After cops kill Vermont man with a Taser, Vermont politicians rush to add more regulation

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Montpelier — A group of Vermont legislators yesterday proposed a law that would dramatically restrict police use of stun guns and increase training for officers who must confront a mentally unstable person, arguing that the death of Thetford man shot by a police Taser last year could have been prevented with better regulations.

More than 30 members of the Vermont House of Representatives sponsored a bill that advocates said is a direct response to the “needless” death of Macadam Mason, an unarmed, mentally ill man who died after a Vermont State Police Trooper shot him with a stun gun when they ordered him to surrender at his home in Thetford last June.

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The bill would:

* Develop statewide protocols on police stun-gun use, and mandate that all police officers working in Vermont would have to complete training before carrying a stun-gun. Currently, only new officers going through the police academy are required to have the training.

* Mandate that stun guns be used only in situations that would justify lethal force. Currently, the weapons are described by police as “less lethal,” and can be used when an officer fears he faces a bodily threat. The bill would allow the officer to fire the weapon only if they feared their life to be in danger, similar to restrictions on the use of a firearm.

* Require authorities to submit an annual report to the Legislature, documenting and describing incidents in which police fired stun guns.

http://www.vnews.com/home/4413147-95/police-bill-stun-vermont

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Police need to be better controlled, it is true. We need to rely more on the armed citizen as it is far more effective in reducing crime.

Police should probably be disarmed, except for special purposes. They are the government and I have no problem with disarming government. Police have no right to keep and bear arms except as individual citizens. The 2nd amendment is an individual right (SCOTUS, Heller, 2008)

Especially in California where police have had trouble handing the responsibility of being armed much to the detriment of the society there and are responsible for some of the worst riots in history due to their irresponsible use of arms. The most recent being a case in point of "Cops Gone Wild" in California.

California would be an excellent test subject for disarming police while allowing ANY citizen the ability to be armed (police could be armed while off duty and in plain clothes like any other citizen) Clearly it would save lives and prevent civil unrest.

There were no riots in Vermont over the taser death of this man, though here anyone can be armed, so who is going to start a riot? Hmmmmm?

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Police need to be better controlled, it is true. We need to rely more on the armed citizen as it is far more effective in reducing crime.

Police should probably be disarmed, except for special purposes. They are the government and I have no problem with disarming government. Police have no right to keep and bear arms except as individual citizens. The 2nd amendment is an individual right (SCOTUS, Heller, 2008)

Especially in California where police have had trouble handing the responsibility of being armed much to the detriment of the society there and are responsible for some of the worst riots in history due to their irresponsible use of arms. The most recent being a case in point of "Cops Gone Wild" in California.

California would be an excellent test subject for disarming police while allowing ANY citizen the ability to be armed (police could be armed while off duty and in plain clothes like any other citizen) Clearly it would save lives and prevent civil unrest.

There were no riots in Vermont over the taser death of this man, though here anyone can be armed, so who is going to start a riot? Hmmmmm?

That worked well in the old west.

Edited February 16, 2013 by spookyturtle

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

That worked well in the old west.

Absolutely. Nobody was ever killed by cops with a taser there.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I still consider Tasers safe for general use and protection. In terms of police use though I feel it is unacceptable to use a taser to make an unarmed suspect to comply with orders.