David Schweikert Scores win With Less-Than-Lethal Weapons Bill

Representative David Schweikert (R-AZ) is celebrating the House of Representatives' passage of the Innovate to De-Escalate Act.

He first introduced the bill, which exempts Tasers and other less-than-lethal projectile weapons from a firearms excise tax, in 2024.

As Rep. Schweikert previously explained, exempting less-than-lethal weapons from the excise tax helps foster innovation by easing the financial burden on manufacturers, especially at a time when law enforcement's use of deadly force has been under intense scrutiny, yet advocacy for the use of less-than-lethal alternatives has been drowned out by calls to defund police.

In a post to X, the Arizona congressman celebrated the passage by recounting a November 2024 incident in which a woman allegedly ran at police officers with a knife, but was subdued with less-than-lethal weaponry.

The woman, 32-year-old Sarah Cohen, had a history of mental illness and allegedly was attempting to enter her mother's apartment while wielding a large knife.

"About a year ago, in my district, a woman in a mental health crisis ran at a police officer with a knife. Ten years ago, she probably would have been shot," Schweikert shared. "This time officers used a less-than-lethal tool and she went to treatment instead of a morgue."

Schweikert praised the bill, noting that the bill would "stop treating that kind of life-saving technology like a traditional firearm in the tax code. If we are serious about de-escalation and public safety, we should not be taxing the tools that keep people alive."

In April 2025, Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) reintroduced the bill in the Senate.

"Giving law enforcement the tools they need to safely de-escalate situations is important to keeping both our officers and communities safe," said Sen. Gallego. "Right now, red tape is making it harder for police departments, especially smaller ones, to access less-than-lethal technology, making encounters more dangerous and potentially deadly."