Are police tasers more deadly than police guns?

A tazer and a handgun can not be compared. A tazer is another tool in the escalation of force. Verbal commands, physical restraint, pepper spray or other chemical agents, baton, tazer and eventually a firearm. A tazer by no means is intended to replace the ability to use deadly force. As a law officer the last thing i want to do is to ever have to use deadly force and the tazer is another tool to assist me in not having to. But there are some dangers of using the tazer especially after the use of chemical agents as some of these are oil based and can flame. The tazer works with high voltage and low amperageto disrupt the nervous system. High amperage is what kills. But just like anything else there are documented cases (although rare where people have died) it is usually in people that are under the influence of narcotis and their heart can not stand the extra strain.

chica_zarca

They're less dangerous, but you need to be a heck of a lot closer to use them, and that can be dangerous. I wouldn't want to run up right next to some psycho with a gun to try and taze him. Would you? I think police should just carry both, just in case. Use the tazer on a rowdy teenager or something that won't get into the police car, and the gun in case an innocent person's life is in danger and they need to do something drastic.

christy_lee27

ummmmmmmmmm a taser is a non deadly weapon. All the "deaths" that have been related to tasers have drug, alcohol or other illegal substance related. Think about it if an officer has pulled out his taser and has to use it the other alternative was to just shoot you dead!

arcayne_1

they can be,as someone else aptly pointed out. I think it is awesome that cops get access to nonlethal weaponry to stop suspects. Good cops don't want to kill anyone, and the use of nonlethal force helps making the escalation to lethal force a potential choice, and not an inevitable one.
For citation, I think you can talk to a local station commander, who likely has informational studies to back up the positive and negative uses of tasers in law enforcement. If (s)he doesn't, they are sure to know someone who does.

fartman

if in the wrong hands

Black Sabbath

No, they are much less deadly.

lyquidskye

Well, I have "rode the lightening" as they say, and I am very much alive. Of course tasers are less lethal than guns. HOWEVER, I would say that using a taser repeatedly could cause much damage, although the data says otherwise. I may feel that way because the five seconds I endured was pure hell. BUT, it does what it is meant to do, it subdues a person who is also using a non lethal type of force. If you want some info just visit http://www.taser.com/ . By the way, a taser will put the biggest person you have ever seen on the ground!

roadhazzards

Tasers are classified as less than lethal. Tasers are used to incapacitate suspect using an electrical charge (50,000 volts) to disrupt the body's nervous system. I have been thru the Taser training and can tell you it's a very effective tool.

Iron Rider

I don't have anything to back it up with but everyone I know of shot with a taser is still alive.

tex

It would be too dangerous for cops.

elroyfudpucker

Tasers are considered nonlethal, guns are not.

Louis M

The main difference in a gun and a Taser is that when a police officer uses a taser he is trying NOT to kill the person. Taser Company should be put out of business. They are deceiveing police officers and causing them to be killers when they are trying not to be killers.

Retired

Although they could hardly be considered as "unbiased", check what the company, Taser International, has to say on their safety record at their web site:

http://www.taser.com/index.asp

For a somewhat different perspective, visit this site:

www.charlydmiller.com/LIB07/2006JanTru...

SevenPoints_7

Compare the deaths of shooting to the deaths of tazings. Of course guns are deadlier.

pamela h

I realize there have been some deaths lately as a result of tasers, but I feel they are better than a gun which more people have been killed with.

spider

Tasers can be deadly with people who are prone to the effects.
People with pacemaker's or existing cadiac problems.
Don't think they should be used as commanly as they are.

Coach D.

No not really - they do not cause deadly force. Tasers stop and control a person - but they don't kill anyone

sithlord278

Most of the time they are not. However they can be worse at times.

For example: One guy got shot by a taser. He had a lighter in his pocket. One of the cheap ones. The taser went through his pant's and hit the lighter. I think you can figure the rest out. POOF!

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