NYP: BERNIE'S STUNNER -- Kerik shows great timing with $6 million Taser stock sale

New York Post ^ | December 6, 2004 | CHRISTOPHER BYRON

[OESY]

[F]ormer New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik has been selected by President Bush to... [head] Homeland Security....

Certainly it was a moment to remember for Kerik, an up-from-the-streets type of fellow who began life as the son of a New Jersey prostitute, maneuvered his way into becoming a limo driver and bodyguard for the Mayor, and has now wound up ready to take on the role of a lifetime as a kind of cabinet-level Bo Dietel for the whole of America.

...[A] timely recent sale of stock in a company called Taser International, Inc., where he has been serving as an outside member of the board, has made the nation's soon-to-be-confirmed new Secretary of Homeland Security nearly $6 million richer than he was just three weeks ago.

Now Kerik is a fine fellow, I am sure, and he'll doubtless do a bang-up job of securing the homeland....

This NASDAQ-listed company produces a pistol-like device that fires a dart-type projectile attached to several yards of filament-fine electrical wire connected to a battery. Once the dart is embedded in the skin of a victim, the battery sends a disabling jolt of high voltage electricity down the wire and into the victim, knocking him instantly to the ground in a brief but intense fit of twitching and convulsing that is suggestive of an epileptic seizure.

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the furor that erupted over whether airline pilots should be armed, the Taser folks began hawking their stun gun as a "non-lethal" alternative to conventional firearms and thus just the thing to make air travel safe again.

Tasers failed to make much headway with the airlines. But police departments were another story, and as they began placing orders the company's stock price exploded, soaring 4,800 percent since January....

[Max Combined]

"who began life as the son of a New Jersey prostitute"

Was this really necessary in the article?

[mattdono]

Tasers are kewl.

[the invisib1e hand]

there's an old saw in the trading business: "you can make more money being lucky than being right."

It happens. He had to dispose of his stock. Good for him.

No, the prostitute remark is about the lowest thing I've ever heard of. You would never hear them saying that Jesse Jackson's mother was a welfare whore, if it was true. The Post, though. I surprised.

Having said all this, I'm can't believe that the top cop in the world's greatest city hasn't a skeleton or two in his closet.

[dagar]

Shocking!

[Gosh I love this neighborhood]

I'm reading Bernard Kerik's book now and it seems to me that he tells about his past pretty frankly. And his parents were married for about three years before he was born.

[Hatteras]

"...world's greatest city..."

I can think of many superlatives to describe New York City. However, "greatest" never would have crossed my mind.

[petro45acp]

Kerik will do just fine. He is yet another with a "ground up" view. From street cop to top cop, probably doing a bunch of the inbetween jobs will give him both perspective and credibility. The same can be said for the new commerce secretary. From truck driver to running Kelloggs.

Military types will appreciate the idea of "mustangs" in positoins of power. From my own experience, it was hard to find a bad mustang officer (not that they didn't exist, I had one who was really awful).

Cheers,
Top sends

[the invisib1e hand]

I can think of many superlatives to describe New York City. However, "greatest" never would have crossed my mind.

I was going to say "biggest," but I didn't have time to check the facts. I briefly considered "most financialy influential," "most notorious," and maybe a couple others... I grabbed "greatest" half thinking that, in the generic sense, it really is.

I mean it's big. It's powerful. It's....great.

I could have said, "the city I love", but then again, that's not always true, either! But I do love it. Sort of like a person loves an abusive spouse. [g]

[angkor]

I do recall Taser being listed somewhere as a recommended buy stock more than a year ago.

[edfrank_1998]

Nothing unusual when you consider what TASR was doing just a couple of years ago. Back in 2002, for instance, you could buy it (split adjusted) for less than $.50 for a good part of the year, and less than $2.00 for all of 2001 and 2002. found at: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1069183/000120919104052610/xslF345X02/doc4.xml SEC Form 4

FORM 4

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

OMB APPROVAL

OMB Number:		3235-0287
Expires:	January 31, 2005
Estimated average burden
hours per response		0.5

Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person^*

KERIK BERNARD B

---

(Last)

(First)

(Middle)

% TASER INTERNATIONAL INC.

7860 EAST MCCLAIN DRIVE, #2

---

(Street)

SCOTTSDALE

AZ

85260

---

(City)

(State)

(Zip)

2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
TASER INTERNATIONAL INC [ TASR ]

5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)

X	Director		10% Owner
	Officer (give title below)		Other (specify below)

3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year)
11/11/2004

4. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

X	Form filed by One Reporting Person
	Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1. Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed Of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)			5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4)	6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
			Code	V	Amount	(A) or (D)	Price
Common Stock	11/11/2004		M		45,833	A	$2.37	0	D
Common Stock	11/11/2004		M		38,333	A	$0.57	0	D
Common Stock	11/11/2004		M		18,000	A	$14.43	0	D
Common Stock	11/11/2004		M		102,166	D	$57.317	0	D

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)	2. Conversion or Excercise Price of Derivative Security	3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)		6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		7. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 3 and 4)		8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)	9. Number of derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)	10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
				Code	V	(A)	(D)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares
Employee Stock Option (Right to Buy)	$2.37	11/11/2004		M			45,833	05/14/2002	05/11/2012	Common Stock	45,833	$2.37	4,167 ( 1 )	D
Employee Stock Option (Right to Buy)	$0.57	11/11/2004		M			38,333	10/21/2002	10/18/2012	Common Stock	38,333	$0.57	1,667 ( 1 )	D
Employee Stock Option (Right to Buy)	$14.43	11/11/2004		M			18,000	01/07/2004	01/14/2014	Common Stock	18,000	$14.43	0 ( 1 )	D

Explanation of Responses:

1. This does not include beneficial ownership of options from other classes or options not yet vested.

Remarks:

	Berard B. Kerik, by Daniel M. Behrendt, Attorney-in-Fact	11/12/2004
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4 (b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB Number.

[TommyDale]

Good for Bernie! He made a legitimate gain on his stock options as a director of the company. So what? Now he is financially rewarded for a job well done. Is someone complaining about it already?

[cynicom]

When a person seeks and attains national stature in government, the media has every right to expose his barnacles as well as his accomplishments. When we stoop to forgetting the past history of the likes of Kennedy etc etc, we are in trouble.

[LarkNeelie]

I think perhaps it was mentioned to emphasize just exactly how far he has risen from humble beginnings - an example of the "American Dream" as it were; the boot-strap road to great success (which I, for one, greatly admire). That's one of the reasons I get so aggravated with the "hate the corporation or big company" rhetoric. Most of those companies were started by some average joe or jane with a good idea and saw fantastic success - through whatever combination of blood, sweat, tears, back-breaking hours, involvement of the entire family maybe for 2 generations back and sheer luck. Good on 'em! I say.

[jigsaw]

Just a note that Christopher Byron, the author of this article, may or may not be the son of a prostitute and the husband of one too.

[MoralSense]

If Kerik had bought his Taser stock no more than 18 months ago, it would have appreciated more than 1,000% since. It has also been very, very volatile, and any ordinary investor would have been tempted to sell a lot sooner. Hard to stand up to a 20% downdraft, which has happened more than once in that time. Price-earnings ratios have been up near 200.

You have to figure that way back, Kerik was approached by Taser, who needed investors in law enforcement -- smart by Taser. And Kerik, seeing the future of non-lethal weaponry, recognized a good idea. More power to him.

[JustAnotherOkie]

Yes it was, it is called 'Mary Cheney' journalism.

[Tacis]

It is clear to me from this and other stories that have been leaked very recently (his middle-Eastern wife), that some one doesn't like Bernie. Easy access to the media suggestes that it is the liberal progressive lefties that are trying to stick it to him. Which Senate committee covers this nomination?

[TommyDale]

First of all, for the Taser people to make Bernie Kerik a director is SMART public relations. He has the respect of 99.9% of all the police departments in America. No doubt the Taser company leveraged his popularity and charisma into the huge growth in sales to police departments. This is just good business on their part. I don't see anything "grotesque" about it at all. The stock increased as a result of the sales increase.

Let the investigation begin -- since when is it illegal to endorse products, as a private citizen? He was required to divest his holdings to be a cabinet member. What would you suggest as an alternative? If he kept it, he would have been accused of "insider" wrongdoings. It sounds more like people are actually jealous that Bernie Kerik made a nice paychek as a result of lending his name to a product.

P.S.: Why don't you complainers go after Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and all the other multi-millionaire endorsers?