The History of Terrorism
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Enrico Fermi
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1969 In 1969, NASA researcher Jack Cover began to develop a non-lethal electric weapon to help police officers control suspects, as an alternative to firearms.[4] By 1974, Cover had completed the device, which he named the "Tom Swift Electric Rifle" (TSER), referencing the 1911 novel Tom Swift and his Electric Rifle, to make it easier to pronounce as a word, Cover later added an "A" to the acronym to form "TASER".[5] The Taser Public Defender used gunpowder as its propellant, which led the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to classify it as a firearm in 1976,[6][7] a decision that limited sales.[8] In 1980, the Los Angeles Police Department conducted a successful field test of an improved version (having reconsidered its earlier rejections of the technology after the shooting of Eula Love). Still, the device remained commercially unsuccessful and Cover's company, Taser Systems Inc., collapsed.[8]
1970-? Taser Systems Inc.
Taser
Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle