Challenge
TASER International provides non-injurious solutions to violent confrontation by developing products that enable law enforcement officers to protect themselves without causing injury or death. TASER’s non-lethal electrical weapons are used by law enforcement officers throughout the United States. However, Massachusetts remained the only state in the country to ban the use of such weapons.

TASER hired O’Neill and Associates to lobby the Massachusetts Governor’s office and state legislature to pass a bill, originally proposed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, which would put an end to the state’s ban on the use of non-lethal electronic weapons by law enforcement. At the time this effort commenced, there was no real appetite in Massachusetts to change the ban on these weapons.

Solution
O’Neill and Associates launched a comprehensive government relations campaign to promote the passage of the bill. The O’Neill and Associates team began a successful lobbying campaign to educate members of the Massachusetts House, Senate, and Executive branches of the benefits of non-lethal electronic weapons and their life saving, injury preventing qualities. This campaign included the distribution of positive press releases and newspaper articles from around the country promoting the use of TASER as a life saving tool as well as meeting with House and Senate leadership and rank and file legislators to ensure movement and eventual passage of the bill.

Results
Not only did O’Neill and Associates get the bill passed in the short span of only ten weeks, we even went a step further by successfully amending the bill to expand its scope to allow certain officers in both state and county correctional facilities the use of TASERS, thereby increasing sales opportunities for TASER and exceeding O’Neill and Associates’ initial goals.

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