More potent stun guns for British police will enrage critics

In 2017, British police expect to receive the Taser X2, a new version of the electroshock weapon that can fire two shots instead of one. Critics demand that all tasers be withdrawn, because of concerns over safety and abuse. Why is a device aimed at reducing deaths so controversial?

Tasers were invented for the best of motives. Patrick Smith, CEO of Taser International in Phoenix, Arizona, was inspired to develop a less-lethal alternative to firearms when two high-school acquaintances were killed in a shooting.

A standard taser fires two barbed darts trailing wires, creating a circuit across the target’s body.…