Last week, courts in Illinois and New York overthrew laws banning stun guns and tasers.
This kind of win is important in that eventually we will have workable and affordable directed energy weapons--the long game. The legality of energy weapons will then support their sales and use by the public here in America.In the Land of Lincoln, the Illinois State Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the misdemeanor weapons charges against two men found carrying stun guns were unconstitutional. The first, Isiah J. Webb, was found with a device in his jacket pocket on a public street. The second man, Ronald Greco, had a stun gun in his backpack in a public forest preserve. Each was charged under Illinois law which has no allowances for the legal carry of a taser or stun gun other than by police...
On Friday, U.S. District Judge David Hurd issued the opinion in the case of Matthew Avitabile, saying that the New York resident had a right to purchase a stun gun or taser for self-defense. Avitabile had filed suit against the state in 2017 over the longtime ban on possessing such a device. Under New York law, simply having one of the electronic devices is a misdemeanor offense of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, punishable by up to a year in jail.
“New York’s sweeping prohibition on the possession and use of tasers and stun guns by all citizens for all purposes, even for self-defense in one’s home, must be declared unconstitutional in light of Heller,” said Hurd in his ruling, enjoining the state from enforcing the ban...
According to Stamboulieh, only two states, Hawaii and Rhode Island, still ban ownership of tasers and stun guns, even in the home.