Canadian police pull older stun guns from use

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 1 (Reuters) - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said on Monday that they are removing an older model of Taser stun guns from use after tests found many producing less electricity than designed to.

Canada's national police force said it was concerned about the safety risk posed by problems with the M26 model Tasers, which are designed to incapacitate a target with a 50,000-volt jolt of electricity.

Test on older Tasers used by police in the province of British Columbia found that many produced less electricity than designed. The RCMP said it was already replacing the older guns with a newer version produced by U.S.-based TASER International (TASR.O).

Police use of Tasers has been controversial in Canada following several incidents, including the 2007 death of a Polish immigrant at the Vancouver International Airport during an incident in which wass repeatedly stunned.

(Reporting Allan Dowd, Editing by Philip Barbara)