STUN GUNS would be issued to every police patrol car in the state, under a proposal being pushed by the Police Minister, despite a recommendation by the Ombudsman last year that a two-year moratorium be applied to any further introduction of the weapons.

Tony Kelly took the proposal to the Government's cabinet budget committee last night, with a decision on the matter deferred by the Premier, Nathan Rees, the Herald understands, but believed to be a short time away.

The proposal would cost about $15 million, sources said, and result in thousands of the weapons being distributed at a time when the Government is grappling with a $2 billion budget deficit.

Under the proposal, one stun gun would be supplied to each of five patrol cars regularly on shift at a local area command. This mirrors a plan the NSW Police Association has been pushing.

At present, there is only limited use of the stun guns since they were trialled by general duties police last year. Only one supervisor at a local area command has access to the weapon. Between October and December, stun guns were fired 18 times.