Stun guns operate on the simple premise of administering an electric shock that renders an attacker unable to use his or her muscles. The shock generated by the stun gun is painful and temporarily paralyzing, butis not designed to cause any permanent damage. The muscle spasms and twitches that are caused by a stun gun do not persist. However, the efficacy of the shock can be greatly affected by such unrelated factors as the thickness of a person’s clothing, sweating or other moisture, skin type, and even the charge of the battery used in the stun gun.

Generally speaking, a shock of just a few seconds will drop most any attacker to their knees for at least several seconds and allow an individual to escape safely from a dangerous situation. The shock is most effective if delivered to the shoulder, rib cage, and the upper hip, although sensitive areas of the body can obviously be very painful! For additional safety, most modern stun guns are equipped with a system that automatically disengages after five seconds to prevent serious or permanent damage.

Stun guns are now available in a wide range of sizes and models. Some of them are as small as a tube of lipstick (and even look like a tube of lipstick!), which can be easily carried in a woman’s purse for her protection. There are other sizes which are more suited to other security uses, such as a stun gun that is built in to the base of a large flashlight on the metal handle. In addition, there is a new form of longer-range stun gun built for use by the military that is actually fired from a 12-gauge shotgun. It should come as no surprise, then, that the range for these different stun guns can also vary between a few feet and several hundred feet.

The future of stun guns is changing, as well. There are solid wires in the current models, but many companies are attempting to change the method for the delivery of the electric current that generates the stun gun’s shock. Some potential options include the use of a water current, aerosol spray or even a laser beam! There seem to be a number of possibilities that may make the stun gun an even more reliable and effective method of self defense going into the future.