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Tell The Federal Government to Regulate Tasers
  1. Signatures
    121 out of 200
    Petitioning
    1. ATF Deputy Director (Kenneth E. Melson)
  2. Created By
    Sam Harnett
    San Francisco, CA
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates
Why This Is Important

Tasers save lives when they are used by police as a less-lethal alternative to handguns. Unfortunately, that is not how they are being marketed or employed. Police do not treat tasers as lethal weapons and consistently use them inappropriately, causing death and injury. 

Amnesty international estimates that tasers have caused the death of over 351 people since widespread use by police in 2001 and that only 10 percent of those tased were carrying a weapon. Countless others have suffered injuries and pain from unnecessary tasings.

Manufacturers, police, and consumers regard tasers as semi or even non-lethal "electronic control devices." In most states anyone over 18 can buy and carry a concealed taser. This misclasisifcation has lead to deaths, injury and general abuse of this dangerous weapon.

Taser misuse stems from a lack of federal regulation. The bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms still uses the 1968 definition of a firearm as a weapon using gun powder. This outdated definition allows guns like tasers to be marketed, sold and used unregulated by the federal government.

Tasers need to be regulated and regarded as the potentially lethal weapons they are. Only then will they be able to truly save lives.

Photo Credit: Jungle Cat

 

Recent Signatures

Taser Regulation

Greetings, ATF Deputy Director Kenneth E. Melson

Tasers are dangerous weapons that need to be regulated by the federal government.

Police, manufacturers and consumers do not regard tasers as the potentially lethal weapons they are, a misconception that leads to abuse, injury and death. Amnesty International has tracked 351 taser-related deaths across the country and countless injuries since widespread use by police in 2001.

Police regard tasers as semi-lethal or even non-lethal weapons. They use tasers when the would never use a handgun because of this improper classification. Further taser related death and injury can only be prevented if they are classified and regulated as firearms.

The ease of acquiring a potentially lethal taser for public use is alarming and a direct result of a lack in federal regulation. In many states anyone over 18 can buy, carry concealed, and use one of these weapons. Some models do not even require a criminal background check.

More non-gunpowder weapons are on the horizon and the ATF should be prepared with a 21st century definition of what constitutes a gun. The ATF should either modernize the definition of a firearm to encompass these new weapons or create a separate category with strict provisions to ensure dangerous weapons like tasers are controlled.

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