London
British police used a Taser electric stun gun against a suspect this week for the first time. Human-rights groups and civil-liberties activists have been agitating against allowing officers to carry the nonlethal weapon, which fires needle-tipped darts and delivers a 50,000-volt shock to the target. Most British police do not carry guns of any kind, although each police department has a few officers authorized to use live ammunition. The Taser has been available to police since April, but before this week it had only been used against a rabid dog. The human suspect who was Tasered was threatening police with two loaded handguns.
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