Tasers are great. They really do work, unlike “stun guns.” I have been shot with an M26 Taser and it was very painful and dropped me like a sack of potatoes. I think they are a great tool for law-enforcement, but are of much less value to private citizens.

Basically a taser shoots two barbed darts connected by thin wire leads that conduct the electrical current. The pair of darts have a deliberate offset so they will not have the same point of impact. Both darts need to hit the target in order to work. This is a little more challenging than the manufacturer would lead you to believe. The deliberate offset fires the second dart at a slight downward angle. If the taser is canted while firing then the second dart isn't as likely to hit. I cannot guarantee the orientation of a weapon in a self-defense fight.

Another major limitation is the short fifteen foot range. The Tueller drill has demonstrated that the average person can cover twenty-one feet in a little over a second. This means that you will need either a sub-second draw stroke with your taser, or you will need to have it drawn before the assailant begins to close. The safety mechanism on the weapon isn't what I would call ergonomic so I don't know how difficult it is to disengage. Don't misjudge the distance either, because the darts are stopped by the wire leads at fifteen feet.

You only get one chance to hit. Speed reloading the taser is not an option. The manufacturer requires that you register each cartridge and then they provide you with an activation code to arm the cartridge. You will get no practice firing the taser, since cartridges are $25.00 per shot, and you have to go through the activation process for each reload.

My next question is what happens after you get a successful hit. The manufacturer recommends that you set the taser down while the assailant is getting the 30 second jolt and run, and the manufacturer will replace your taser at no cost with a police report. That sounds like solid advice and a good policy, but what about multiple opponent encounters? We know from law enforcement statistics that many assaults on police officers involve multiple assailants. While the pattern of assaults on the police is different from that of victimization against private citizens, it is likely that there will be multiple attackers.

All of this leads me to conclude that while tasers are a great law-enforcement tool, it is of almost no utility for private citizens.

More information is available from the manufacturer at Taser International