Fight at church focuses new attention on electric shock weapons

Mobile,Al.
In firearms-friendly Alabama, stun guns and Tasers also are slowly making their ways into household arsenals.
At Gold Mine Pawn Shop in Daphne, owner Tom Hand said he sells 15 to 20 stun guns a year, and another four or fewer Tasers.
The buyers, said Hand, know that they "don't cause any permanent damage."
Hand-held shock weapons have been back in the news locally after a Taser was reportedly wielded during a church fight in the St. Elmo area a few weeks ago.
The fight broke out during a dispute over money. Simone Moore said that officials at New Welcome Baptist owed him for his services after dismissing him as minister of music.
Moore has been charged with third-degree assault for allegedly Tasering the Rev. Darryl Riley, church pastor. Another man, a church deacon, is accused of cutting Moore's mother with a knife.
In all, six people were injured.
Both Tasers and stun guns deliver an electric shock rather than bullets. But there are key differences: The Taser shoots small prongs that attach to an assailant, while a stun gun must be pressed against a person.
At Gold Mine, the Taser model C-2 model costs $299.99, while the Stun Master 300-C, costs $49.99.
"My thoughts are that a Taser is more effective because you can shoot it at a distance," Hand said. "But if you miss, it's 'game over.'"
At the Mobile Police Department, Lt. Kenny Hempfleng, a veteran of more than two decades in law enforcement, said that Tasers have become a "great tool" for officers on the force.
It reduces injuries, he added, for both officers and suspects.
He's a Taser instructor.
"We used to have to fight someone. Now we can stand back, assess the situation and then use the Taser," Hempfleng said.
Steve Tuttle, spokesman for TASER International, Inc., based in Scottsdale, Ariz., said the Taser sold at-large does not have the same features as the Taser carried by law officers.
Both models work the same way: When the Taser is fired, two electrodes - one with a positive charge, the other negative - attach to the target's clothing, delivering a serious electric shock.
The law-enforcement version shoots prongs out 25 feet and immobilizes someone for five seconds, Tuttle said - enough time for officers to attach handcuffs.
"When they deploy it, law enforcement is obligated to arrest you," he said.
The consumer version shoots prongs out 15 feet but causes incapacitation lasting up to 30 seconds, giving the person with the Taser time to run and seek help.
When acquiring a Taser, the buyer receives an outer housing but not the electrodes. The buyer then calls the company, gives the Taser's serial number and his Social Security number and submits to a background check. Once he gets clearance, the company sends the electrodes.
With each discharge, a Taser releases confetti containing its own serial numbers. This allows police to potentially track it if it is ever reported stolen.
Stun guns appear similar to Tasers in some respects, but function much differently.
For a stun gun to be effective, the person using it must be able to touch the target to deliver the jolt, according to Chad Peterson, a spokesman for StunMasterStunGuns.com.
Stun guns have prongs through which a visible electric current flows. Peterson said that stun guns use a charge that can range from 80,000 volts to 4.5 million volts.
According to stun gun makers, the voltage delivers not simply a painful hit, but leaves someone feeling limp and immobile for several minutes.
Natalie Mathews, manager of Azar's Uniforms, a Mobile store that deals in law enforcement equipment, said that she mostly sells stun guns to club bouncers who want them in the event of serious trouble.
Because there's a risk that stun guns could be wrested away from the owner during a confrontation, Mathews wondered whether pepper spray might actually be more effective in many cases.
In responding to crime calls, Hempfleng said that he never encountered someone with "a hand-held stun device." Still, he said that officers are trained to be careful.
"You're on high alert when you go answer a call," he said.
A person using a Taser or stun gun in self-defense might not face any charges, once police investigate the facts, Hempfleng said. But a person using one of the devices to commit a crime could face a second-degree assault charge, a felony, he said.