The US company behind Tasers plans to produce stun gun-armed drones it claims will help stop school shootings.

The Arizona-based company, Axon, says that the high-tech solution is necessary amid a “fruitless” debate on gun policy in the US.

The announcement, however, earned a stern rebuke from the company’s own ethics board.

Nearly 30 school shootings have taken place in the US this year.

Axon – formerly known as Taser International – said that it has formally begun developing a miniature, lightweight Taser that can be deployed on a drone or robot, as well as “targeting algorithms” to assist operators to aim the device safely.

According to Axon, all use-of-force decisions will be made by an authenticated and authorised human operator “who has agreed to take on legal and moral responsibility for any action that take