hazeldomain:

This is a stun gun: 

This is a taser: 

You’d think that a ‘stun gun’ would look like a gun and you’d shoot it like a gun, but no; that’s a taser. Stun guns are handheld. 

Taser is actually a brand name, but like xerox and bandaid, their PR team was a little too effective. So it’s technically a taser-brand projectile stun gun. Or taser for short. 

Yes! I remember researching this for a fic too.  

Confusingly, Tasers can also be both! I just lifted this additional info from Wikipedia:

Some Taser models, particularly those used by police departments, also have a “Drive Stun” capability, where the Taser is held against the target without firing the projectiles, and is intended to cause pain without incapacitating the target. “Drive Stun” is “the process of using the EMD (Electro Muscular Disruption) weapon [Taser] as a pain compliance technique. This is done by activating the Taser and placing it against an individual’s body. This can be done without an air cartridge in place or after an air cartridge has been deployed.”

This video of slow motion Taser (projectiles) is pretty crazy too.