I WAS horrified by C Henson's letter (Let police use these guns', The Press, May 23), calling for the police to have access to taser guns, even for general use.

Unfortunately, not all police are equal judges of when such use is justified (they can't be - humans differ in attitudes and opinions), and I can see how this terrible new invention can lend itself to use as a torture machine possibly equal to any Middle Ages device, perhaps with little or no evidence later of how severely or for how long it has been used (or sometimes misused).

It should be banned immediately. In the moral sense, I see ordinary guns as preferable - at least there is later evidence of the extent of use and target area.

Why not instead develop a "tranquiliser-type", quick-acting and presumably relatively pain-free gun, such as is used on dangerous animals, adapted for humans?

I am sure people who advocate tasers have the best intentions, but have they thought of the dangers of the misuse or mistakes in who is targeted, and the age and health of the recipient (the latter usually unknown to the police)?

D Dawson, Bismarck Street, Leeman Road, York.