OTTAWA _ The head of the RCMP has been stung lately by criticism about Tasers.

Now Commissioner William Elliott has been zapped by one of the electronic guns.

Elliott was willingly Tasered on Thursday during a visit to Alberta, said Sgt. Nathalie Deschenes, an RCMP spokeswoman.

Alberta Solicitor General Fred Lindsay and one of the minister's assistants were also shocked with the electronic stun gun.

``It was an impromptu event, it wasn't planned,'' Deschenes said Friday. ``They asked for volunteers, and the commissioner volunteered himself for being Tasered.''

Elliott told Liberal public safety critic Ujjal Dosanjh during a February Commons committee meeting that he had never been hit with a Taser _ voluntarily or otherwise.

Neither had Dosanjh, who served as British Columbia attorney general when Tasers were introduced there.

In April 2003, the RCMP issued an operational bulletin prohibiting use of the Taser on civilian volunteers for demonstration purposes.

However, the force has frequently turned the weapon on officers in training sessions.

At least one Mountie and several U.S. police officers have sued over injuries allegedly sustained during instruction.

More than 300 people in North America, including 20 in Canada, have died after being Tasered.

Arizona-based manufacturer Taser International has vigorously defended its devices in several lawsuits and stresses that the weapon has never been directly blamed for a death. It has, however, been cited repeatedly as a contributing factor.

The electronic guns are highly popular with police, who say they avoid injuries to suspects and officers and are certainly a better option than firearms.

Tasers are now the subject of several inquiries. The weapons came under intense scrutiny last fall when public outrage greeted the release of amateur video of the death of Robert Dziekanski. The RCMP blasted the Polish immigrant with a Taser as he tried to find his mother last October at Vancouver International Airport.

A Canadian Press analysis of 563 Taser incidents reported by the RCMP between 2002 and 2005 revealed that more than three-quarters of suspects were unarmed.

The reports also suggested a pattern of use by the Mounties as a quick means to keep relatively low-risk prisoners, drunks and rowdy people in line. More recent reports released by the RCMP have been heavily censored to remove key details such as exact dates and injuries linked to the stun guns.

The deletions sparked an outcry from opposition MPs including Dosanjh, who called for disclosure of more information to better assess how the guns are used.

The latest issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal calls for more independent study of possible Taser health risks. © 2008 The Canadian Press