Taser back on target after intense 2 years of scrutiny

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Taser International Inc. co-founder Tom Smith has never understood the hostility directed at his company's stun guns.

Taser's electroshock weapons were created to reduce injuries, Smith said. Police no longer need to hit people with billy clubs or shoot them with bone-cracking rubber bullets.

"I figured the people that were going to lead the parade for us would be Amnesty International and the ACLU," Smith said. "Instead they're our biggest detractors."

Human rights groups continue to warn that Tasers may cause heart attacks. But two years after its stock price plunged under the weight of intense government scrutiny, wrongful death lawsuits and a storm of negative press, Taser is back on the rise.

The sleek, battery-powered weapons are now strapped to officers' hips in more than 10,000 of 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States. Internationally, Taser sales have exploded, with products now sold in 44 countries.

Though its stock remains flat and well below its peak in 2004, analysts have big expectations this year. Taser has boosted profits each of the past four quarters as Smith aggressively defended his weapons in the media and the courtroom. Taser paid for research into the health risks of stun gun shocks and, on occasion, has sued coroners who included Tasers as a possible cause of someone's death.

Matthew McKay, an analyst with Jefferies & Co., predicts Taser will be Wall Street's top performing stock in 2007. McKay expects Taser to record $105 million in sales this year and its stock to more than double in value as investors realize the company isn't going away.

"You've got a company that a lot of people have written off," McKay said.

In May, Taser will begin selling a smaller version of its police weapons to the public. Available in a variety of colors including metallic pink, the Taser C2 can stop people from 15 feet away "allowing you to protect yourself and your family from a safe distance," according to the brochure.

Taser also plans to expand its product line to the military, a market with a potentially huge interest.

Smith said he envisions a day when U.S. Marines can shock insurgents from 100 feet away using a wireless Taser tucked into a shotgun shell. He sees national borders and embassies protected by a mine-like Taser device that shoots electrically charged darts at people who come too close. Neither of those products is on the market yet.