Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle

What is Thomas A. Swift's electric rifle? It's the invention without which we would never get to hear melodramatic college students scream "don't taze me bro!" That's right, it's the invention known as the Taser, enemy of drunken citizens and friend of reality TV show producers everywhere.

Police and law enforement officials have made the taser a key element of their crime fighting regimen over the years, allowing them to use non lethal force to subdue people. But there have been a number of cases where people believed Thomas A. Swift's electric rifle was improperly used, and perhaps being used too often, as seen in this local news report below:

Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle
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"The Taser, of course, is the 50,000-volt stun gun that’s now carried by every cop on the beat in Columbia and Boone County. (Actually an acronym, Taser stands for “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle,” the name playfully bestowed by its inventor in honor of his fictional boyhood hero.) Its use and misuse has become controversial locally after several apparent abuses..."

Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle