What does the acronym TASER stand for?

Jack Cover, a NASA researcher, made the first TASER in 1974, which he named Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle after his favourite children's book, 'Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle' by Victor Appleton.

A Taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate targets by temporarily impairing their physical function to a level, thus allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. The weapon fires two small barbed darts that puncture the target's skin. The darts are connected to the main unit by thin insulated copper wire, which deliver a modulated electric current designed to disrupt voluntary control of muscles.

Despite original claims that TASERs were non-lethal weapons, they are now classed as "less-lethal" since the possibility of serious injury or death does exist. According to a 2009 report by the Police Executive Research Forum in the United States, police officer injuries dropped by 76% in large law enforcement agencies that deployed taser devices in the first decade of the 21st century compared with those that did not use them at all. Nonetheless, at least 49 people died in 2018 after being shocked by police with a Taser.

'Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle' is a novel published in 1911, written by Stratemeyer Syndicate writers using the pen name Victor Appleton. The Stratemeyer Syndicate was a publishing company that produced a number of mystery book series for children. Tom Swift is an inventive and science-minded teenager.