Background Information Electronic Protection Devices

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission regularly receives inquiries concerning devices that produce a high- voltage, low-current electric charge intended to disable an opponent temporarily. For simplicity, and to avoid use of particular brand names, we will refer to these devices generically as ""electronic weapons."" These devices appear to be promoted for use by police officers and for self-defense.

Electronic weapons come in two main types. One type uses barbed darts that are propelled toward the opponent by a powder charge. The electricity is supplied to the darts by thin wires connecting the dart and the hand-held unit that fires them. The Commission does not have jurisdiction over this dart-type device because the Consumer Product Safety Act specifically provides that the term "consumer product" does not include firearms. This type of electronic weapon is a firearm because the dart is propelled by a powder charge.

The second type of electronic weapon applies the electric charge directly from a hand-held unit which is pressed against the opponent by the user. While the Commission has jurisdiction over safety defects and unreasonable risks associated with consumer use of the hand-held type of electronic weapon, the Commission does not have the statutory authority to require licensing of purchasers or users of such devices or to control their use by police departments.

The Commission has not received any confirmed reports of serious injuries caused by electronic weapons.

In 1976, before the dart-type of electronic weapon was determined not to be a consumer product subject to the Commission's jurisdiction, a consultant for the Commission and the Commission's staff evaluated the potential for lethal effects from one brand of the dart-type device. These evaluations concluded that while the electric charge would not be expected to kill a normally healthy adult, persons especially sensitive to electric shock could be at risk. These persons could include the elderly and individuals with heart problems. Possible risks from being hit in the eye by the dart and from hitting an object while falling after being immobilized were also identified.

The Commission has not tested any of the hand-held type of electronic weapons and does not know if the electrical characteristics of this type of weapon are the same as those of the one brand of dart-type weapon that was examined in 1976. Despite claims to the contrary by some distributors of at least one brand of the hand-held- type of electronic weapon, the Commission has not approved the safety of any of these devices or established safety standards for electronic weapons. Furthermore, the Commission does not enforce the safety of particular products.

If information becomes available in the future showing injuries to innocent consumers by the use or abuse of the hand-held electronic weapons subject to the Commission's jurisdiction, the Commission will consider whether regulatory action is reasonably necessary to reduce risks associated with these devices.