Difference Between Stun & Taser Guns

Stun guns and Tasers use identical technology to send a current of high voltage, low amperage electricity through the victim. The differences between the two are range (the stun gun can only be used up close) and re-usability (the Taser can only be fired once in a fast-moving situation).

How a Stun Gun Works

• A stun gun is the size of a small flash light or cell phone, though some people use stun guns attached to heavy, bludgeoning objects or disguise them as cell phones. A nine-volt battery is wired to two electrodes that are attached to the top of the device. When the trigger is pulled, electricity flows.

Using a Stun Gun

• If a person is touching both electrodes when the trigger is pulled, he completes the circuit. The electricity coursing through him is painful to the point of incapacitating (high voltage) but usually not lethal (low amperage). To use a stun gun, you must be close enough to the victim to touch him with both electrodes then pull the trigger.

How a Taser Works

• A Taser is very similar to a stun gun. A Taser is usually shaped like a pistol, made of colored plastic The difference is that a Taser's electrodes are not directly attached to the body of the Taser. Long wires connect the electrodes. When the trigger is pulled, compressed air pushes the electrodes away, and the wires trail behind to maintain the connection to the battery. The electrodes are barbed so that they will grip onto the victim.

Using a Taser

• The effective range on most Tasers is 15 to 20 feet, so you can be a distance away from the victim. Once the barbed electrodes are in place, you can pull the trigger and send high voltage, low amperage electricity through the completed circuit. But while the stun gun can be used and reused immediately, a Taser cannot. The electrode wires must be rewound, and the compressed air canisters must be replaced.

Lethal or Non-lethal?

• Both stun guns and Tasers are less likely to kill than firearms. However, both have killed. Those at risk from stun guns and Tasers include the very young, the elderly and people with heart conditions. These weapons may be less lethal but they are hardly non-lethal.