John Reid: "I Enjoy Putting Deadly Weapons Into The Hands Of Institutional Thugs"

More UK police to get Taser stun guns | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

The home secretary has announced that many more police will be authorised to carry Taser stun guns. John Reid told a Police Federation conference he wants non-firearms officers to have the devices, which stun suspects with a 50,000-volt shock. Police will also be able to use them in a wider range of situations. Mr Reid insisted the weapons are a safe alternative to guns and are increasingly needed to deal with violent offenders. However, Amnesty International has opposed the use of the US-manufactured weapons, claiming they can be lethal.

Well this is pretty bad. I believe these quotes are sufficient to highlight the idiocy within this plan:

Amnesty has studied the use of Tasers in the US and Canada, where more than 220 people have died since 2001 after being Tasered.

By my quick calculations that's nearly one death a week due to people being Tasered. It's ok thought because our government have obviously looked at these statistics.

The council concluded in 2004 that the risk of life-threatening or serious injury from the weapon used by police in England and Wales was "very low".

Oh right. Maybe not. Does over 220 deaths sound "very low risk" to you? Unfortunately it doesn't matter what you think.

But wait, they do come in a range of fashionable colours:



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