Shoot People in the Back

That's one of the new recommendations from Taser International. In response to deaths from cardiac arrest blamed on tasers, the organization has issued a new "targeting guide." It advises taser users against

aiming at the chest. The back is preferred over the front as a target area.

You might be wondering why, if someone is running away, they need to be shot with a taser in the first place. But of course that's just an unimportant detail.

Here's a better idea. Instead of issuing ridiculous restrictions for targeting that take away a weapon's primary target area, how about we restrict the use of tasers to situations in which they are truly necessary? The problem with tasers isn't that they sometimes result in the death of targets. It's that they are greatly overused. Instead of using them as a substitute for lethal force in situations when a firearm is overkill, they are used from everything to enforcing traffic stop compliance to dealing with unruly or disturbed children. That problem isn't going to be solved by shooting people in the legs or back.