We’re well aware that many people don’t want to carry a firearm. Fair enough. But that’s no reason not to carry a self-defense weapon of some kind: defensive cane, knife, mace, pepper spray or a TASER, for example. Technically speaking, the last item on that list is a “conducted electrical weapon” (CEW). Practically speaking, it has its limitations, the most significant of which relates to the fact that CEW’s were designed for law enforcement. Let me explain . . .
A police TASER administers a single five-second jolt per trigger squeeze. It’s enough to incapacitate just about anyone (stories of PCP-crazed villains notwithstanding). Five seconds are enough to allow an officer to apprehend a suspect after he’s been TASEd. It is not enough to allow a civilian to escape a bad guy with a single “shot.” So . . .
The new TASER Pulse [click here for a PDF of the specs] administers a 30-second charge. The company reckons that’s enough time to TASE a bad guy, put the gun down (while it’s still active), run like hell, call 911 and thank your lucky stars you had a TASER. (They’ll replace the gun for free upon production of a police report.) Even better: you can hit a target from 15 feet. You know…if you can.
The new design is also a far cry from the “Phaser” or “electric razor” style TASER C2. Not to put too fine a point on it, the Pulse looks like a gun. And it’s a lot smaller than the massive TASER X26C. And less expensive; the Pulse retails for $399 (as opposed to the X26C $1000).
TASER is sending us a Pulse — currently on pre-order — to test. I am NOT going to be the test subject. Dan? Nick? Tyler? Jeremy? Dean? Josh? Bueller?