Despite controversy over UCLA campus police ‘tasering’ a student who refused to show an ID, a Wilson police officer tasering a 15-year old student to break up a fight, and post-taser deaths, a new personal, handheld Taser that comes in different colors, was released into the market this month.
This new taser, called the M-18 Advanced Taser C2 “has a higher instant incapacitation rate than a 9mm hand gun” and “shoots out 2 darts attached to 15 feet of wire,” according to its Web site. Any person may purchase this personal Taser after undergoing a background check and are cleared.
According to Campus Police, personal Tasers have been legal in North Carolina for about a year, but they are currently not allowed on campus because a Taser gun is considered a weapon.
“I do see that they have a valid use for personal protection,” Sgt. Jon Barnwell of Campus Police said. “But on that same token, they could be used to commit a crime as well.”
Barnwell said Tasers are a great tool for law enforcement when someone is breaking a law, but said he does see how personal Tasers can be misused. Stun guns though, according to Barwell, are allowed on campus as long as they are used for personal protection.
Students like Sophia Sadat, a sophomore in nutrition science, said they do not see a problem with purchasing a personal Taser.
“I see Tasers used more as a defense [mechanism],” Sadat said. “If someone wants to kill someone, they’ll [most likely] use a gun or a knife.”
According to the Advanced Air Tazer Web site, personal Tasers are only illegal in eight states and in certain cities and counties. In CT and IL, they are legal with some restrictions.
“Unlike conventional weapons, a TASER C2 discharge can work anywhere on the body, making it easier to stop a threat under stress than other self-defense options,” the Web site reads.
Sadat said she does not see the purchase of these new Tasers as a problem.
“I think it’s fine that they’re legal because even if they weren’t legal, people would still get their hands on them if they still wanted them,” she said.
In reference to the Iranian student who was ‘tasered’ by campus police at UCLA, Sadat said “him getting tasered is similar to him getting beaten by cops.”
Other students, like Joshua Aldridge, a junior in criminology, agree to “an extent.”
“I can understand where women … would need them,” he said. “But I don’t think people should be able to take them into stores and stuff like that.”
Aldridge said he agrees with the TASER C2 policy that a person must have a background check before the Taser can be activated.
“Not everyone should be able to get them,” he said.
Andrea Beals, a junior in biological sciences, said she does not agree with the availability of these new Tasers because they can be used like guns.
“There should be more criteria to it other than being over 18 and having a background check,” she said.
Beals said she does not necessarily think personal Tasers should be illegal in NC because “when it comes to using them as public defense like police officers, I think they should definitely have them.”
