Taser is an electroshock less-lethal weapon
based on the electro-muscular disruption technology. In the device electrical
current is used to temporarily incapacitate and subdue the subject.
Even though Tasers were originally introduced as relatively safe devices
that did not cause death, there is a lot of controversy over this weapon
being used by law-enforcement officers and civilians.
The word itself is an acronym derived
from a novel by Victor Appleton “Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle”
(Tom Swift and his Electric Rifle), the letter “A” being
added to provide for a more aesthetically acceptable appearance of the
word. Today “Taser” is a registered trademark of the company
Taser International. The acronym is also widely used as both a regular
noun (so it can be used in plural), and a verb – to taser, i.e.
to use a Taser on someone. This invention has had a great impact on
the lives of many people around the world by making safety measures
less complicated yet more humane.
The idea of this weapon can be best described
with the words spoken by Tom Smith – the current Chairman of Taser
International:
“Pepper spray goes on for hours and hours, hitting someone with
a baton breaks limbs, shooting someone with a firearm causes permanent
damage, even punching and kicking - the intent of those tools is to
inflict pain, ... with the Taser, the intent is not to inflict pain;
it's to end the confrontation. When it's over, it's over.”
The first Taser was invented in 1974 by
John H. Cover who at that time worked for NASA as a Chief Scientist
for Apollo Moon Landing program. The dream of the developer was to reduce
violence by offering a non-lethal highly efficient weapon that could
be used by primarily law-enforcement officers to subdue criminals at
the same time without putting their own safety at risk. The idea of
creating such a device appeared when in the 1960-s Cover saw an address
of the president Lyndon Johnson to the Blue Ribbon Crime Commission
in which he raised the issue of frequent riots, civil unrests and airplane
hijackings that needed to be dealt with using less radical measures.
Cover drew the inspiration from one case that also happened at that
time – he read about a hiker that happened to freeze to a fence,
being forced to spend several hours without any possibility of escaping.
The fence was connected with a downed high-voltage power line and, surprisingly
enough, the hiker survived.
In 1696 John Cover started his work and
in less than 5 years the original Taser came into existence. Cover named
the device after his childhood fictional hero – Tom Swift, a young
protagonist of adventure novels renowned for his amazing inventions.
It was in the 10th volume of the novel series where Tom Swift came up
with yet another invention – an electric rifle that was supposed
to fire bolts of electricity, could be calibrated to a number of levels
and was powerful enough to shoot though solid walls without leaving
any marks.
The first Tasers developed were actually classified as firearms by the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, due to the fact gunpowder was
used to fire a shot, and it was only in 1994 when a new model manufactured
by the company was recognized as a non-firearm. The new model –
Air Taser 34000 was developed as a result of concerted efforts of Rick
Smith, his brother Tom Smith (the two later founded Taser International
company, becoming its CEO and Chairman, respectively) and John Cover.
The primary purpose of Taser International, which appeared in 1993,
was to prevent meaningless deaths, at the same time enabling people
to protect themselves against the attacker and avoid legal issues later
on. The device was equipped with an AFID (anti-felon identification)
system to prevent criminals from using the device against law enforcement
officers.
From the first day of its foundation the company
has been working on perfecting their ideas and technologies to achieve
best results. In 1999 Taser International introduced Tasers based on
the NMI (neuromuscular incapacitation) technology. The technology is
based on sending electric impulses to cause powerful stimulation of
the sensory and motor nerves (the difference between NMI Taser and previously
used conventional stun gun is that the latter affected only sensory
nerves, which resulted in great pain, but at times could be inefficient
when used on people high pain tolerance). When someone is tasered they
are unable to stay on their feet and usually fall, may experience involuntary
muscle contractions and feel dazed for several seconds of minutes, which
should be enough for the officer to arrest the suspect or for a person
using the weapon as protection to escape.
Almost four years later, in May 2003,
Taser International came up with a new technology for their weapons
- Shaped Pulse Technology. This is a more advanced technology in which
a highly refined energy pulse is used. First, some portion of the energy
penetrates the barrier, such as clothes or even a body vest, that may
be as thick as 5 cm.; then the flow of electricity follows this “path”
through the barrier providing necessary effect.
The propellant currently used in Tasers
is compressed nitrogen that pushes out two probes connected with the
gun by conductive wire. Each probe is barbed and has a pointed end which
allows it to stay in place when it’s fired. Air cartridges, each
containing 2 of such probes, as well as a nitrogen charge, have to be
replaced after each shot is made. There are several types of air cartridges
available on the market: these may vary depending on the distance of
the shot, maximum range being 10.6 meters for law-enforcement officers,
and 4.5 meters for civilians. Although the primary goal is to subdue
the subject in order to safely escort him to a detention facility, sometimes
Tasers may be used by law enforcement officers to inflict pain –
they can do so by holding the device against the subject without the
probes being fired (drive stun capability).
Although Tasers were designed with maximum
security in mind – for both the subject and the person using the
weapon – there is currently a lot of controversy over the use
of these devices. The controversy has to do with the allegations of
the American Civil Liberties Union, according to which, over the past
10 years some 150 people in the US and Canada died after Tasers had
been used on them, although the opposite opinion states these people
may have suffered from additional stress when delivered to the police
stations.
The products currently manufactured by Taser
International are targeting a variety of markets – medical, military,
personal protection, professional security etc. The management of the
company, in order to prove their commitment to the ideas proclaimed
in the beginning, voluntarily exposed themselves to a number of Taser
ECD devices. Rick and Tom Smith, President Kathy Hanrahan, and all the
vice presidents were all among these people.
Since Tasers are not classified as firearms
they can be legally possessed and carried in most states (exceptions
include Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and
the District of Columbia). The most recent move of the company is to
offer Tasers to the wide public. The most popular and heavily advertised
model is currently Taser C2 that comes in a variety of colors; it’s
lighter than certain models and mostly targets “self-reliant,
independent women”. The cost of this model ranges from 299.99
to 349.99 US dollars.
Coming Soon
(Articles): How to Make a Taser, Taser C2, Taser Schematics
