Taser-tubbies

No more back-talking little bastards telling the bobbies to sod off. Britain’s Home Office has sounded the trumps on a new dawn of English bravery by giving the green light to police to use Tasers on children. Never mind those studies showing the Taser could explode a child’s heart. This is the land of the “children-should-be-seen-but-not-heard” rule, and 50,000 volts of attitude adjustment is right fine with them.

Until now, Tasers had been relegated to use by “specialist officers,” but the Home Office has decided to change that. They’ve also opted against banning Taser use on children despite a Defence Scientific Advisory Council warning that research suggests they could trigger “a serious cardiac event” in the small of stature.

Home Office Police Minister Tony McNulty said medical assessments show the risk of Tasers causing death or serious injury as “low,” and though Taser International says testing on pigs shows the weapons to be perfectly safe, critics argue that pigs and children might actually not be the same. U.S. cities and police forces have increasingly banned Taser use on minors after a 14-year-old boy went into cardiac arrest after being shot with one.

by Scott Saxon