Probability of Kill aka PK
Tasers should be outlawed. But they are non-lethal to the people that don't die from them. As are bullets fired from a gun.
Ok, Bluemax, it's time you and me and the rest of us who disagree to have a discussion. This one involves probability of kill.
As I learned the hard way by loosing four good friends over the years who flew the same aircraft I flew into dirt, the PK of dirt/rock/mountain is 0.99997%. That is, if you fly military hardware into the ground, you're dead. If you disagree with this, I have four dead friends who say you're wrong.
I cannot claim that three rounds from my 9mm fired in self-defense IAW the laws of whatever state I might have been reluctantly forced to take this action would prove lethal. I can claim that since I'm a "fire upon the bad guy until they're fully stopped" sort of guy, they will either be stopped, or it is I who will be dead.
The last one around here was a average size man that was unarmed and running out into traffic. Four LEO decided to tase him because they thought he was a danger to himself. Now he is 6 feet under and not a danger to himself anymore.
As a former backup bouncer who has seen a few things here and there go askew, this falls squarely into the category of aided escort into custody. Before this I had no reservations with respect to using tasers. After hearing this, if tasers are killing people, then they're improperly designed or improperly employed.
Regardless, someone's dead. Someone else is at fault.
Nah, I was tased once. High Voltage, but restricted amps, thus restricted energy dissipated in the human body. Painful, but not a big deal. It paled in comparison to a "mere" 120-volt household voltage with unrestricted current I experienced in 1986 for a whopping 2 seconds. No restrictions then, and if I'd not been so young, I'd have died.
The families of anyone that dies from a taser should sue the manufacturer, the state, the LEA and the individual officer.
My son is a LEO and we strongly disagree on this subject.
I strongly disagree with you as well. It depends entirely upon what was going on at the time. If a perp is engaging me in armed robbery and threatens me with my life, I live, he's dead, and that's that. Do you want to sue the manufacturer of my firearm, the State of Colorado, the Colorado Springs Police Department, etc.?"
Not only will most of the officers on the Colorado Springs Springs Police department disagree with you, but most of the Sheriff's deputies in my country would agree with me, as well. They know I'd have taken every precaution available to avoid the situation, but if unavoidable to escape, and if inescapable, to deal with the situation appropriately.
I don't know if this is what you want, Bluemax, but it appears as if you're gangbusters about outlawing non-lethal force. Since 99.9% of us here advocate using lethal force in response to anti-societal criminal behavior, I think you're barking up the wrong tree.
Just a hunch...