# Taser (stun guns) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taser-stun-guns/195051 "2003-08-14T01:19:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taser-stun-guns/195051/1 "2003-08-14T01:19:53Z")
Do the little things fired from the taser gun have to penetrate clothing to work? I mean do they just start conducting energey when they hit something? If so, would they drop somebody wearing a heavy winter coat? Bonus question: how easy is it to hit a target with those little prongs on wires that shoot from the gun? How far away can you be and still not screw up if you aren’t a decent/consistent pistol shooter? ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taser-stun-guns/195051/2 "2003-08-14T02:00:25Z")
Sorry that this isn’t much of an answer (Im lazy) but you may or may not have seen [this](http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/stun-gun.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Garnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de0a6/32.png) [@Garnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garnet)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taser-stun-guns/195051/3 "2003-08-14T05:24:41Z")
Sorry for the hijack - I was reading the link posted by **Jayrot** and came across this regarding stun guns/tasers: > [@](#): > > Determined attackers with a certain physiology may keep coming despite any shock. The way they phrased it, I’m wondering: is there a certain known physiological variation that offers some resistance to electrical shocks? Or is the above just an observation that some people, for whatever reason, “keep coming”? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taser-stun-guns/195051/4 "2003-08-14T06:22:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by drhess \* > **Do the little things fired from the taser gun have to penetrate clothing to work? I mean do they just start conducting energey when they hit something? If so, would they drop somebody wearing a heavy winter coat?** I know that up here in Minnesota, one of the reasons city police have given for not using tasers more often was that they don’t work very well in a Minnesota winter. With people wearing multiple layers of clothing and bulky insulated or down jackets, there can be a good chance that they don’t actually stick into the person’s skin enough to give a good contact, and so the taser is not effective. ---
**Author:** ![trabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@trabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trabi)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taser-stun-guns/195051/5 "2003-08-14T07:39:24Z")
Here’s another [link](http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/news/story/0,12976,1012774,00.html) about one of the things failing to work properly. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taser-stun-guns/195051/6 "2003-08-14T12:58:07Z")
So this is a 1990s Style Death Ray? ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taser-stun-guns/195051/7 "2003-08-14T16:35:10Z")
- - - Yea but what if a guy with a stun-gun tries to shock a lady wearing on of them Russian coats with the stun-gun built in? ~ ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taser-stun-guns/195051/8 "2003-08-14T19:11:08Z")
This might be old news, but… According to comics writer Alan Moore, “taser” is an acronym for “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle.” The inventor was a big fan of the old children’s series.