Pretty protection

Lending new meaning to the words “shocking pink,” the folks at Taser International Inc. have hit the market with a personal-protection device marketed for women that delivers a 50,000-volt jolt with a fashion twist.

Since announcing its latest product in July, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company, which supplies Tasers to about 11,500 law-enforcement agencies nationwide, has been inundated with requests for the newest, smaller C2 Taser, which comes in pink, purple, silver and blue and fits easily in a purse.

“It’s been phenomenal,” said Taser International President Kathy Hanrahan of the public reaction to the Taser, which went on the market in July and is sold on the company’s Web site, www.taser.com, and at several retail outlets nationwide, including Cabela”s and Gander Mountain.

“There are millions of people who want to be able to protect themselves but don’t want to carry a firearm,” Miss Hanrahan said. “We wanted to provide an alternative without having to take a life.”

The Taser C2, which costs about $350, is not as large or heavy as those used by law enforcement — it’s about the size of a cell phone. Nevertheless, it delivers voltage strong enough to disable a would-be attacker.

A user takes aim and presses a button that engages metal prongs attached to a wire. The shock acts on the skeletal muscles, and the person cannot move for about 30 seconds, long enough for the Taser owner to get away and dial 911.

“What’s great about the Taser is that it’s an immediate effect,” Miss Hanrahan said. “With a firearm, you can miss, and if you don’t take someone out, they can still come toward you.”

Although Miss Hanrahan touts the Taser’s easy use and safety, Amnesty International and national police associations have registered concerns about possible civilian misuse.

Mona Cadena, Amnesty’s deputy director of the Western region, said her organization has tracked 220 Taser-related deaths and is calling for an independent and unbiased research study to look into the medical effects of the Taser and its safety.

“We have seen what happens with the Taser in the hands of police, seen it used on pregnant women, children and seniors,” Miss Cadena said, citing multiple cases nationwide in which the perpetrator of a crime has been subdued by the police with a Taser and later has died.

Miss Hanrahan disputes some Taser-death statistics, noting that in many cases, after further investigation, the Taser was cleared as the cause of death.

There have been civilian abuses, too.

In February, a father in Albany, Ore., was arrested for using a Taser on his 18-month-old toddler, and another dad in Palm City, Fla., was charged in 2005 with felony child abuse for using a Taser to discipline his 14-year-old son.

“When we put these Tasers in the hands of civilians, there is really no way we can control the personal use,” Miss Cadena said. “We are greatly concerned about the potential of harm. There is no entity in the federal government that regulates the Taser. No state has regulations for police using the Taser, and now we are rushing to put these in the hands of civilians? Once you talk of having an unregulated weapon on the street, the implications are scary.”

The Tasers are legal in all but seven states — Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Hawaii — and the District.

The company said it has taken extra safeguards to keep Tasers from being sold to the wrong person. A Taser must be registered at the point of sale and comes inactivated. A buyer must contact the company by phone or on its Web site for a full criminal background check. If the buyer passes, he or she receives an access code that allows activation of the weapon.

All cartridges, which supply the Taser, also are registered at the point of sale with a serial number attached to the cartridge. When the Taser is fired, it leaves behind its own calling card — 20 to 30 small pieces of confettilike paper bearing the serial number for the Taser that was fired, enabling police to investigate the incident.

Those protocols, Miss Hanrahan said, make the product safe. “Law enforcement really needs this. The things they have to deal with is unbelievable, and we have plenty of evidence that [Tasers] have saved lives.

“I absolutely believe it’s safe,” she said. “If my children fired it accidentally, the worst thing that happened is that they are going to feel that current and they won’t be able to move for a while. They fall to the ground and are there for 30 seconds. As soon as it’s over, it’s over.”

She added that she has heard from many women who said they wished they had known about the Taser. Most have been victims of assault or rape, and she said hearing their stories makes her more determined to get out the message.

“I have a personal mission of not hearing that again and making sure women know they can use this,” said Miss Hanrahan, who carries her own Taser and has for several years. “Women need this to protect themselves. There is just too much crime out there.”