Taser: New stun gun to address concerns

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. manufacturer of the Taser stun device says its new model will meet the requirements of a British Columbia investigative commission.

Taser International says its new X3 Taser will answer the concerns about the stun guns examined by British Columbia's Braidwood Commission, which determined the conducted energy devices can cause death in targets if not handled correctly by police, The Toronto Globe and Mail reported Tuesday.

The Braidwood report recommended that Tasers should be discharged only once, and not for more than five seconds, saying that a second discharge should only be used by police if it eliminates "the risk of bodily harm."

Taser officials say the X3 is more consistent than its predecessors and logs the amount of energy being discharged into a target's body.

"The log just on its own would be phenomenal for courts and (in light of) some of the controversy in Canada," Taser International spokesman Steve Tuttle told The Globe and Mail. Company CEO Rick Smith added, "The Taser X3 is the most sophisticated handheld weapon ever developed."