stun gun. Globe & Mail, Dec 1, 2007

Taser relations with coroner probed. Globe & Mail, Dec 1, 2007

ELECTRIC SHOCK TEACHING BNW

40.Electric Shock Brainwashing and 13.Weapons and 42.BB Tells Why

Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~

email: orwelltoday@gmail.com
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