NEW ORLEANS – A new device designed in New Orleans turns your cellphone into a stun gun.
The Yellow Jacket Case turns your smartphone into a stun gun.
“It feels like an electric blade is hitting you,” Chris Zavala, President and Co-Founder or Yellow Jacket Case said. “It’s a non-lethal form of self-defense.”
Zavala says most people always have their phone on them. Like Xuan Nguyen, who recently bought a Yellow Jacket Case.
“I park in a parking garage and you never know who’s hiding or what’s hiding around the corner,” she said.
Having something in her hand that can quickly turn into a weapon makes her feel safer. It’s not just the weapon though.
"It's not just the case, it's also an app that we're currently beta testing,” Zaval said. “Flip the switch and the prongs will come out, it'll automatically start recording, when you fire the stun gun, the safety has to be off, it will it will drop a locator pin of where you are."
That information then gets sent a list of contacts the user selects.
Law enforcement expert Robert Allen with Tulane University is interested in the devices features, but says you should avoid getting close enough to an attacker to use it if possible.
"My biggest concern is proximity, it only works if an attacker is touching you, and you want to create distance,” he said.
He believes personal protection is best if users practice what they’re going to do.
The detachable stun gun and phone case sells for $80 for an iPhone 6 model and varies by phone. It also double as a battery extension, but will always maintain its charge for the stun gun.