Tasers

[Apache]

What kind of trouble would owning one of these get you into?

[Plotloss]

Massive, if you used it on someone.

[Antz_Pants]

It is a prohibited weapon by virtue of Section 5, Firearms Act 1968

5 years minimum sentence if caught in posession let alone using one.

[Don]

I can see the argument for letting people have them.

• Non-lethal. Self-defence-oriented.

And I can also the argument for NOT letting people have them.

• Muggers will get 'em and carry 'em and use 'em with impunity as its ABH rather than murder.

And as said: thoroughly illegal except in the hands of the police.

[tigger1]

Antz_Pants said:

It is a prohibited weapon by virtue of Section 5, Firearms Act 1968

5 years minimum sentence if caught in posession let alone using one.

5 years MINIMUM?

Blimey.

[Antz_Pants]

Correct.

5 years minimum sentence for anyone caught in possession of an unlicensed or section 5 firearm (Pistol/Automatic/Stun Gun etc). It’s up to the courts to impose this minimum tariff for these possession offences but its there.

[imbecile]

Ridiculous, isn't it?

[Apache]

jaysuss.....apparently, you can get em in Bulgaria and they look exactly like a torch, all for twenty of your English pounds.........they'll be on the streets by the weekend

[mmm-five]

Home-made pepper spray it is then - always carried on my person as I like my food extra-spicy

[vonhosen]

mmm-five said:

Home-made pepper spray it is then - always carried on my person as I like my food extra-spicy

Pepper spray is a prohibited weapon under Sec 5 Firearms Act

[Fidgits]

yeah, your much better off just carrying a small can of very, very flammable deo (or hairspray) and a lighter.

completley legal... and pretty effective should the need arise

[MilnerR]

vonhosen said:

mmm-five said:

Home-made pepper spray it is then - always carried on my person as I like my food extra-spicy

Pepper spray is a prohibited weapon under Sec 5 Firearms Act

Even harsh language is prohibited under section 5 public order

[becca_viola]

Don said:

I can see the argument for letting people have them.

• Non-lethal. Self-defence-oriented.

And I can also the argument for NOT letting people have them.

• Muggers will get 'em and carry 'em and use 'em with impunity as its ABH rather than murder.

And as said: thoroughly illegal except in the hands of the police.

Easily becomes manslaughter or murder if they use it on someone with heart trouble or any kind of implanted machinery (pacemaker, ICD, insulin pump)... much more so than any other 'non-lethal' weapon.

[Don]

becca_viola said:

Don said:

I can see the argument for letting people have them.

• Non-lethal. Self-defence-oriented.

And I can also the argument for NOT letting people have them.

• Muggers will get 'em and carry 'em and use 'em with impunity as its ABH rather than murder.

And as said: thoroughly illegal except in the hands of the police.

Easily becomes manslaughter or murder if they use it on someone with heart trouble or any kind of implanted machinery (pacemaker, ICD, insulin pump)... much more so than any other 'non-lethal' weapon.

Aye. I certainly don't want these things becoming prevalent in the UK. The idea of the bad-guys using them with impunity is frankly terrifying. And they would. Because they'll believe its not the same carrying a a handgun. But it is...

[mmm-five]

vonhosen said:

mmm-five said:

Home-made pepper spray it is then - always carried on my person as I like my food extra-spicy

Pepper spray is a prohibited weapon under Sec 5 Firearms Act

So my hot capsicum blend is a firearm?

It's not gas-propelled or anything, simply my favourite blend of oil, spices and water in a atomiser which I take out when I'm off for a meal where I might want something spiced up.

Can I get a licence for it?

[TripleS]

becca_viola said:

Don said:

I can see the argument for letting people have them.

• Non-lethal. Self-defence-oriented.

And I can also the argument for NOT letting people have them.

• Muggers will get 'em and carry 'em and use 'em with impunity as its ABH rather than murder.

And as said: thoroughly illegal except in the hands of the police.

Easily becomes manslaughter or murder if they use it on someone with heart trouble or any kind of implanted machinery (pacemaker, ICD, insulin pump)... much more so than any other 'non-lethal' weapon.

What happens then if the police use such a device on a person with heart trouble, and that person then dies? Is it just that person's hard luck, and hard luck on his family too, with the police being deemed blameless?

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[vonhosen]

TripleS said:

becca_viola said:

Don said:

I can see the argument for letting people have them.

• Non-lethal. Self-defence-oriented.

And I can also the argument for NOT letting people have them.

• Muggers will get 'em and carry 'em and use 'em with impunity as its ABH rather than murder.

And as said: thoroughly illegal except in the hands of the police.

Easily becomes manslaughter or murder if they use it on someone with heart trouble or any kind of implanted machinery (pacemaker, ICD, insulin pump)... much more so than any other 'non-lethal' weapon.

What happens then if the police use such a device on a person with heart trouble, and that person then dies? Is it just that person's hard luck, and hard luck on his family too, with the police being deemed blameless?

Best wishes all,
Dave.

If the use of the weapon was warranted & justifiable, then the outcome doesn't make that use a criminal offence just because it ends in a fatality.
I don't personally know of any use of taser in this country causing a fatality.

[andy_s]

mmm-five said:

vonhosen said:

mmm-five said:

Home-made pepper spray it is then - always carried on my person as I like my food extra-spicy

Pepper spray is a prohibited weapon under Sec 5 Firearms Act

So my hot capsicum blend is a firearm?

It's not gas-propelled or anything, simply my favourite blend of oil, spices and water in a atomiser which I take out when I'm off for a meal where I might want something spiced up.

Can I get a licence for it?

I think that comes into the 'made, used or adapted' category.

You can get Tasers in all sorts of forms these days, one that looks like a mobile phone, ones that are pink, (for the 'ladeeyz'), taser shotgun shells; all of which will make your food spicy, and let's face it, prison food needs spicing up....!

[TripleS]

vonhosen said:

TripleS said:

becca_viola said:

Don said:

I can see the argument for letting people have them.

• Non-lethal. Self-defence-oriented.

And I can also the argument for NOT letting people have them.

• Muggers will get 'em and carry 'em and use 'em with impunity as its ABH rather than murder.

And as said: thoroughly illegal except in the hands of the police.

Easily becomes manslaughter or murder if they use it on someone with heart trouble or any kind of implanted machinery (pacemaker, ICD, insulin pump)... much more so than any other 'non-lethal' weapon.

What happens then if the police use such a device on a person with heart trouble, and that person then dies? Is it just that person's hard luck, and hard luck on his family too, with the police being deemed blameless?

Best wishes all,
Dave.

If the use of the weapon was warranted & justifiable, then the outcome doesn't make that use a criminal offence just because it ends in a fatality.
I don't personally know of any use of taser in this country causing a fatality.

OK it may not have happened yet, but if it were to happen it would indeed just be hard luck on 'the target' and his family, in which case I would have thought the use of other restraining/subduing methods should be substituted as far as possible and taser usage kept to an absolute minimum.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[Parrot of Doom]

Ralgex. Quite legal to have (obviously don't carry it in your pocket when you're in the pub), and very nasty indeed when sprayed in the face.