Quebec will destroy malfunctioning Tasers

Were these x26 or m26 tasers??

March 28, 2009
Sue Montgomery, Canwest News Service

Quebec will destroy five Tasers after they malfunctioned during testing, Public Security Minister Jacques Dupuis said Friday.

The five were among a group of 52 stun guns that were made before 2005, but Dupuis didn't know what was wrong with the weapons.

He said the remaining 115 guns available to 14,000 police officers in the province will also be tested.

"We want them all to be well-functioning," Dupuis told a news conference.

He said that to avoid being shocked with a Taser -- a means of restraining suspects by hitting them with a 50,000-volt electric charge -- a person need only obey police officers.

He said police have been given strict guidelines on how to use Tasers. Police have to give a verbal warning before firing, can't fire at a person's head, neck or genitals, and must test the Taser when they take possession of it.

About 20 deaths in Canada after police used a Taser to subdue someone have led to calls for a ban on the weapons.

In Montreal, Taser use came under fire after the 2007 death of Quilem Registre, who died two days after being Tasered six times by Montreal police as they tried to arrest him.