Tasers: How they work

A 24-year-old man was hospitalised with multiple skull fractures early on June 10 after being tasered by police following a foot chase through a Paris metro station.
This animation explains how one common law enforcement model of taser works and depicts it in action.
The taser is a non-lethal electronic weapon used by police all over the world. When discharged, a firing pin bursts a canister of compressed gas. The expanding gas shoots out two barbed projectiles connected to the device by copper wires, delivering an electrical charge to the target. A rechargeable battery delivers 50,000 volts to the target, enough to disrupt electro-muscular control. Aim is provided by way of a laser sight. The weapon is effective up to a range of 6.4 meters. When fired the upper barb hits the aiming point and the other, slightly lower. The five second charge is enough to incapacitate nearly any aggressor.