Stun guns are powerful but typically non-lethal devices
which have generated some controversy because, well, they
are "only" "typically" non-lethal. Stun guns work, in
theory, by shocking the target with an electric discharge
and temporarily disabling his or her body. The discharge
disrupts normal muscular functions - but unfortunately,
this has included the heart, which is a muscle, too.
Thus the pattern of deaths arising from electroshock
weapons, often employed by police officers whose
departments had imagined the devices to be a safe option.
Manufacturers' instructions state that even as little as
half a second of shock is known to cause very intense pain,
with muscular spasms. The effects are exponentially
magnified with each passing second of exposure, resulting
in conditions of total exhaustion, with impaired breathing
and even possible cardiac arrest. In this regard, one
manufacturer even builds its latest model with an automatic
stop after a few seconds, requiring another pull of the
trigger to send a further discharge, as previous versions
allowed for continual discharges by simply holding down the
trigger.
Indeed, this particular manufacturer, a pioneer in the
electroshock weapons market, no longer advertises its
products as being non-lethal, advising instead that they
are, in effect, only less lethal. However, independent
tests have confirmed that stun guns do not interfere with
pacemakers or implantable defibrillators. These tests,
however, have only examined otherwise healthy subjects, and
more research seems mandatory so as to arrive at a clearer
conclusion.
Moreover, stun guns may not be the self-defense wonder
weapons they're typically made out to be. There's also the
concern, as with any product or service obtained for
personal safety, that the user would wind up developing
illusory feelings of security and power. After all, stun
guns actually require physical contact with the target, and
such contact must be continuous for quite a few seconds.
It's easy to imagine how aggressive, larger targets who are
well-trained in close unarmed combat could very well
overpower the user and then turn the stun gun against him
or her! For despite the muscle spasms caused, any break in
physical contact, when employing such stun guns, would
result in enough of a respite for determined, physically
strong aggressors to recover the initiative and prevail in
hand-to-hand combat.
To begin with, having one should be preferable to not
having any self-defense weapon at all, and stun guns are
effective enough to get banned by some jurisdictions.
Where available for legal possession, stun gun owners
should probably undergo targeted technical training to help
ensure proper usage.
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Article by Paul Wise, who has done extensive research on
stun guns. Visit http://www.DefendWell.com if you need stun
guns.
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