The Taser, which stands for “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle, is a piece of equipment, shaped like a gun, that fires two electrodes into a target with wires connecting them back to the firing implement. A stun gun applies the same basic principles of disrupting muscle functions through electric current as a TASER uses. However, a stun gun only has the option of direct application of the electrodes to an assailant to get the desired result. Many people use the term interchangeably, but there is a difference technically.