NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Some investors in stun gun maker Taser are betting that the nomination of Bernard Kerik to head the Department of Homeland Security could lead to some big government contracts for the company.

After all, Kerik is on Taser's board of directors.

Taser (Research) fans were all aflutter on investing message boards Friday morning with enthusiastic predictions, such as this one on Yahoo! Finance:

"KERIK Will Have Over 220,000 People Under him. He doesn't have to say it out, his divisions' chief will automatically suggest to get TASR Guns to flatter him, since they all knew his background at TASR....Buy."

But investors shouldn't get too excited.

For one, if confirmed, Kerik would need to step down from Taser's board, said Rick Smith, Taser's chief executive officer, in an interview Friday morning.

In a move to possibly pave the way for this, Kerik exercised stock options last month in order to sell about 102,000 shares of Taser stock, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Smith was quick to quell any concerns about whether Taser would receive favorable treatment from Kerik. But he added that Kerik might be more likely to endorse the use of weapons like Taser's stun guns because of his familiarity with them. In addition to serving on Taser's board, Kerik was formerly the commissioner of New York City's police department.

"I wouldn't expect that we would get any additional advantage other than the fact that because Kerik comes from municipal law enforcement he probably would be a proponent of non-lethal weapons," said Smith.

There's a more fundamental reason for keeping enthusiasm in check.

Taser has been on a tear this year thanks to huge increases in sales of its stun guns.

Brian Ruttenbur, an analyst with Morgan Keegan, said the DHS was not one of the areas of law enforcement that Taser has been targeting and he doesn't expect that to change.

"The Department of Homeland Security has had very few purchases of Tasers," said Ruttenbur. "It's been more the FBI and U.S. military. Could more people in Homeland Security, like customs agents, use Taser? Maybe. But that's not a big growth area."

Joe Blankenship, an analyst with Source Capital Group, agreed.

"I don't think there's going to be a significant uptrend in orders. Remember, it's police departments that are really buying now," said Blankenship.

Still, that didn't seem to matter much to investors in Taser on Friday. The stock, which has been one of 2004's biggest market darlings, gained nearly 2 percent Friday morning. Shares have surged more than 300 percent this year and the stock has split on three separate occasions this year, most recently a 2 for 1 split on Tuesday.

With this in mind, Ruttenbur said he'd be wary of buying the stock at current levels. He thinks that Taser is a good investment for the long haul but said there are several concerns in the near-term.

Taser has been the subject of intense legal scrutiny. There have been several lawsuits filed against the company, alleging that Taser's stun guns have caused injuries during training exercises.

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And earlier this week, human rights organization Amnesty International claimed that Taser's products have contributed to more than 70 deaths.

The company has maintained that its guns are safe. Nonetheless, continued headline risk is something to watch out for, Ruttenbur said.

He added that Taser would soon face increased competition from other companies including Stinger Systems (Research) and Law Enforcement Associates (Research) and that could slow sales growth.

Blankenship, who likes Taser's stock, agrees that Taser's success will lead to more competition. He points out that a company called Ionatron (Research) is working on stun gun technology that will employ lasers, as opposed to electric shocks, in non-lethal weapons.

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"Everyone is trying to get behind this momentum and do something better," said Blankenship.

Add all that up and you have a recipe for a pullback, especially since Taser's stock trades at a frothy valuation of nearly 60 times 2005 earnings estimates.

"If you are a long-term investor, I think it's an interesting holding. But concerns I have in the near-term about slowing growth in the first half of the year and the healthcare risks give me pause at these valuation levels," said Ruttenbur.

Analysts quoted in this story do not own shares of Taser and their firms do not have investment banking relationships with the company.