Argentina In 2010, one court ruled against the use of five imported Taser devices by the
Buenos Aires Metropolitan Police, to comply with a claim from the Human Rights Observatorium, that states that Taser CEWs are considered an instrument of torture by NGOs and the
Committee against Torture of the UN.
Australia Possession, ownership and use of a stun gun (including Taser CEWs) by civilians is considerably restricted, if not illegal in all States and Territories. The importation into Australia is restricted with permits being required. Stun gun use in Australian law enforcement is as follows: •
Australian Federal Police and
Australian Capital Territory: used only by officers attached to the
Specialist Response Group, qualified general duties (patrol) Sergeants within
ACT Policing and Aviation portfolios, and qualified members of Specialist Support Teams in regional offices. •
New South Wales: Used by general duties (patrol), supervisors/duty officers and specialist officers attached to the
Tactical Operations Unit and
Public Order and Riot Squad. •
Northern Territory: Used by both general duties (patrol) and the
Territory Response Group. •
Queensland: Used by both general duties (patrol) and
Special Emergency Response Team. •
South Australia: Used by all front line Police, STAR Group and Country Members in limited capacity. •
Tasmania: Used only by the
Special Operations Group •
Victoria: Used by the
Critical Incident Response Team and
Special Operations Group. A year long trial at Bendigo and Morwell stations is also underway by general duties police. •
Western Australia: Used by both general duties (patrol) and the
Tactical Response Group.
Austria Austria allows police to use stun guns, including Taser CEWs. After using a Tasert CEW, police must immediately call for an ambulance. The victim must be medically checked directly at the place of the shooting, and only a medically trained person may remove the darts. From 2006 to 2012, Austrian police used Taser CEWs 133 times—127 against humans and six against dogs. About 1,000 police officers were permitted in 2012 to carry and use a Taser CEW.
Brazil Use of the Taser device is legal for the police in Brazil. Its use is widespread mainly in the
Guardas Municipais (Municipal Guards), who receive professional training in the use of electro-conductive pistols. Taser devices are also used by
military police and specialized forces. There are laws allowing their use by
private security companies, but such use is unusual because of the expense of maintaining a Taser CEW compared with a gun.
Canada Stun guns Civilian ownership of electroshock weapons is limited by the
Criminal Code. Stun guns are generally classed as "prohibited weapons", making them illegal for civilian ownership. However, stun batons with a length of at least are legal to own (but not carry). In any case, carrying any type of weapon (including electroshock weapons) in public is generally prohibited.
Conducted energy weapons (Tasers) According to previous interpretation of the
Firearms Act, Taser CEWs were considered "prohibited weapons" and could be used only by members of law-enforcement agencies after they were imported into the country under a special permit. The possession of restricted weapons must be licensed by the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
Canadian Firearms Program unless exempted by law. A 2008 review of the
Firearms Act found that the act classifies "the TASER Public Defender and any variant or modified version of it" as "prohibited firearms". However, Canadian police forces typically treat TASER devices as "prohibited weapons", inconsistent with the restrictions on firearms. The direct source for this information comes from an independent report produced by Compliance Strategy Group for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The report is called An Independent Review of the Adoption and Use of Conducted Energy Weapons by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In the report that is available through access to information, the authors argued that the CEW was, for several years after its adoption by the RCMP, erroneously characterized as a prohibited "weapon" under the
Criminal Code, as opposed to a prohibited "firearm". This misunderstanding was subsequently incorporated into the RCMP's operational policies and procedures as well as those of other police services in Canada. While the most recent RCMP operational manual, completed in 2007, correctly refers to the CEW as a prohibited firearm, a number of consequences of this error in classification remain to be dealt with, by both the RCMP and other Canadian police services. Consequently, it could be argued the police in Canada may not have had the proper authority under their provincial policing Acts and Regulation to use the CEW in the first place. The point of unauthorized use by the police was also raised by Dirk Ryneveld, British Columbia's Police Complaint Commissioner at the Braidwood inquiry on June 25, 2008. Taser device safety and issues have been extensively rehearsed and investigated after the
Robert Dziekański Taser CEW incident at
Vancouver International Airport.
China Under the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Control of Firearms and Public Security Punishment Law, stun guns and tasers are prohibited for civilian ownership in China without an application for a state licence. A weapons permit is required to purchase and own a stun gun or taser.
Czech Republic Electroshock weapons that require direct contact are not regulated by Czech law. They may be purchased, owned and carried for personal protection without any limitations. Taser CEWs are considered class C-I firearms under Czech law, i.e. freely available over the counter, however the owner must be older than 18, have full legal capacity, place of residence in the Czech Republic, clean criminal record, full mental capacity and must register the taser with police.
Finland In Finland possession of a Taser CEW is legal only for police officers. Police have been using Taser CEWs since 2005. Nowadays there is one in almost every patrol car.
France Taser devices are used by the
French National Police and
Gendarmerie. In September 2008, they were made available to
local police by a government decree, but in September 2009, the
Council of State reversed the decision judging that the specificities of the weapon required a stricter regulation and control. However, since the murder of a policewoman on duty, the Taser CEW has been in use again by local police forces since 2010.
Germany The purchase, possession, and carrying of Taser devices in Germany has been prohibited since April 1, 2008 (gun control law:
Anlage 2, Abschnitt 1, Nr. 1.3.6. WaffG). However Taser devices are in use by police SWAT teams,
Spezialeinsatzkommando (SEK) and others, in 13 out of 16 German states.
Greece Greek police use Taser CEWs. Greek Police special forces used a Taser CEW to end the hijacking of a Turkish Airlines A310 by a Turkish citizen at
Athens International Airport in March 2003.
Hong Kong Under Hong Kong laws, Chapter 238
Firearms and Ammunition Ordinance, "Any portable device which is designed or adapted to stun or disable a person by means of an electric shock applied either with or without direct contact with that person" is considered an "arm" and therefore, the importation, possession and exportation of Taser devices requires a license from the
Hong Kong Police Force. They are otherwise illegal, and violation carries penalties up to a $100,000 fine and 14 years in jail.
Iceland Use of Taser devices is generally prohibited in
Iceland.
Ireland Specialist units of Ireland's national police force (
Garda Síochána) use the X26 model;
Special Detective Unit,
Emergency Response Unit and
Armed Support Units. Issuing Taser CEWs to all members of the force (who are generally unarmed) was under consideration as of 2013. Use of Taser CEWs in Ireland by private individuals is prohibited.
Israel The
Israeli police have approved using Taser devices. As of 16 February 2009, the first Taser CEWs became available to police units.
Israeli Defense Force first usage Taser devices were first used by the Israeli Defense Force by the former special counter-terror unit
Force 100 in 2004. The unit was disbanded in 2006. Taser CEWs are expected to re-enter operational use by the Israeli Defense Forces in the near future. As of August 18, 2013, the use of Taser devices by Israeli police was temporarily suspended by Police Chief Yohanan Danino; after such instruments were used repeatedly and excessively by police against a person who allegedly was unarmed and who was not resisting a warranted arrest. But two weeks later the Taser CEW was unsuspended.
Japan Under the
Firearm and Sword Possession Control Law, import, carrying, purchase of conducted energy weapons is prohibited in Japan. Stun guns are legal to own, although carrying without "justifiable grounds" is illegal and can be prosecuted under the Minor Offenses Act.
Kenya Under Kenya's Firearms Act, a Taser device is considered a firearm, as per section 2 (a) (ii) of the Act. The section offers one of the descriptions for a firearm as "a lethal barrelled weapon of any description from which any shot, bullet or other missile can be discharged or which can be adapted for the discharge of any shot, bullet or other missile and includes ... an electrical charge which when it strikes any person or animal is of sufficient strength to stun and temporarily disable the person or animal struck (such weapon being commonly known as a 'stun gun' or 'electronic paralyser' ".
Malaysia Royal Malaysia Police are set to become the second in Southeast Asia police force after
Singapore Police Force to use the less-lethal Taser X26 CEW. The Taser X26 CEW that Malaysian police bought comes with a holster and uses a non-rechargeable lithium battery able to deliver 195 cartridge shots. Policemen on rounds are issued four cartridges. The Taser devices were issued to policemen in Petaling Jaya, Dang Wangi in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru.
New Zealand A large-scale and generally well received trial by the
New Zealand Police saw Taser devices presented almost 800 times and fired over 100 times, but firing was "ineffective" about a third of the time. The Taser device had been "unintentionally discharged" more often than they had been used properly in the line of duty. In October 2012, police said the TASER device had been "very successful in de-escalating dangerous and potentially life-threatening situations". Since their introduction, TASER CEWs had been presented 1320 times but only fired 212 times, resulting in 13 injuries. In July 2015, the
Police Commissioner announced that TASER CEWs would be routinely carried by all police officers.
Russia Stun guns and tasers manufactured in Russia can be purchased for self-defense without special permission, however, under the Federal Law No. 150 "On Weapons" of the Russian Federation it's illegal to import and subsequent sale of any foreign stun devices or tasers into the country. The ban has been in place since the first version of the law was approved in 1996.
South Korea Requires a permit to manufacture, distribute, purchase or carry an electroshock weapon. Any electroshock devices with a projectile (TASER devices) are completely banned for civilian use.
Sweden Taser devices and other electronic control devices are considered
firearms in Sweden and are banned for civilian use. The
Swedish Police Authority had purchased a limited quantity of Taser CEWs, and was about to initiate field trials when these were cancelled in 2005 after an ethics commission found that the need for (and risks of) such devices was not firmly established. The purchased Taser CEWs were then donated to Finland, where field trials were initiated. Since January 1, 2018, the Swedish police have been conducting tests with electroshock weapons for a two-year period and during the trial period approximately 700 police officers are trained. The move has been welcomed by the country's union for law enforcement.
United Kingdom TASER CEWs are considered "prohibited weapons" under the
Firearms Act 1968 and possession or construction is an offence. The maximum sentence for possession is ten years in prison and an unlimited fine. There is a minimum sentence of 5 years imprisonment if the TASER device is disguised as another object such as a torch or a mobile phone. A related clause being considered for addition to "The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act" would make electronic components, assemblies and other devices that can be adapted or assembled to build an improvized CEW, as well as the schematic diagrams for them illegal in the UK. This would include for example HV generator modules that generate over 2KV unloaded which would also cover items like CCFL driver modules, laptop backlight PCBs, car ionizers, TV cold cathode driver boards, photomultiplier drivers, night vision devices and plasma globes. The issue here is that such a far reaching Act would be detrimental to legitimate repair companies, scientists and hobbyists and do very little to deter criminals. TASER CEWs are now used by some British police as a "less lethal" weapon. It was also announced in July 2007, that the deployment of TASER devices by specially trained police units who are not firearms officers, but who are facing similar threats of violence, would be trialled in ten police forces. The 12-month trial commenced on 1 September 2007, and took place in the following forces:
Avon & Somerset,
Devon & Cornwall,
Gwent,
Lincolnshire,
Merseyside,
Metropolitan Police,
Northamptonshire,
Northumbria,
North Wales and
West Yorkshire. Also, in Scotland
Strathclyde Police agreed in February 2010 to arm 30 specially trained police officers using the TASER X26 CEW. The pilot would last three months and would be deployed in Glasgow City Centre and Rutherglen. A fund for up to 10,000 additional TASER devices is being made available for individual chief police officers to bid for TASER devices based on their own operational requirements. the same Court of Appeals found that in two situations involving TASER CEW use, one in drive-stun and one in dart mode, officers had used excessive force. According to an article in
Police Chief magazine, this decision implies guidelines for the use of TASER CEWs and other Electronic Control Devices in gaining compliance (in a setting where safety is not an issue), including that the officer must give warning before each application, and that the suspect must be capable of compliance, with enough time to consider a warning, and to recover from the extreme pain of any prior application of the TASER device; and that TASER devices must not be used on children, the elderly, and women who are visibly pregnant or inform the officer of their pregnancy. In 1991, an electroshock device supplied by
Tasertron to the
Los Angeles Police Department failed to subdue
Rodney King—even after he was shocked twice with the device—causing officers to believe he was on
PCP. Its lack of effectiveness was blamed on a possible battery problem.
Legality TASER devices are considered the same as firearms by the United States government for the purposes of the
Second Amendment protection, the right to keep and bear arms. They can be legally carried (concealed or openly) without a permit in almost every state. Their use in Connecticut, Illinois, and Wisconsin is legal with restrictions. In March 2016, the
Supreme Court of the United States ruled in
Caetano v. Massachusetts that the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court erred in its rationale in upholding a law that prohibited the possession of stun guns. Though the decision didn't explicitly rule that stun gun bans are unconstitutional, it created doubt in laws forbidding their possession , some local jurisdictions retain bans on stun guns.
Hawaii Hawaii's 1976 ban on stun guns was challenged in at least two lawsuits. As a result, the legislature passed HB891, legalizing stun guns in Hawaii as of January 1, 2022. A permit is not required but sellers must perform background checks and provide safety training.
Massachusetts Previously, the U.S. Supreme Court had overruled the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in the
Caetano case. However, when the case was
remanded, the state dismissed the charges, thus allowing it to retain its ban on stun guns at the time. The law remained in force but was challenged in a separate lawsuit. On April 17, 2018, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in
Ramirez v. Commonwealth, ruled that the state's 2004 ban on stun guns is unconstitutional.
Michigan In 2012, Michigan's ban on stun guns was ruled unconstitutional by the
Michigan Court of Appeals.
New Jersey On November 15, 2016, it was reported that New Jersey's Attorney General
Christopher Porrino had conceded that the state's 1985 ban on stun guns is unconstitutional. On April 26, 2017, the lawsuit was settled by agreeing that the ban was unconstitutional and to promulgate regulations to allow for the possession of stun guns. The regulations allow for people over 18 to purchase stun guns, effective October 20, 2017.
New York New York's ban on stun guns is being challenged by Matthew Avitabile. On March 22, 2019, the ban was ruled unconstitutional by the
United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. But it was ruled constitutional by a state court on October 15, 2019.
Rhode Island Rhode Island's ban on stun guns was ruled unconstitutional in March 2022.
Washington D.C. On September 29, 2016, Washington D.C. announced that it intends on repealing its ban on stun guns in response to a lawsuit. The new law regulating stun guns for persons 18 years or older took effect on May 19, 2017.
Metropolitan Police Department issued a statement about the legality of stun guns.
Virgin Islands The
United States Virgin Islands repealed its stun gun ban in 2016.
Localities within states Chicago Chicago bans the sale of stun guns within its limits and imposes an application requirement followed by a 120-day waiting period for attempting to purchase a stun gun from outside the city. Illinois law requires licensure prior to possessing a stun gun in addition to several other restrictions. On March 21, 2019, the
Supreme Court of Illinois ruled unanimously that the ban on possession or carriage of stun guns in public is facially unconstitutional. It ruled that a section of law which prohibits the carrying or transportation of stun guns is unconstitutional because an exception against the prohibition (possessing a concealed carry permit) only covers handguns, thus there is no exception for stun guns, and therefore the ban is unconstitutional. This leaves stun gun carriage legal without a permit.
Delaware localities Newark's 2012 ban on stun guns was repealed on February 24, 2020.
New Castle County and
Wilmington retain their bans.
Iowa localities Crawford County and
Denison city (which is within Crawford County) ban stun guns.
Maryland localities Anne Arundel County lifted its ban on stun guns in 2013 and
Harford County did so in 2014.
Howard County, facing a lawsuit over its ban on stun guns, repealed its law on February 21, 2017;
Annapolis voted to repeal its ban on February 27, 2017;
Baltimore County repealed its local ordinance in April 2017;
Baltimore city's ban, in response to a lawsuit, was repealed on May 15, 2017 but retains bans on possession in public schools and state or city public buildings;
Ocean City retains its ban but exempts from the ban homeowners in their home or persons with a concealed weapons permit.
New Orleans New Orleans' ban on stun guns was challenged in November 2016 and was eventually repealed on April 3, 2017.
Overland Park Overland Park, Kansas repealed its stun gun ban in 2014.
Washington localities Bellingham repealed its ban on stun guns in 2016.
Tacoma's ban
Ruston retains its ban. ==See also==