Early stun guns had no more than 300,000 volts. Today, they have millions of volts, as much as 20,000,000 volts (or more). Why the big difference?
Marketing departments recognize that most people recognize volts, but many are not familiar with amps. Bigger and bigger numbers sound very powerful and impressive. So advertising focuses on higher and higher voltages.
Nevertheless, it is amperage that does the job. Most stun guns today have 2-4 milliamps; all of ours have 4-5 milliamps. When you realize that a milliamp is .001 amps, it does not sound like much, but 1 amp can kill you. Stun guns are not meant to kill; they only stun.
Voltage is what “pushes” the amps. Amps are the “juice” that puts the culprit down. Someone described it like this: High voltage with low amperage is like dropping a pebble from high in the air onto your head. It will hurt, but you will be fine. High amperage with low voltage is equivalent to dropping a boulder two inches above your head.
3 milliamps will go through heavy clothing. The best stun guns have 4-5 milliamps and a minimum of 2,000,000 volts, and stun guns work best when held 3-5 seconds against your attacker.
Thanks for reading. You now know more than most about stun guns!