Yellowknife (Oct 20/03) - Until last week, Judge Brian Bruser likely thought he's heard it all, but teens zapping total strangers with stun guns for kicks?

Surely not in the Northwest Territories?

But questions are being raised about the availability of illegal weapons in the NWT after a teenager was convicted of shocking an intoxicated man in downtown Yellowknife with a 100,000 volt stun gun in territorial court last week.

Travis Kalosik, 18, and two of his friends bought the taser on Ebay.com, and despite a ban on the weapons in Canada -- and a number of U.S. states -- it was shipped to Yellowknife.

"How is it that somebody can get on the computer and have an illegal weapon in Canada (a short time later)," asked Judge Brian Bruser, who presided over the case.

"How many hundreds of others are doing the same thing?"

A quick survey of Ebay.ca revealed one Canadian seller advertising a 100,000 volt Panther stun gun for domestic delivery.

A spokesperson for the Internet auction house told Yellowknifer company policy prohibits sellers from advertising illegal weapons and the stun gun should not have been posted.

On the American dot.com version of the Web site, there were close to 1,000 advertisements for tasers, many of which had no shipping restrictions.

"The Internet aspect makes enforcement very challenging," said Louise Charbonneau, head crown prosecutor of the NWT.

"Like other prohibited weapons and substances, customs officials have the authority to intercept them at the border. It can be difficult though." RCMP Const. Kerri Riehl said there isn't a lot the RCMP can do to stop the influx of tasers into the NWT. "They are a lot like radar detectors," she said. "We can't really stop them. People need to be responsible and realize they should only be used by specially-trained police officers."

How they work

The appeal for police officers is easy to understand. Stun guns deliver a non-lethal dose of electricity to the human body, sending muscles into spasm while totally incapacitating the target.

Despite the fact that the charge in the guns can be as high as 100,000 volts, the amperage is fairly low, ensuring the zappee doesn't suffer any permanent damage.

"We say 'You writhe for five'," said Riehl.

"You fall to the floor and can't move."

All Canadian police officers who carry a taser have to take a three-day instructional course, which includes being on the receiving end of one of the 50,000 volt charges.

"It's a horrible feeling," said Riehl. Amnesty International claims a number of deaths in the United States have been linked to taser shocks, but NWT deputy coroner Katherine Menard has never heard of that happening in the NWT.

"There are very few gun-related deaths in the territory to begin with and I have not heard of someone dying from a stun gun shock," said Menard.