Women's Taser Parties Story on CNN

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this. I guess it is "Girl Power" to want to arm yourself with a Taser, but if these women are still afraid to using lethal force even if it were to save their own necks (many of them don't want guns) I'm not sure they're learning anything.

I know that Tasers hurt, but I guess I don't really have much faith in them for serious stopping power. The "Don't Tase Me, Bro!" idiot didn't even pass out. Maybe I'm expecting too much? If an attacker is drunk or on drugs, do Tasers still pack as much of a wallop?

Yes...even if drunk or on drugs, although with certain drugs there may be some limitations. Tasers hurt, but that realization comes later....after the "tasee" has a chance to think about it. The taser, like the electrical charge that it is, renders your muscles almost useless....it's not designed to make someone pass out.

I agree that women afraid of guns or other deadly force weapons to protect themselves won't, generally speaking, be effective with tasers or anything else they may not have objection to. The ability to imagine the horrific nature of sudden, life-threatening violence from another human is sometimes impossible for those who have never experienced it. Good luck to 'em, I suppose.

Hehehe....me too. There isn't any fun in the "funny" way a good tasing makes you feel!

Taze me bro! Do it again!

From your comments, I'm assuming that you believe: 1) Tasers aren't particularly effective, and 2) You're supposed to be knocked unconcious. Neither is true of Tasers.

I have yet to see any credible refutation of the manufacturer's claim of 94% stopping ability in the field, so that's as effective as any handgun. Unlike "stun guns," Tasers don't work by generating pain; they cause your muscles to contract involuntarily so you can't control them yourself. That hurts, but the pain is a byproduct of how the Taser works.

You're rendered helpless while being shocked, but typically don't black out unless you fall and hit your head. You typically recover very quickly after the shock is stopped. The Taser model discussed in the article, the C2, automatically discharges for 30 seconds after firing. This gives the user the time to drop the Taser and then get the heck out of there while their attacker is incapacitated on the ground. That's how it's meant to be used in self-defense situations. Unlike a gun, where if you're put down, you're generally going to stay down until the police/paramedics show up, someone who is Taser'd can get back in the fight when the shock is ended so you need to get away while you can.

Both 'stun guns' and tasers use essentially the same electrical method of gaining their effect.

There are claims that the waveform is different but both are mainly high frequency, high-voltage, low-amperage discharges. Stun guns do not rely on "pain". Both disrupt normal neural activity and disrupt and potentially exhaust the electro-chemical mechanism of muscular contraction. Doing it by over-driving it.

The only substantial difference is that the stun gun depends on exposed studs to make the connection while a taser uses darts that much more reliably make a good connection.

The advantage of a taser is it is less likely to be thwarted by heavy clothing and, being a projectile weapon, gives you some distance. The effect of a taser is often m

"...A friend of mine worked security for a local private airport and used it on me randomly for sheets and giggles..."

Is he/she still a friend? Still alive???

too much information....

Art, that is a REALLY interesting statement, and I would like a source that supports it. Preferably one prepared by members of the medical community who are neutral on the use of Tasers, rather than by a bunch of yahoos of unknown scientific pedigree and a political/economic stake in the matter.

The reason why I'm asking is because the targeted neuromuscular interference created by a current generation Taser is due to the fact that probes are under your skin. It's 26V (which is why everything has a "26" in the model number) at itsy-bitsy but variable amperages.

Unless you get under the skin, you are only going to cause pain until you get the point where you are overloading ALL of the nervous system. Your epidermis has a pretty decent resistance, it takes quite a few amps to get through it. Otherwise, all you are going to do is cause pain. Your average static shock you pick up from shuffling on carpet and touching a door knob is hundreds, if not thousands, of volts at almost no amps- it is the same reason why people's hearts don't explode and smoke roll out of their various orifices when they get poked with a quarter-million volt jabby-zappy stun gun.

Amps change what your nervous system is doing, volts just hurt. A contact stunner overloads a small number of sensory nerves, causing pain and maybe a minor burn. A Taser basically EMPs your voluntary nervous system for a few seconds, which while it hurts, the pain isn't why you are going down.

Non lethal? How much "serious stopping power" do you want?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/15/taser_death_video/

Causing death is a bit of a wallop. That's the most recent one. There are more.

A

Ame,
You could say men are stronger than women, only to have someone point out that there are many strong women...stronger than men. It doesn;t make the first statement untrue. There are always exceptions.

Tasers are non-lethal just as bee stings are non-lethal. People who are allergic to the bee sting may die, just as a person may die from being "tased".

Tasers are non-lethal.