Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

August 10, 2009

Twenty-five years ago, NASA researcher John Cover produced the first working model of what he called Tom Swift?s Electric Rifle, or TASER. By the late 1990s, the device was in wide use among law enforcement agencies, who insisted that it provided a safer, non-lethal alternative to deadly force.

But the ubiquity of the TASER has made its use all but irresistible to police officers confronted with non-violent non-compliance. Rather than offering non-lethal defense, the TASER has become a commonly used ? and frequently lethal -- implement of pain compliance.

The military contractor Raytheon has developed a so-called ?Active Denial System? using microwaves to heat a targeted individual?s skin. Its effects, like those of the TASER, are described as ?painful, but generally harmless.?

Weapons system analyst Neil Davidson warns that we can ?expect police forces to become more and more interested? in the use of microwave weaponry. Given the growing problem of TASER abuse, this is not a pleasant prospect.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.