7 Things to know about TASERs, largely unregulated in Ohio

TASER International manufactures a variety of TASERS. This one is the X26P Black 3Q Drama model.

TASER International manufactures a variety of TASERS. This one is the X26P Black 3Q Drama model.

TASERs are used by police departments as a way to subdue suspects. The electroshock weapons also are used for self-defense by civilians who do not want to carry a firearm.

Here are some things know know about TASERs, which are often mistakenly called stun guns.

  • TASER International has sold approximately 900,000 TASERs to 18,000 law enforcement and military agencies across the world.

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  • TASER is an acronym for Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle, a nod by inventor John H. Cover to the Tom Swift books he loved as a child.
  • The TASER uses two wire-tethered small darts that are shot using compressed nitrogen and attach to skin or clothing to deliver a pulsating electrical current that incapacitates the person who is shot.

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  • A stun gun causes pain and must touch the target. A TASER is shot from a distance of up to 25 feet and temporarily overrides the nervous system and takes over muscular control.
  • Dayton Police used the TASER in 103 of more than 143,000 documented encounters with citizens in 2016.

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  • As with many law enforcement departments, training of Dayton Police recruits includes exposure to a TASER.
  • TASERs have been used by law enforcement or military agencies 5.5 million times, including 2.2 million for training or voluntary applications.                                 Sources: TASER International and Dayton Police Department.

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