Tasers and Stun Guns vs Bullets

The biological basis of a Taser is sound—it briefly hijacks the body’s electrical circuits—but we don’t know everything we need to about the physical effects.

The Taser, or its simpler form the stun gun, is heralded as a non-lethal way to control a dangerous or potentially violent person, a space-age weapon that incapacitates for a brief period of time and leaves no wound. People do die after being shot with Tasers, however, and two fatalities within one week in Canada in the fall of 2007 had many Canadians wondering about the safety of these weapons.

The safety of a Taser is governed by the effects of the electrical shock that it delivers to the human body – it’s basically designed to confuse the brain and nothing more. The biological basis of this is fascinating and well understood. What goes wrong in some instances, however, is not understood, and it’s an area that’s extremely difficult to study: investigators won’t find many people with heart conditions or other medical problems who are willing to take hits from Tasers for the benefit of science. Autopsies of those who do die often don’t yield black and white results.

The Taser debate is an ethical minefield—suspending their use until more is known may well result in more deaths by traditional firearms, while continued use without sufficient knowledge is also unacceptable to many people. At the very least, no one should regard a Taser as a non-lethal weapon.

Do you think we should stop using Tasers until we know more? Start a Discussion.