In the past few years, personal security has become a priority.
We used to carry pepper spray, mace or an audible handheld alarm.
The development of the taser has changed that.
The use of tasers is very controversial.
Some say it is an effective means of personal defense.
Others say that tasers can cause injury or even death.
As a result, tasers have been banned in some places.
The taser is an electrical weapon that uses EMD (Electro-Muscular Disruption) to render a subject unable to resist temporarily.
It is named after a weapon in the popular novel "Tom Swift and The Electric Rifle".
This weapon is called Thomas A.
Swift's Electric Rifle.
The taser fires two electrodes that do NOT need to break the skin to be effective.
They just need to attach to the clothing.
These electrodes are connected to the main unit by wires and deliver the current to the subject in light bursts.
In defense of it's safety, the manufacturer says that the weapons are absolutely safe for all applications.
The taser delivers a jolt of electricity that interrupts the communication between the brain and muscles.
The result is an inability to perform any articulated actions.
The voltage is metered electronically and is always uniform.
The charge cannot be transferred to someone else, even if they come into physical contact.
This technology has been used for several years now by law enforcement agencies as an alternative to firearms and lethal force.
In several of the cases where the taser has been used, there have been reports of injuries and instant death.
A committee put together by the United Nations has studied the use and aftereffects of the taser weapon.
That committee has concluded that it is inhumane.
In several US States there is a complete ban on their private use.
The legality of its use must be checked in every location.
According to http://www.
cbsnews.
com, the UN Committee Against Torture said in a statement: "The use of TaserX26 weapons, provoking extreme pain, constituted a form of torture and that in certain cases it could also cause death, as shown by several reliable studies and by certain cases that had happened after practical use.
" Even with the evidence, police have been given the go ahead to use the taser on children now as well as unarmed offenders.
Still the injuries and deaths keep piling up.
The taser is effective as a personal defense weapon.
It will definitely subdue an attacker, even if only temporarily so you can make an escape.
However, the taser may not be the choice in every situation.
Before you use one, take into consideration all the risks, injuries and deaths that have occurred.
Depending on the subject's previous health condition it is possible that when you tase that attacker, he/she may not get up again.
Could you handle that? Before you make the decision to buy or use a taser weapon, think twice about it.
If a panel of experts from the UN calls it inhumane, there must be at least something to the stories.
Consider all the options for personal self defense and make the best decision for you.