...I think in one case, if the target is hit with only 1 barb the other will form a circuit through the ground. I guess if you had shoes on this couldn't happen?
"And don't tasers have two wires and barbs that zip through clothing and penetrate the skin? Kind of obviates any need for a ground."
I'm pretty sure they have two barbs, I mean that's what I wrote in my post.
"Because the barbs get stuck in clothing and fail to reach the skin about 30 percent of the time, the gun is designed to generate a brief arcing pulse, which ionizes the intervening air to establish a conductive path for the electricity."
So yes they can penetrate clothing and perhaps skin but they have a velocity designed to allow only shallow penetration and are not going to punch through any kind of heavy material.
Ref:
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-electronics/gadgets/how-a-taser-works/0Cheers
