Josh Hollars grimaced as he felt the shock of 50,000 volts slam him in the back. Then he fell to the floor in a heap, no longer supported by two of his co-workers.

Hollars, a security guard with the Coachella Valley Security Academy in Palm Desert, volunteered to be the victim in a Taser demonstration: the security academy sells the devices to private citizens, and on March 14 it held its first "taser party," a gathering of people who learned how to use the device for self-protection.

"It feels like a leg cramp over your entire body," Hollars, who has been stunned with a Taser twice, said. "It knocks you down, but you recover right away."

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Volunteer Jason Hollars takes a 50,000-volt Taser jolt in the back as he is supported by Chris Burke on the left, and Director of Security Services David Snelling on the right. In the background is the Coachella Valley Security Academy President David Chandler.

About 25 people - mostly young to middle-aged women who fear to walk the streets without protection -- attended the session at the company's Palm Desert headquarters, said David S. Chandler, a former Los Angeles Police Department officer and the security academy's founder and chief executive officer.

Shieldher Inc. in Scottsdale, Ariz., which sells Tasers, began holding Taser parties last fall and gatherings have also been held throughout Texas during the past year or so, Chandler said.

The security academy's Taser party is believed to be the first in California. Chandler advertised the gathering in The Desert Sun and through direct mail, and he plans to hold one gathering a month at his company headquarters. The sessions, which are free, allow people to learn how to use a Taser in a comfortable atmosphere. "I think it's great, to be able to show people how to defend themselves," said Chandler, who started the security academy in July 2005. The company, which also performs digital scans of fingerprints, sells firearms and trains security guards, has grown to 43 employees. It grossed more than $1 million last year.

"We sold two Tasers after the March meeting, but I don't really care if we sell any," Chandler said. "If only one person shows up, we'll still do them. I like the idea of helping people out. It's a good community service."

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Developed by a NASA researcher during the late 1960s, a Taser is a small electroshock weapon that allows the user to subdue someone at a distance - ideally from about seven feet away - without injuring them. They're manufactured by Taser International in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Police use them to subdue belligerent suspects, but private citizens use them to protect themselves once they've been trained properly.

Police and military Tasers sell for about $1,000, but the smaller devices sold for citizen use sell for approximately $350. "It's a lot better than killing someone, and it's better than pepper spray because pepper spray can hit other people. The Taser only hits the person you're trying to subdue," Chandler said of the devices, which are small enough to carry on a belt or inside a purse. "But you need to know what you're doing, and you have to pass a background check before you can use them."

Nonlethal force

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A typical Taser shoots two lines of electricity into its subject for a total of 50,000 volts, far below a lethal shock for a normal-sized adult. "It sounds like a lot, but it really isn't very much,"Hollars said.

A security academy Taser party starts with Chandler and Johnnie B. Woods, the company's executive director, giving a few basic safety tips, like looking for anything suspicious before you get out of you car.

"A lot of people still don't like to admit that the world has changed," Chandler said. "It's a lot more dangerous place that it used to be, and there are always people who think they can't be a victim of a crime."

After that, participants get an introduction to the device, a video presentation, hands-on instruction and then a demonstration by security academy employees.

Some employees are stunned in the training, but private citizens aren't permitted to practice on each other.

"From a law enforcement perspective, you can get a better response from people if you say you're going to Taser them than if you threaten to kill them," Chandler said.