Joe Kelly braces himself for the shock of his life.
Mark Moran points the taser at Kelly's back, warns "taser, taser, taser," and after a brief pop, Kelly winces in pain and his legs start to buckle.
Kelly was just stunned.
"It's your body completely getting locked up," Kelly said. "If you were hit without anyone helping you out, you'd be straight down."
Fortunately, Kelly's coworkers were holding him up. They are all employees of The Finest And Bravest, a law enforcement equipment shop in Manchester that is now selling a civilian taser called the Taser C2.
"It is a non-fatal, non-lethal weapon," said Mark Moran, the store's owner, who demonstrated how the C2 worked. "It can be easily used by women, children, family members, even the elderly and young."
The C2 is a little smaller than the X26 version that police departments use and it comes in several colors, including purple.
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For $379, you can shoot the same barbed probes as police tasers, but there is a difference in the delivery.
Once the C2 is fired, it delivers a 30-second shock.The idea is that this is enough time for the owner to get away from his or her attacker and call for help.
"The whole purpose is give you 30 seconds of retreat time," Moran said. "It's not designed to stay there and subdue someone."
Unlike a handgun, you don't need a permit to buy a C2.
But, according to the Manchester store that sells it -- the only one in the state -- it will only sell to a customer who is at least 21 years old, has two forms of identification and has no felony convictions.
"When you buy the unit from the store, it's an inactive unit," Moran said. "You have to take it home and file with Taser online or call an 800-number and they will activate it once you've completed a felony background check."
Cromwell Police Chief Anthony Salvatore is also the legislative co-chair of the Connecticut Police Chief's Association.
"If someone feels more comfortable having this type of device rather than a handgun, then certainly I would support that individual," Salvatore said.
Salvatore said his officers have carried tasers for at least three years and feedback has been positive.
But Salvatore stresses that ordinary citizens cannot carry tasers on the streets.
Connecticut law says you can only use an electronic defense weapon in your home or business.
"If you started carrying it around and were to be stopped and an officer observed it, that would be a violation of Connecticut general statute and you would be charged with carrying a dangerous weapon," Salvatore said. "That's a felony."
But Moran says it is a great way to protect your home or business from an intruder.
"With the break-ins and problems in Connecticut in the past few years, people who don't want a handgun in their home because they're women or because they have children and don't want a handgun, this is a great alternative to that," Moran said.
