Taser International
 |
|
| Public | |
| Traded as |
NASDAQ: TASR S&P 600 Component |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Scottsdale, Arizona |
|
Key people
|
Patrick W. Smith, co-founder, CEO. Thomas P. Smith, co-founder. Doug Klint, president and General Counsel. |
| Products | Electrical weapons, body worn cameras, digital evidence management solutions |
| Revenue |
 $164.5 million USD (2014) |
|
Number of employees
|
485 (2013) |
| Website |
www |
TASER International, Inc. is an American developer, manufacturer, and distributor of conducted electrical weapons, body worn cameras, and digital evidence management solutions based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The majority of TASER products are aimed at the law enforcement and military field, however the company also manufactures a consumer line-up. TASER is the most common brand of electrical weapons.
Referring to an electrical weapon as a "taser" is common, but a misnomer.
The company was founded in 1991 (under the name AIR TASER, Inc.) by brothers Rick and Tom Smith. The Smiths were distraught when two of Rick's former high school teammates were murdered in a road rage incident in Scottsdale. Stemming from the incident, they began working with Jack Cover to develop a TASER device. (Cover had developed an early version of an electrical weapon and in 1970 formed Taser Systems Inc. Cover's version, however, used gunpowder to launch its darts, classifying it as a firearm. This limited sales and the business collapsed.)
In November 1993, a non-firearm version of the device called the AIR TASER was developed, allowing it to bypass federal and state laws that only apply to firearms, and a tracking system (the anti-felon identification or AFID system) was created. This enables the weapon to disperse confetti with serial numbers when it is fired and links the specific weapon to the scene where it was used.
In 1998, the company adopted its current name to signal the company's international expansion. In the same year, the company began marketing the weapon to law enforcement agencies and police departments, in addition to private buyers who had bought TASER weapons for personal self-protection in prior years.
In May 2001, they filed for an initial public offering and began trading on NASDAQ under the TASR.
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Wikipedia