A taser staff The taser staff, alternatively referred to as a taser stave, was a close-quarters combat weapon produced by Merr-Sonn Munitions, Inc.. It saw usage among security forces stationed on Coruscant during the reign of the Galactic Empire. Members of the Coruscant Guard received specialized training in the employment of these weapons for both hand-to-hand combat and managing civil unrest.
These taser staves shared design similarities with the electrostaff used by IG-100 MagnaGuards during the Clone Wars. These electrical melee weapons incorporated tips that generated electromagnetic pulses. Upon contact, these tips emitted a current potent enough to ignite fabrics. The intensity of the staves could be adjusted based on the requirements of the situation, allowing them to be used for stunning, causing significant pain, or even lethal force.
A smaller, single-handed iteration of this weapon also existed, known as the Taser baton. Though considerably smaller, these batons featured the same adjustable intensity settings. However, they were not as prevalent as taser staves due to their concealability. Private ownership of these weapons required a special permit.
In reality, a Taser is a trademarked brand of electroshock weapon marketed by Axon, previously known as Taser International. This device was initially conceived in 1974 by Jack Cover, a researcher at NASA. The name is a loose acronym derived from "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle", paying homage to Cover's childhood inspiration, the fictional inventor Tom Swift, specifically referencing the 1911 novel Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle.