Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

May 19, 2010

Is a Taser a ?deadly? weapon, or a ?non-lethal? instrument? As with so many things, the answer to this question depends on the identity of the person wielding the device, rather than its function or the uses to which it is put.

Even in cases involving clear-cut official misconduct, police rarely if ever face felony assault charges when they use a Taser improperly or threaten to do so. However, citizens who behave in similar fashion can expect to face that charge, and any related charges with which a creative prosecutor can fill a docket.

A resident of Daytona Beach, Florida was recently charged with felonious aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for threatening another person with a stun gun ? a low-power, commercially available version of the more common police-issue Taser. The defendant, who threatened an employee at a fast food restaurant over a botched order, never actually used the device.

Had the defendant been wearing a government-issued costume, she would face a suspension or perhaps termination, rather than a prison term.

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