Personal Security: Does The Voltage Of A Stun Gun Matter?

Visible electricity is a frightening thing

Visible electricity is a frightening thing. Lightning is the most common example, a visible bolt of energy which lasts only a tiny fraction of second, but carries power which can peak at one terawatt. The discharge from a stun gun looks similar, so how can it be safe to use?

Our bodies are controlled by electrical signals which, while small, are important. They can be disrupted by applying an electric shock and this is the principal behind a stun gun. Press it against your attacker and pull the trigger. The electricity will race into the attackers body and disrupt the signals to and from his muscles and brain resulting in anything from a mild shock to disorientation or actually losing the use of the muscles and falling to the floor.

Once again, if the electricity is powerful enough to do that, surely it could kill? The voltages quoted by many of these devices are in the millions. Even the numbers are frightening! So it's quite surprising to learn that while you could easily electrocute yourself with a household device, it's not so easy to do with a million volt stun gun. The reason is that the current supplied by these devices is very low, usually less that 0.003 amps, while most authorities agree that a current of 0.1 amp is required for an electric shock to be lethal.

Compare this with lightning and you'll see where the difference lies, a stun gun delivers 0.003 amps. A lightning bolt delivers between 300 and 3000 amps. Compared to nature, even our destructive tendencies aren't up to much.

So why is current so important? It's all to do with the way electricity works, and the best way to imagine this is by thinking of water. Water in a pipe will not flow unless it has a reason, that could be a height difference between one end and the other, or it could be because there is a pump attached. Electricity is the same.

Imagine instead of a pump you have a battery and instead of a pipe filled with water you have a metal wire filled with atoms. The atoms each have a positively charged nucleus composed of neutrons and protons. The nucleus is surrounded by a negatively charged cloud of electrons, but in a metal (like wire), some of the electrons furthest from the nucleus drift about a bit. Since this happens at random, there are just as many electrons drifting one way as the other, but once a battery is added the electrons are all attracted in the same direction and we say electricity flows in the wire. The size of the electrical current is determined by measuring the number of electrons which pass a point in any given time.

So when you press the trigger of a stun gun the battery pushes the electrons from one of the gun's terminals to the other. Push it against an attackers skin and the electrons have to flow through him or her to get to the other terminal. Electrons flow reasonably well through bare skin, but less well through items like clothing, so a bigger 'push' is needed to get them through. The 'push' is the voltage. High voltage means you can hit the attacker anywhere and know the shock will get through, but since the current is low, not at a lethal rate.

So if you are considering the purchase of a stun gun consider the voltage requirements carefully and check to be sure stun guns are legal in your state, county and city.

by: Kirsty Hale

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