Mission Statement - De-Spinning the Pro-Taser Propaganda

Yeah right, 'Excited Delirium' my ass...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The primary purpose of this blog is to provide an outlet for my observations and analysis about tasers, taser "associated" deaths, and the behaviour exhibited by the management, employees and minions of Taser International. In general, everything is linked back to external sources, often via previous posts on the same topic, so that readers can fact-check to their heart's content. This blog was started in late-2007 when Canadians were enraged by the taser death of Robert Dziekanski and four others in a short three month period. The cocky attitude exhibited by the Taser International spokespuppet, and his preposterous proposal that Mr. Dziekanski coincidentally died of "excited delirium" at the time of his taser-death, led me to choose the blog name I did and provides my motivation. I have zero financial ties to this issue.



Sunday, January 3, 2010

Civilian tasers and background checks

Taser International assures us that civilian tasers are shipped in a deactivated state, and the new owner must undergo a background check before the weapon can be activated.

Julie Ann Kilgore says she is not sure how she managed to survive. When her boyfriend, Dennis Gene Cox, 50, kidnapped her at her home at gunpoint Tuesday afternoon, his intention was to eventually shoot her. Through four days and three nights of being tied, handcuffed, threatened with a gun and a Taser, shunted among various hiding places and repeatedly raped, the 48-year-old Brighton nurse managed to stay calm and never antagonized her captor. ...

In Durango, Cox worked at his father's music store, married three women and got arrested 41 times for crimes including domestic violence, drug possession and drunken driving. ... At a 2008 high school reunion, Cox, just released from parole after a menacing conviction...
[LINK]


One explanation might be that the device in question was not actually a Taser-brand taser. These sorts of editorial mistakes happen all the time with the Taser brand name.

Then again, perhaps it actually was a Taser-brand taser. Which leads to perfectly-reasonable questions about the effectiveness of the supposed anti-felon background checks made by Taser International before a taser can be activated.

Any investigative journalists with nothing better to do could test the system to see if it is actually effective, or if it is just for show.

UPDATE: See also [LINK] !!

No comments: