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A 12-year-old Florida girl is accused of bringing stun guns to a middle school to sell to classmates, authorities said. The student, whose name is not being released, was arrested Friday on a charge of possession of a weapon on school property, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The investigation began earlier in the day when a school staff member at Coleman Middle School in Tampa told administrators that the student had a stun gun, the newspaper reported. When the school’s resource officer removed the girl from class, she admitted to buying five electric stun guns online, WTVT reported. According to...

Less than a week after France announced it would abandon police chokeholds, the government responded to growing officer discontent by announcing it would test stun guns for wider use, adding to the ranks of European law enforcement agencies that have recently adopted the weapons that many in the U.S. equate with excess police violence. Then, on Monday, the government backed away from a complete chokehold ban, saying it would no longer teach the maneuver to recruits but allow its use until a better alternative emerges. For Johny Louise, it felt as though the 22 seconds of Taser pulses that led...

New York state’s ban on personal ownership of stun guns is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Friday in the latest in a series of court decisions that have led to the loosening of restrictions on the weapons in several states. The decision came in a lawsuit filed by Matthew Avitabile, of Schoharie County, New York, who said he wanted to buy a stun gun for self-defense in his rural upstate home. His lawyers argued that New York’s longstanding ban on civilian ownership of stun guns violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms. U.S. District Judge David Hurd agreed. “New...

The number of Germans who have acquired weapons permits has risen considerably over the past two years. Having the requisite documentation allows people in the country to carry things like non-lethal gas pistols in public. In January 2016, just under 301,000 people had such a permit; in December 2017 there were over 557,000. Weapons retailers say that defensive blinding flashlights, stun guns and gas spray are selling so well they are having trouble keeping shelves stocked. Self-defense courses are also increasingly popular. Classes at Taekwondo clubs, fitness studios, and even municipal community centers are attracting more and more participants. A...

Image of Crystal Wright from conservativeblackchick.com On August 2nd, 2016, another case was filed to regain Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia.  This case is likely to succeed, and it may set some interesting precedents.  It is a case that sues to eliminate the unconstitutional ban on stun guns and Tasers in the District. From cnsnews.com: The plaintiffs in this case—Crystal Wright, Brendan Turner, and Traci Dean—have indicated that they have a legitimate need to defend themselves, but each has stated a desire to use a Taser or stun gun against an assailant rather than a gun,...

Connecticut officers who drew their stun guns on the job last year were more likely to fire when the suspect was black or Hispanic, according to a first-of-its-kind set of statistics that could stoke the nation's debate over race and police use of force. The raw, preliminary data was obtained by The Associated Press ahead of an official analysis expected in the coming weeks. While police and state officials cautioned against passing judgment until then, at least one criminal justice expert said he would not be surprised to see similar findings elsewhere around the country. Some civil rights groups said...

With widely watched amateur videos of police killings as a backdrop, New York City police are hoping to arm more officers with stun guns as an option for subduing emotionally disturbed people and other suspects who resist arrest. Preliminary plans call for 450 additional officers to carry the electroshock weapons while on patrol, police officials said Wednesday. The department would first have to find funding and develop more precise guidelines on which circumstance are appropriate to use the devices. …

Tear gas and smoke bombs scattered protesters during a march that started peacefully in Berkeley, Saturday night. The skirmish with police began near Addison near Shattuck at about 6:30 p.m. as police and masked protesters faced off. the protesters broke windows along University Ave. near Martin Luther King Blvd., smashed bottles and spray painted graffiti. Others took hammers and smashed ATM machines, and overturned garbage dumpsters.

<p>MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Miami Beach police say an 18-year-old died after being shocked with a stun gun as he resisted arrest for spraying graffiti.</p> <p>Chief Ray Martinez told the Miami Herald that officers spotted Israel Hernandez-Llach painting graffiti on an abandoned fast-food restaurant early Tuesday. Martinez said the teen ran, but was eventually cornered.</p>

INDIANAPOLIS -- Some mothers said Friday they disapprove of a controversial state law that goes into effect July 1, making it legal to carry guns in Indianapolis city parks and playgrounds, which is currently banned by a city ordinance. The new law generally prohibits local governments from regulating firearms, 6News' Joanna Massee reported. Mothers who brought their children to Garfield Park told 6News that they disagree with the law. "Why would you need a gun at the park? You're supposed to come to the park to play with your children," said Eyvonna Hyatt, who has a 3-year-old daughter and a...

An OPEC report suggests that world demand for its oil is outstripping the present supply. The monthly demand forecast from the Organization of The Petroleum Exporting Countries says estimated OPEC crude production last month averaged 28.97 million barrels a day. It also says that demand this year for OPEC oil is expected to average a daily 29.9 million barrels. The report was published Friday, two days after an OPEC meeting ended in disarray, with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf members unable to push through demands to lift production ceilings. OPEC members opposed were led by Iran. World oil demand is...

In a modern-day duel, a restaurant owner and a Colorado security guard simultaneously drew their stun guns and simultaneously zapped each other during a weekend spat over an illegally parked van. The incident is raising questions over whether private citizens should be allowed to buy stun guns to protect themselves. The fight began on Saturday night when Harvey Epstein confronted two private security guards for clamping a metal boot on a company van parked outside his Mexican restaurant in Boulder, Colo. The situation escalated when Mr. Epstein putted out a pair of bolt cutters in an apparent attempt to remove...

HOUSTON (AP) - In a confrontation captured on videotape, a hospital security guard fired a stun gun to stop a defiant father from taking home his newborn baby, sending both man and child crashing to the floor. Now the man says the baby girl suffers from head trauma because she was dropped. "I've got to wonder what kind of moron would Tase an adult holding a baby," said George Kirkham, a former police officer and criminologist at the University of California-Berkeley. "It doesn't take rocket science to realize the baby is going to fall." The trouble began in April when...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Online auctioneer eBay Inc. (EBAY) said Tuesday it will block the sale and shipment of stun guns and other illegal weapons to New York residents under an agreement with Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. In an investigation that started last year, Spitzer's office found the eBay users were easily able to buy stun guns through the company's Web site. Investigators, posing as ordinary customers, bought 16 stun guns from 16 different sellers on eBay. The sellers, 14 of whom are from outside New York, are believed to have sold more than 1,100 stun guns to New Yorkers...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Law enforcement officers from around the country Wednesday praised Tasers as a non-lethal tool for stopping suspects, but emphasized the need for training before use of the 50,000-volt stun guns. The Taser, which stuns a person using electrical current, is helping to reduce incidents where police have to use deadly force, said Lt. David Ogden, who heads the training division of the Orange County Sheriff's Office in Orlando, Fla. "We've also had a substantial decrease in officer- and suspect-related injuries on arrest situations," said Ogden, who spoke to about 100 law enforcement officials at the National...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison plans to study whether stun guns alone can kill pigs - or whether other medical factors must be at play - as part of an effort to understand why 70 people have died in North America since 2001 after being shocked by Tasers. Led by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, outraged animal rights activists are calling for an end to the two-year study by John Webster, a professor emeritus of biomedical engineering. Police hail stun guns as a nonlethal way to restrain unruly suspects. But critics blame...

Associated Press BOSTON - A bill to allow police to use high-voltage stun guns in Massachusetts appears to be picking up support in the wake of two fatal police shootings in Boston. Final passage of the bill was expected as early as Tuesday. ``I think if the police officers had a tool like this, those deaths could have been prevented,'' said state Rep. Timothy J. Toomey Jr., a Democrat who is the House chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety. ``The persons hopefully would have been kept alive, rather than using deadly force. Clearly, I think it's a mechanism...

(WSBT) The City of South has made a move to get stun guns off the streets. Monday night, the Common Council passed an ordinance that bans selling or owning the weapons with-in city limits. Police also support the measure. They say in un-trained hands, a stun-gun can be a powerful force Officer's can't fight. "Now they're becoming more refined, a lot smaller, a lot lighter, and a lot more powerful," says South Bend Police Sergeant Scott Ruszkowski. "You know them being out there and being allowed to be out there, from a police officers perspective, there's no way to defeat...

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Cincinnati's mayor on Sunday urged the city to buy stun guns for its police force in response to the death of a man following a struggle with six officers a week ago. "I am looking for any avenue to avoid another struggle," Mayor Charlie Luken wrote in an e-mail to City Council members Sunday that asked them to find $1 million in the 2004 budget to pay for the non-lethal weapons. "While it is unclear whether the incident would have changed if our officers had the latest technology in Tasers, I believe we must equip our police...

WASHINGTON -- United Airlines pilots soon may get stun guns to defend the cockpit against intruders, federal officials said Monday after determining that the devices "can play an important role in aviation security." United is the only major carrier to request approval for stun guns and stands to be first to benefit from a decision by the Transportation Security Administration to allow the weapons on an airline-by-airline basis. "We've gone through James Bond's toolbox in looking at nonlethal devices," said TSA spokesman Brian Turmail. "We've looked at devices that shoot beanbags and nets, and some that disperse chemicals. We've decided...