Electrockshock devices, such as the Taser-brand device and conventional stun guns used in Windham, sends a current into the target and disrupts the electric signals the brain uses to control the muscles. While a cattle prod uses pain to subdue its target, a stun gun temporarily prevents the target’s brain from coordinating the body.

Tasers are manufactured by Taser International Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz.

Taser Timeline:

1. When the Taser is fired, two cartridges of compressed nitrogen gas propel two barbed electrodes into the target at a velocity of 180 feet per second. The electrodes are connected to the device with insulated wires.

2. Both electrodes need to anchor themselves to the target, usually by penetrating the skin and clothing of the target.

3. The Taser releases an electrical current down the wires and into the target.

4. The electrical current runs between the two barbed probes. The brain is unable to distinguish the Taser signals from its own natural electrical signals and loses control of the muscles.

5. The electric signals quickly leave the body and the target regains physical control immediately, but may disorientated for up 30 seconds. The Taser operator can choose to send additional electric currents into the target as long as the electrodes are still attached.

Stun guns work the same way, only the electrodes are contained at the end of the device and have a shorter range. New liquid stun guns use the same principal, sending electricity into the target with a stream of salt water.

Source: Taser International Inc. of Scottsfale Arizona and howstuffworks.com.