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Tasers are fun!

Deborah Kerr in The King And I recommended whistling a happy tune when afraid. Now fearful Americans can sing along to their favourite tracks while shooting anyone who causes them consternation with a 50,000 volt electric charge.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, expected to see more than 140,000 visitors this week, is no stranger to bizarre gadgets but the iTaser - as it has been dubbed - must rank as one of the oddest. It combines a Taser stun gun, used by 12,000 police and security forces worldwide including the Metropolitan police, with an MP3 player and earphones.

Arizona-based Taser International sells the handheld stun guns under the rather hyperbolic banner of 'Changing the World and Protecting Lives'. It maintains that the iTaser "allows for both personal protection and personal music for people on the go".

"Personal protection can be both fashionable and functionable," according to Rick Smith, founder of the company, who also used CES to unveil a new Leopard-print Taser aimed at the more feminine arm of the stun gun-loving community.

Half a million Tasers are already in use across the world despite warnings from Amnesty International that they have been linked to more than 70 deaths in the US. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation a further 18 people have died after being stunned by a Taser in Canada.

Taser International maintains that the devices merely stun people and, with proper training, are otherwise harmless. The guns shoot two small probes at more than 160 feet per second which are connected to the device by insulated wire. The probes deliver an electric charge that causes instant neuro-muscular incapacitation, causing the victim to crumple to the floor and lose the ability to move for a few seconds.

The gun generates a staggering 50,000 volts but the actual ampage - which is potentially very dangerous to life - is a mere 0.0021 amps, while a household plug carries 13 amps. The ampage is so low that the Taser's two lithium camera batteries can stun 100,000 people. Used in a digital camera the two batteries would provide just 100 photo flashes.

Being hit by a stun gun is, however, a deeply unpleasant experience. Last month a 45-year-old company director, who was unarmed and innocent, claimed he had been 'tasered' in north London. The first shock caused him to drop to his knees, a second left him flat on his face with a broken tooth and a further six shocks made him wet himself.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has started an investigation into the incident. Daniel Sylvester, the owner of an east London security firm employing 65 staff to guard council offices, pubs and nightclubs, described the situation as "like being tortured".

Ten police forces in England and Wales have issued Tasers to previously unarmed officers.

The Metropolitan police started handing out the devices in early December to members of its Territorial Support Group (TSG) after training at a specialist centre in Gravesend, Kent. It has pledged that only six officers will be 'toting' at any one time in the capital.

Asked whether they will be allowed to listen to their favourite tunes while on the beat, or perhaps download the latest police training manuals into their holsters and plug in, a Met spokesman said: "I can honestly say no, we won't be using it. Do you think that would be a good use of public money?"

The British public is banned from using Tasers but they are legal in 43 states in the US where Taser International has already sold 160,000 to 'concerned' private citizens. It hopes to boost sales by providing the devices in a range of colours - including shocking pink - and thinks its leopard print gun will also be a stunner.

So the next time you are walking down Main Street USA and hear an earphone-wearing passerby singing "Shock, in the name of love" to themselves, beware: it may be a statement of intent, not a misquote.