How do Tasers Work?

When dealing with stun guns, it is important to know how they are made - and what one can expect from them. First of all, stun guns can be very small - sometimes the size of a flashlight or smaller. The electricity which they emit to their victim is impressive - the best tasers average up to 150,000 volts.

There are two types of tasers, those with the integrated charge electrodes - and those with the "flying electrodes". The former can only be used within a very short distance and are frequently kept for personal protection within a car or house (some people have them at all times within their coat) - while the "Flying Taser" is much more popular - can stun people up to 10 to 25 feet away - and is used widely by the police force. We will focus in Flying Tasers within this article and this website.

Stun guns use a very simple concept: compressed nitrogen is released to project two small probes to a distance anywhere from 10 to 25 feet. Modern tasers' probes can travel at a speed of up to 160 feet per second which makes their use almost instantaneous. If the probes become successfully attached to cloth or a body, electricity is then transmitted - this all happens in milliseconds.

Stun guns use regular batteries which can last many years. Police officers who train may opt to use tasers with rechargeable batteries for additional savings as a frequently-used taser may only last a couple of weeks.

Almost every stun gun available was fabricated in the state of Arizona where the Taser Corporation resides. They are currently researching tasers guns for safer and faster ways to knock down a person while avoiding health risks for him or her.