Stunning beauty showcased at Consumer Electronics Show

By Abigail Goldman (contact)

Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2007 | 7:13 a.m.

Anyone who doubts the new Taser can be feminine need only see the stun gun lying in front of Playboy playmate Sara Jean Underwood, as she was twittering and signing autographs Monday, smiling to show gums of a shade very similar to the newest Taser shell: pearl pink.

Lean in, ladies - the Taser C2 is small enough to fit in a purse, but strong enough to put off any brute. It's also available in brushed baby blue, titanium silver and black pearl. Behold the beauty electric.

Taser International Inc., the seller of 430,000 stun guns since 1994, sponsors Playboy's racing team. And so, sitting in a Taser display kiosk at the Consumer Electronics Show, Underwood, Miss November 2006, signed autographs. A fleet of Taser spokesmen in racing jumpsuits hovered around her, answering conventioneer questions: Does the Taser hurt? (Yes, in ways you can't imagine.) Can I be Tased? (Yes, right this way.)

Adam Devlin spent about two minutes scanning and signing a release form. Afterward, he stood, braced at either side by a Taser spokesman, preparing for his jolt - 50,000 volts.

Taser International spent a year developing the C2, a stun gun dreamed up for the consumer class, for women or, say, college students, company Chairman Tom Smith said. Every bit as strong as a police-issue Taser, the C2 is friendlier, lighter and less technical, discharging at a thumb's press. Most importantly, however, the Taser C2 isn't shaped like a gun.

"It's not as menacing. It doesn't look like a firearm," Smith said. "People were intimidated by that look. We're trying to tone it down a bit."

The Taser C2 looks for all the world like an electric razor. When Devlin is stunned, however, his legs lock rigid and his back keels, stiff as a plank, to the floor. There, on convention hall ground, Devlin rocks side to side for a few seconds and then gets up, stunned.

"It was really, really intense," he says afterward. "It just locked me up."

Taser International has sold 130,000 stun guns to "civilians," Smith says. The buyers skew largely male - police officers, typically, buying Tasers for their wives. But the C2 , with its curves, colors and neutral appearance - a weapon, neutered - is designed to attract women, or at least convince them to carry.

"This is designed for the civilian right out of the gate," Smith said. "For a nurse walking in a parking lot, or for people who want to wear it jogging."

Unlike other Tasers, the C2 is shipped nonactivated. The purchaser must pass a security screen (no felons, no juveniles) before the company will activate the stun gun. The privilege of ownership costs only $299 - peanuts compared to previous Taser price points, which range from $600 to $1,000. The C2 won't be available for sale until April, the company says.

Metro Police reported three in-custody deaths where a Taser was used in 2006. Smith insists the Taser is not deadly, although he warns, "it's not risk free."

In company parlance, the Taser causes "neuro-muscular incapacitation."

It's not that bad, Playboy racing spokesman Steve Levy says at the Taser kiosk Monday. It feels sort of like hitting your funny bone, but all over your body, over and over again, all at once. People line up to get jolted. "The more you fight it," Levy says, "the more it works."

Miss November, content to sign her autograph and smile, just watches. She wouldn't be wooed into trying the Taser, Levy says: "We've asked."