Reading, PA logs city's first record of lawful self-defense with Taser

Any case of self-defense is good news to me. But the reporter(s) do some things wrong here.

The Reading Eagle reports:

A Reading man used an electric stun gun on another man in what police said Tuesday is the first case of a city civilian using the weapon on another in self-defense.

Allen Steffy, 26, fired the device, called a Taser, at Gregory Dameron, 25, inside a residence Monday night in the 900 block of Washington Street, police said.

Stop right there. I'm surprised I had two of these, two days in a row, but a stun gun is not a Taser. Get your facts straight, if you have a modicum of intelligence.

Police in Berks County have used the device several times to subdue and arrest people.

Dameron was pummeling Steffy during a domestic dispute when Steffy used the device, police said.

The electric discharge did not stop Dameron's assault and he later stopped beating Steffy when the resident, Robin Mayberry, 28, and others separated the men, investigators said.

Steffy is Mayberry's boyfriend, and Dameron is her former boyfriend, police said.

Dameron of the 400 block of South Fifth Street was charged with assault, burglary, trespass and related offenses in a warrant issued by District Judge Deborah P. Lachina in Reading Central Court.

He is to be arraigned when he is released from St. Joseph Medical Center. Police said Dameron was being treated there Tuesday for a stab wound to the left side, also inflicted by Steffy.

It is legal to buy stun weapons, which cost at least $300.

"Like most things, it can be purchased off the Internet," said Capt. Francis F. Drexler of the criminal investigations division.

So what? What the hell difference does it make if it can be purchased off the Internet or not? You already said it's legal to buy them, so who cares where you get them from?

"People are allowed to buy them and use them to defend themselves and their property," he said. "When it is used in an unlawful manner, then it is illegal."

Stun guns are considered prohibited offensive weapons when they are carried or used during a crime. Convicted felons cannot legally possess stun guns or handguns, Drexler said.

Pretty much just like a baseball bat or a piece of garden hose filled with sand--if it was used during a crime.

Police said Steffy is not a convicted felon.

Taser International, the largest seller of the devices, checks the background of buyers for felonies and serious misdemeanors, a company official said.

"If you buy our device, we're going to run you through a background check," spokesman Steve Tuttle said. "You've got to provide a valid Social Security identification and we verify your credit card."

Translation: Rats, he's not a felon, and Taser International even runs background checks to cover their own butts. There's nothing we can get him on.

It's not anti-gun bias. It's anti-self-defense bias.