History of Stun Guns
If you enjoy all things imaginary and fictitious, you will enjoy learning about the history of stun guns. What does a make-believe world have to do with an electric gun? Well, as it turns out, a lot.
The concept for the first electrical gun was actually taken from the Tom Swift books. Tom Swift was an adventurous protagonist who also happened to be something of a weapons inventor. Volume 10 within the Tom Swift series is entitled Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle. This novel finds the young adventurer taking on some native Africans that have his friends held hostage. During his adventure, Swift perfects the Electric Rifle, which is a lot like the Taser that we have today. It is with the story of Tom Swift’s Electric Rifle that the history of stun guns begins.
Inventor Jack Cover was a big fan of Swifts when he was a child. Though Cover grew up, he never did forget the story of the electric rifle. Thus, while Cover was a researcher at NASA, he decided to try and create his own version of Swift’s earlier invention. Eventually, Cover got the gun to work, and he decided to name it the Taser – Taser is an acronym for Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle. Since the Tom Swift series was written by a slew of ghostwriters, the fictitious boy never did have a real middle name. So, Cover decided to make up Swift’s middle name…well, the first initial of it anyway, which is why he chose to put an “A” in the title. Regardless, this is where the gun and the name first came from.
Did you ever think that the history of stun guns would begin with a joyful fictitious character? It’s amazing to think that this weapon, which is used all over the country today, was spawned from a childhood memory. It seems that (in this case at least) all fiction eventually turns into fact (though the opposite is also true). Though the Taser gained a lot of popularity when it first came out (and Cover did not invent the weapon in order to cause harm to attackers), it is highly criticized today.
You will have to decide for yourself whether or not this type of weapon is a good idea. For the time being, the Taser remains the popular weapon of choice for most police forces around the globe.
The history of stun guns happens to be one of those interesting histories that you will take with you for many years to come. This might be one of the few weapons out there that was not conceived of behind factory walls.