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Stun Guns and Tasers – should you carry one?
By Liza Cooper | November 4, 2009
If you are thinking of carrying one, be aware that stun guns and tasers are not legal in many parts of the United States. So you will have to check with your locality.
Based on manufacturers’ and dealers’ claims, one would think that these devices are remarkably powerful defensive tools, which unfailingly stop assaults. Reality, however, sometimes falls short of the marketing hype.
Studies show that in actuality the application of a stun gun, while temporarily immobilizing an assailant, doesn’t take immediate effect. This allows the attacker an unbelievable time to pull and shoot a gun or cause damage to the victim.
The stun gun will hurt, but as far as completely immobilizing an attacker, it falls short. To be effective, the stun gun, a contact weapon, must be held in contact with the assailant for a number of seconds, or he must voluntarily break off the attack.
Various stun gun manufacturers are coming out with new units with ever increasing claimed voltage. They still suffer from the traditional downsides, the principal of which is the necessity of having to hold the unit in contact with your assailant for as much as 5 or 6 seconds, during which time he will not exactly be cooperative. Other factors include battery strength, voltage, and the fact that you must be close to your attacker.
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