A stun gun is any weapon that incapacitates its target without killing.
Tasers
A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...
,
tranquillizer gun
A dart gun is an air rifle that fires a dart. The dart is tipped with a hypodermic needle and filled with a tranquilizer, vaccine, or antibiotic. A dart gun containing a tranquillizer is called a tranquillizer gun ( also spelled tranquilizer, tra ...
s, and
mace (spray)
Mace is the brand name of an early type of aerosol self-defense spray invented by Alan Lee Litman in the 1960s. The first commercial product of its type, Litman's design packaged phenacyl chloride (CN) tear gas dissolved in hydrocarbon solvents i ...
are all types of stun guns. Subcategories of stun gun include the
electroshock weapon
An electroshock weapon is a less-lethal weapon that utilizes an electric shock to incapacitate a target by either temporarily disrupting voluntary muscle control and/or through pain compliance. There are several different types of electroshock w ...
, an incapacitating weapon that momentarily disables either a beast or a person with an electric shock; and a
directed-energy weapon
A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include w ...
that causes unconsciousness, a weapon that emits energy in an aimed direction without a projectile. Stun guns are frequently used by members of various armed forces and law enforcement agencies. The Multi-purpose stun gun was patented in 2014 in the United States by Hung-Yi Chang.
The term is also used for various
weapons in science fiction
Strange and exotic weapons are a recurring feature in science fiction. In some cases, weapons first introduced in science fiction have been made a reality; other science-fiction weapons remain purely fictional, and are often beyond the realms of ...
.
Korean mixed martial artist
Dong Hyun Kim
Kim Dong-hyun ( ko, 김동현, 金東炫; born November 17, 1981), anglicized as Dong Hyun Kim, is a retired South Korean mixed martial artist who most notably fought in the UFC's welterweight division. He was signed by the UFC after fighting ...
has the nickname Stun Gun.
See also
References
Non-lethal weapons
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