PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Law and Order

Police, Guns and Tasers

"The police volunteer to do some unpleasant work in our community, and I applaud them for that.  Yet in order to have our support, they should be prepared to justify their actions," said Peter Linton, Libertarianz Firearms Spokesman, today.  "That's why Libertarianz supports Marie Dyhrberg's call for extra detail to be released on the police trial regarding tasers."

"While it is not necessary to release the names of individual officers and participants, it is important for the public to view the raw data collected from these trials to see how the police reached their conclusions," says Linton.  "Openness from the police will go some way to repairing their reputation, which has been tarnished lately by some wayward officers."

"We must question however, why the police want the taxpayer to fund yet another form of self-defense when they already have access to batons, pepper-spray, martial arts maneuvers and, when necessary, firearms," Linton says.  "If tasers are indeed necessary for police to defend themselves with, then they should also be made available to ordinary New Zealanders for this same purpose."

"After all, a police officer's life is just as valuable as the life of any other decent New Zealander.  There should be one law that applies to everyone, not just the police."

Further discussion on tasers will screen on TV One's Eye To Eye show, 11:30 am Sunday 8 June, 2008.

ENDS

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