Something Stupid This Way Comes ....

Ok, I saw something stupid today. Well, way more than one thing, but this stands out. On the morning news there was this report about women who have given up the Tupperware and pampered chef parties in favor of Taser parties. Thats right, those things that shoot the electrical wires and zap people. The news report went on and on about how they are protecting themselves from rapists, murderers etc. and how they are feeling empowered by having this thing. It also showed them shooting a dummy and at the end of the report, followed by the number you can call to have your own Taser party.

Let me be one of the first to say that these women are absolutely stupid. Taser products are used for non-deadly situations, (being in the human-hunting/controlling business for many years, I know these things) not situations where someone will suffer serious bodily harm or death. Rape and murder constitute serious bodily harm. If you need to protect yourself from rape, murder, battery, aggravated assault, or anything that can cause you serious bodily harm, you need a gun, not a Taser.

What Tasers are for are such things as disorderly conduct, DUI, public nuisance, trespassing , or any other situation where hitting the person with a baton, night stick, or shooting them would be over kill. It is a tool to subdue someone aggravated so they can be handcuffed and controlled.

Also, the Taser must be maintained with fresh gas cartridges and batteries. It is good to do this every other day, and certainly needs to be done weekly, if you want it to work. Also, when it is fired, you get one shot to get the probes in the correct place on the body. If you do not shoot well, the Taser will be ineffective. Also, you must be relatively close to the person to use it on them, and do you really want to be that close to your attacker?

Finally, assuming you get the rest of it right, when you hit the electricity, you administer a 3 second shock. Granted it is painful, but once the shock is over, the person being shocked is back to full strength. It is a smiler principal to a dog shock collar. So, you have 3 seconds to figure out what you will do with your violent raping, murdering attacker once he is done being shocked and is now really mad.

The good news is that this stupidity will only cost you about $400-$500 to own. Oh wait, thats bad news ... a gun would be cheaper too.