There’s  a serial rapist on the loose in Yoakum, TX and  Cassandra McGinty has a new sequence when she arrives home: search room to room, with a stun gun in her hand.

The rapist has been attacking older women in central Texas during the past year, terrifying residents and frustrating the police who don’t have a good description to go on.

Pepper spray has been selling like hotcakes in the towns where the attacks have occurred, and McGinty said her landlord in Marquez handed out stun guns as Christmas gifts.

Beginning with the rape of a 65-year-old woman in Yoakum in January 2009, authorities have linked eight sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults to the suspect.

Stun guns generally have two contact points that are used to deliver the voltage to the attacker. In most stun guns, the contacts must be held in contact with the skin for at least a few seconds in order to produce a response in the attacker. Most stun guns on the market will also go through clothing and don’t have to be held against the attacker’s bare skin.

When a stun gun is used for personal defense, the owner pushes a button to start the electric current when the attacker comes too close. Stun guns can be used to shock the attacker, causing a startled reaction that can give the stun gun owner a chance to get away from the attacker before any other aggressive actions are taken. In other cases, stun guns are used to cause a more dramatic reaction to the attacker.

The severity of the reaction that a person has when shocked with a stun gun varies depending on the voltage of the device and the length of time that it’s held in contact with a person’s skin or clothing. It can also vary according to the amount of clothing that is between the stun gun and the attacker. Thicker clothing can mean a less severe reaction or one that takes much longer to be felt.

When a stun gun is activated, the current passes from the stun gun and enters the body of the attacker, affecting the person’s nervous system. The voltage then enters the muscles, causing much of the reaction that is felt. A person who receives a shock from a stun gun will have an immediate muscle reaction. This reaction causes the body’s muscles to move rapidly, resulting in a gyrating, seizure-like reaction in the attacker. The more intense the shock, the more the muscles react and the harsher the reaction of the rest of the body.

Being in contact with the stun gun’s voltage for several seconds will cause the attacker’s muscles to react violently enough to cause the body to use up its store of blood sugar. This is what causes the attacker to lose the ability to move. This involuntary lack of movement is where the name of the weapon gets its name. If the shock is more intense or lasts for a longer period of time, it can cause the assailant to lose consciousness.

A shock, a stun or a loss of consciousness will not result in any permanent bodily damage for the attacker. The effects of coming into contact with the voltage generally only last for a few minutes or less. This brief reaction time gives the stun gun owner a chance to get away from a dangerous situation and get to safety.