Can Rubber Shoes Avoid a Stun Gun Or Taser?

A stun gun or taser is a type of conducted energy device (CED). They use electric currents to “stun” an attacker.

Stun guns can be used by civilians or police officers, and are considered nonlethal weapons. However, they are illegal in many states and can be dangerous.

What is a stun gun or taser?

A stun gun or taser is a self-defense tool that uses electricity to immobilize an attacker. Often thought of as safer alternatives to firearms, they can leave victims confused and in pain for a few minutes while giving you time to escape.

Stun guns are typically handheld, compact devices about the size of a calculator or TV remote. They have prongs that must be jabbed into the target to activate their electric charge and deliver an electrical shock.

The stun gun’s prongs can penetrate clothing, but it’s rare that they would make it all the way through.

The Taser looks like a gun and fires two barbed darts up to 15 feet, which remain attached to the Taser by wires. They are designed to penetrate clothing or skin and cause instant incapacitation by delivering a 50,000 volt shock.

How do stun guns work?

Stun guns use a high voltage to jolt an attacker and temporarily paralyze them. This is why law enforcement often use them, but stun guns are also used by civilians to protect themselves from an assailant.

Unlike pepper spray, which requires distance to be effective, stun guns can be used close up. They’re a last resort self defense tool, and they should only be used if you’ve run out of other options.

The current created by a stun gun is delivered directly to your assailant through two electrodes on the device. If both of them make contact with their target, the circuit is complete and the person will be shocked.

Modern pulse-modulated stun guns use a computer to capture and disable the alpha motor neurons in your assailant’s brain, causing all of their core muscles to seize up very quickly. This is known as neuromuscular incapacitation (NMI).

How do stun guns penetrate clothing?

Stun guns jolt a person with a debilitating shock of electricity. This can knock an attacker out for a few seconds, depending on the gun model and the body size of the attacker.

The device aims two probes at the attacker, delivering an electrical pulse that arcs into his muscles and causes them to twitch or lock up. The ideal target areas are the back, thighs and buttocks.

It is important that the prongs are pressed firmly against the attacker, especially in heavier clothing. Otherwise, the electricity will not reach the muscles and will fail to work.

It is also important to hold the stun gun against the attacker continuously for several seconds, so that the electricity will be able to hit him in all the right places. If you do not, the jolt might startle him but he may not feel the electricity in time to become disoriented or lose muscle control.

Can stun guns be avoided?

Rubber shoes do not prevent you from being tazed by a stun gun. They will not make the taser penetrate your skin more, because electricity is delivered directly through barbed probes that are connected to the device.

In fact, a recent study found that in eight cases involving healthy males who were shot near or over the heart, all suffered cardiac arrest and lost consciousness after receiving the shock.

The most effective stun locations are the shoulder, hip, thigh, buttocks and below the rib cage. The most painful areas include the neck, under the arms and stomach.

Stun guns and tasers are illegal in public places. This includes schools, airports and passenger terminals in harbor or port facilities and government buildings.