(The following editorial is from the August 1-31, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

People's Voice Editorial

Wow - talk about not getting it. Even as demands rise for tighter restrictions or outright banning of "conducted energy devices," Taser International has announced the "Revolutionary New Multi‑Shot TASER Device With Precision Shaped Pulse Technology."

     People's Voice was one of the lucky recipients of this news on July 27. At first we assumed it was a tasteless joke - this came via email, after all. But it turns out that the "Next Generation TASER X3" has indeed been unveiled at the annual Taser Conference in Fountain Hills, Arizona.

     For those still struggling to understand why Canadian, U.S. and British police (and others around the world, no doubt) often use Tasers as the weapon of choice to incapacitate people, the details of this upgraded device are startling and appalling. The first new form of Taser since 2003, the X3 is capable of firing three cartridges without reloading, using "a revolutionary Pulse Calibration System(tm) to constantly monitor and calibrate electrical output to provide more consistent effects on the target and to provide enhanced safety over the current proven and widely accepted TASER(r) technology."

     Think about that for a moment. For years, long before the RCMP killing of defenceless Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver Airport, the top guns at Taser called these weapons safer than anything this side of oven mitts. But now, "the most sophisticated handheld weapon ever developed" will improve effectiveness and safety? Even with the capability of attacking three victims, not just one?

     Somehow, this reminds us of TV ads which extol the "new, improved flavour" of Chewy Bits. Usually, this is a subtle admission that the old Chewy Bits were wretched.

     And so it is with the new improved Taser. The original product should be banned, and police forces are simply not to be trusted with a new version that can attack three times as many people.