Taser maker insists stun guns are safe

The chairman of Taser International adamantly defended his stun guns on Wednesday, telling Canadian MPs that his company has successfully tested them on more than a million people, including himself.

Tom Smith, who testified before the House of Commons public safety committee in Ottawa, said Tasers have been tested on 600,000 police officers and more than 400,000 ordinary citizens like himself, and no serious health complications arose.

Smith said the trials were done on all types of people, in the hopes of mirroring the different people who might need to be subdued by a Taser gun in real life. Some of those tested had heart conditions, while others were under the influence of alcohol when they were stunned.

Some of the subjects were made to do intense aerobic activity before being hit so that they were fatigued when they were shocked.

"I do believe the research that is out there today — while you'll never be able to look at every possible scenario that exists — certainly covers the vast majority of cases that exist within the human body."

The public safety committee is studying the growing use of Tasers in Canada, where more than 6,800 officers are armed with the stun guns. The committee will hear testimony from RCMP officers, customs officials and airport workers before drafting a report to Parliament.

The probe comes after Robert Dziekanski, a 40-year-old Polish man, died at Vancouver International Airport after being stunned with a Taser by police on Oct. 14, 2007.

About 300 people in North America have died after being hit with a stun gun, about 20 of them in Canada, the public safety committee heard Wednesday.

But Smith argued that in 270 of the cases, Tasers were determined not to be linked to the death. In the other 30 cases, the stun gun was listed as a contributing factor in the death, Smith said, noting that other factors often played a role too.

Armed with binder full of studies

Smith, who founded the Arizona-based Taser International with his brother, came to the committee armed with a 1,300-page binder outlining more than 120 studies attesting to the safety of Tasers.

Smith said 80 per cent of the studies were done by independent researchers and were not affiliated with Taser International in any way. 

While the early studies were done on animals, 15 studies have used human subjects, Smith said.

He said ethical constraints have prevented some studies with humans, such as seeing their response to being stunned while high on cocaine or another illegal drug.

"In terms of the studies that have been done, we have not seen anything conclusively that has come back, scientifically, that has said a Taser has killed," Smith said.

He said Tasers, used by 12,000 police departments in 45 countries, have actually been proven to reduce the injuries sustained by police and the people they are attempting to arrest. Without a Taser, police could be forced to use a gun, or use physical force to subdue someone, Smith said.

"We've seen injuries [reduced] in Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal, Quebec. Everywhere they've implemented a Taser," Smith said.

'I was assured that this is absolutely non-lethal'

But Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh noted that studies have emerged questioning the safety of Tasers. A Chicago study unearthed by CBC News on Wednesday concluded that pigs hit with Taser guns were left with heart rhythm problems. Two of the 11 pigs tested died soon after.

Dosanjh said he believes police should have a non-lethal alternative like a Taser, but he wants to be sure that the stun guns are, in fact, non-lethal.

"I was the attorney general in British Columbia when, for the first time in Canada, the device was introduced with Victoria police," Dosanjh said. 

"I was assured that this is absolutely non-lethal, and that it would be used sparingly by the police, and I have now come to believe that it is riskier than I was led to believe, and in fact, it was not used as sparingly as it ought to be used."

Police not paid to promote Tasers

Dosanjh and other MPs also questioned Smith on whether he pays police to promote his stun guns.

Smith said Taser International has never paid officers to sell or promote, but in the United States, Smith said some off-duty officers are paid to train people on how to use a Taser.

In Canada, only two officers have ever been paid by Taser — one was paid to train people in Europe and another was paid to design a Taser holster.

Smith noted that his company spends at least $1 million every three months on legal fees, more than it spends on training.