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A red dot shines on the target.

The trigger is pulled, sounding a single "pop."

Instantaneously, a weapon is placed into action. Wires with barbed probes replace a bullet as electricity surges with repetitious snaps.

Upon contact with skin, those probes begin firing electricity at a subject to incapacitation.

As the probes are fired, 30 to 40 pieces of pinhead size paper come rushing out of the Taser, a brand name often used to describe conducted electrical weapons, or CEW's. The miniscule pieces of paper contain the serial number of the cartridge that was fired.

It may sound simple, but like any other weapon, training will produce a better use.

Athanasios Milios is the public safety training specialist at Lehigh Carbon Community College. He holds non-credit classes for community groups who want to protect themselves and offers other courses in public safety for law enforcement professionals and community members.

He retired six years ago from Allentown police and though he said civilians can legally have a Taser without training, training will ensure proper, accurate use.

"Everything you've ever seen in a movie, every TV show you've watched, you need to forget. They are not accurate," he said.

Milios, with a Taser in his hand, said there is only one shot deployed by the civilian accessible Taser, so it must be accurate to prevent the user being attacked by someone they are firing it against. To be affective, it has to contact skin and that can be a skill that has to be honed in a class setting.

"You are the weapon. It's a tool," he said.

He is hesitant to say one weapon is better than another, stating that is a choice for each individual person to make when considering which way they plan to protect themselves and their home. He did state that each person should weigh all options when considering home safety.

Growing up, he said, his parents talked about the consequences of drugs, alcohol and sex. They taught right from wrong, he said, but "maybe they didn't teach us responsibility about arming oneself."

It's a good tool for a civilian who isn't comfortable with having a gun, he said. Though he has nothing against gun carriers, he said, they run a chance of one day having to use lethal force, while a CEW doesn't employ lethal force.

He estimated about 90 percent of the population is not capable of harming another person.

Police have used Tasers hundreds of times to save lives and prevent injury, Milios said. For example, police can incapacitate a person who might be threatening himself with a knife.

He said an officer needs justification to use a firearm on duty, and though justification is still needed to use a taser, the consequences of using it are not nearly as fatal. Though a Taser uses 50,000 volts to operate, it only fires 1,200 volts if both prongs have hit skin.

Amps, he said, are really what hurt people; a Taser uses .0036 amps, compared to a Christmas tree light bulb that uses 1 amp.

Together the elements jam the central nervous system and momentarily disrupt motor and sensory skills. Of the several hundred people he has seen

Tasered the most common and biggest problem was a muscle cramp because of muscle tightening when the person was fired at. People can also be injured after falling from being hit with a Taser.

According to its website, Taser has saved about 107,350 lives. The site also states 625,000 CEW's are in use by over 16,000 departments in over 100 countries.

Though police and security workers must follows protocol and procedure when using a Taser, civilians have none.

Most of his students are police officers, though he has taught some security workers. He has trained and held recertifications for many people and whole law enforcement departments.

Milios, a certified instructor of Taser, said the company provides all the training materials used in his class. Classes include lecture and hands on training involving real life scenarios.

More information on the next available training session can be found at