More Paperwork

Once again, legislating a solution to a "problem" that doesn't actually exist:

• Spurred by a Tribune report documenting an explosion in Taser use by police, a state legislator from Chicago is pushing a bill that would force local police departments to inform the state of every shock an officer delivers to a civilian.

  The proposed law would compel officers to report details of any use of a Taser or other electroshock weapon, including information about the incident that led to the weapon's deployment and whether the subject was armed, aggressive or intoxicated. Officers would also be asked to report the race of each person shocked by one of the devices.

  The bill is based in part on legislation that took effect in 2004 and called on officers to report the race of each driver pulled over, said state Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago, sponsor of the Taser bill. If officers know they will have to report the details of each use, Davis said, they might think more carefully before pulling the weapon.

If someone is deploying a Taser, we doubt that the first thought running through their minds is, "Gee, I certainly hope I won't have to be filling out extra paperwork." The times we've had to use a Taser, we were thinking, "Oh shit!"

But leave it to a democrat to endanger the lives of police officers by throwing paperwork obstacles in their way in the hopes of denying them an effective weapon to defend themselves.

We're just going to stop carry a Taser and go back to killing people who turn out to be assailants.