S.E.C. Looking at Safety Data and Big Order for Taser Guns
/Taser International said yesterday that the Securities and Exchange
Commission had begun an informal inquiry into the company's statements
about the safety of its electric stun guns and a $1.5 million sales
order that it announced last month. Shares of Taser plunged $4.90,
nearly 18 percent, to $22.72, on the announcement. After quadrupling
last year, the company's stock has fallen 28.2 percent so far this
year. The Arizona attorney general's office said yesterday that its
lawyers met on Monday with Taser executives to discuss concerns about
the safety of Taser's stun guns and the company's plans to sell them to
civilians. The attorney general's office is not formally investigating
Taser, which is based in Scottsdale, Ariz., said Steve Wilson, a
spokesman for the attorney general. An internal company document
suggests, meanwhile, that Taser was struggling to meet its sales goals
at the end of 2004. The document shows that in another sale, a
distributor bought $700,000 in Tasers and accessories on Dec. 30, the
last business day of the fourth quarter, about 3 percent of the sales
that Taser expected for the quarter. "Hope this will help out!!!!!" the
distributor noted in the purchase order, which was provided by a person
who will profit if Taser's shares fall. More than 80 people nationwide have died after being shocked.
Taser says the deaths would have occurred anyway, mainly because of
drug overdoses. But the company has performed little research into the
safety of its guns. [more]
