Okay, I’m sold – I want a Taser C2. How do I get one?

Like most things people buy these days, there are three ways to get one. Visit an actual store that sells them, order one over the phone, or buy it online. Prices will vary slightly from each retailer, as will the process, but no matter where or how you buy it, you will be required to pass a background check before you can activate and use your Taser.

Buying it in a store: Taser’s website says you can find a Taser at retailers such as Cabela’s, Sports Authority, Academy, and Gander Mountain. I called my local Sports Authority and was told that they are not yet available here, but many other locations have them, so you should check with your local stores of each of these retailers for availability. In most cases when you buy a Taser in a store, the background check will be done on site and takes about ten minutes. If you pass the background check (I was told they check for felonies), Taser will then provide an activation code for your device and walk you through the process for activating it (I’ll detail that process a bit later).

If the store does not perform the background check for you (such as the case with the Cabela’s store I called) you can call Taser directly and as long as it’s the Taser brand, they will do the background check for you. You can also order the background check yourself online at Taser.com and then proceed with activating your device.

You should also be able to find Tasers at federally licensed firearm dealers in your area, but I called four in my city alone and none sold them, so you might be hunting around for a while.

Next, online ordering is probably the most convenient and most accessible for many people in this internet age. Once you’ve received your Taser from your online order, the process is the same for getting your background check and activating the Taser C2.

Lastly, phone ordering is a comfortable method for many people since you talk to a live person and can get any questions answered immediately. The process is yet again the same; once you get the Taser you must call and get a background check and then activate the Taser.

So what is this “process” I keep referring to? Well, even the big box retailers like Sports Authority go through Taser for these background checks, so once you’re cleared Taser issues an activation code which consists of five numbers. On your Taser, you open the safety cover and press the trigger the exact number of times for each digit of the activation code. For example, if your code is 33333, you would open the safety cover, press the trigger three times and close the safety cover. You would repeat this process five times for each digit of the code. Once the activation code is successfully entered, the Taser light turns from red to green and your Taser is ready for use. The activation code needs only be entered once throughout the life of the Taser. The cost of the background check and activation for a Taser is $9.95, which is in addition to the cost of the Taser.