POLICE recovered an electronic stun gun as they broke up an altercation between two groups of men at the Robin Hood pub in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Bermuda Police Service spokesman Robin Simmons said yesterday the device, a blue, vinyl-covered object described as a Taser, was "dangerous".

And he warned that Bermuda law regarded a Taser as being equal in seriousness to a firearm, and those caught with one in their possession would face the same punishment as if they had a gun.

Mr. Simmons said it was not the first time a Taser had been recovered on the island by police.

An attacker can use the Taser to shock his victim with a powerful electrical charge capable of stunning someone for several seconds.

Though they are openly marketed overseas and on the Internet as a "non-lethal" weapon of self-defence, Tasers have, according to a report by Amnesty International, been involved in 74 deaths in the US and Canada.

The report claimed that Tasers had been used gratuitously against children, the elderly and others who posed no threat.

But another report, published by the US Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, suggested stun guns were "relatively safe" when used appropriately.

Some overseas police forces, including several in the US and the UK, use sophisticated versions of the Taser to restrain people resisting arrest.

The type of stun gun many police forces use is the M26 Taser gun, which delivers a 50,000-volt shock through two barbed darts to stun the target for five seconds.

The Chicago police halted deployment of Tasers in February, as concerns mounted after a teenager suffered a cardiac arrest and a man died after being stunned. Mr. Simmons said the device found at the Robin Hood was not the type used by police that can be effective from a distance of a few yards away.

"There are many different types of Tasers available in other jurisdictions," Mr. Simmons said. "They tend to have two prongs, separated by a few inches, and a current of electricity is generated between the prongs. You have to be close to a person to use it on them.

"I would say they're dangerous. They can injure someone, how severely depends on how they are used."

Though Tasers are prohibited in some US states, they are widely available in others. They are banned in Bermuda. Someone convicted of possessing a Taser here could end up in prison for ten years.

"Some police organisations use them, but their use has become a matter of debate," Mr. Simmons. "But when they are put into the hands of civilians, their use may not always be in the best interests of the people they are used on." A browse on the world-wide web revealed the availability of a wide range of electronic stun devices, for prices as low as $25. We found one that generated a 900,000-volt shock.

Stun guns work by delivering a high-voltage shock that temporarily disrupts the passage of electrical signals flowing through the nervous system and the brain. The result is that the muscles and brain can no longer communicate, leading to temporary confusion and imbalance.

Despite the high voltage, the shock is not designed to cause permanent harm as the amperage (intensity) is low.

Police recovered the Taser after receiving a complaint of loud music at the Robin Hood. When officers arrived at the pub and restaurant on Richmond Road, a scuffle broke out between two groups of men.

The crowd eventually dispersed and there were no arrests. Further inquiries into the incident are under way.