Legislation to Take Immediate Effect
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - TASER International, Inc. (Nasdaq: TASR), a market leader in advanced non-lethal weapons announced today that Governor Mitt Romney has signed Massachusetts bill H3400, an Act regarding the authorization for possession by law enforcement agencies and sale to law enforcement agencies of electronic weapons, which took immediate effect upon signing, ending the prohibition against TASER technology for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The legislation originally began on a petition by City of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Massachusetts Representative Angelo M. Scaccia (D-Boston) and other members of the General Court relative to the possession by and the sale to law enforcement agencies of electronic weapons. The bill was filed in December 2002 for the 2003-2004 legislative session. Prior to bill H3400 being signed into law, Massachusetts law prohibited the use of electronic stun devices.
“Electronic weapons are an important addition to the tools that our law enforcement officers can use,” said Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “I am glad that the Legislature and the Governor have demonstrated that it is a priority to ensure that our police have the best and most effective equipment available,” concluded Mayor Menino.
“This is a momentous day for TASER International and the citizens and law enforcement personnel in Massachusetts,” said Tom Smith, president of TASER International, Inc. “We were able to assist in expediting this legislative package quickly by garnering wide support in both the House and the Senate chambers in the last two weeks. With the strong support of Mayor Menino, Public Safety Committee Chairman Tim Toomey (D-Cambridge), the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, Massachusetts Police Association, Massachusetts State Police and the Massachusetts Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors’’ & Armorers’’ Association we were able to garner united support to introduce our TASER technology into Massachusetts. Although this is not a magic bullet, we do expect to see dramatic reductions in injuries to officers and suspects as well as saved lives once the TASER brand weapons become deployed to the first responders as successfully as it has throughout the other 5,400 law enforcement agencies in the United States that deploy TASER technology.
“The laws have also changed in Hawaii and Michigan in the past two years where both of these states had similar prohibitions on our technology.
Michigan soon became one of the fastest growing states in terms of TASER sales and numbers of law enforcement agencies that have adopted and embraced the TASER as their primary non-lethal device,” continued Mr. Smith.