🔫 STUN GUN

Damage & Stats

The Stun Gun is a contact-range electroshock weapon that delivers 15 electrical damage per activation plus a 4-second incapacitation effect that drops the target to the ground, convulsing and unable to act. This incapacitation is the weapon's primary function — the damage itself is almost irrelevant compared to the guaranteed disable that works against all human targets regardless of body armor, health level, or combat readiness. The weapon must physically contact the target (range approximately 0.5 meters), requiring the user to be within melee distance to deploy.

The Stun Gun operates on a battery charge system rather than ammunition. Each full charge supports 8 activations before requiring a recharge at any electrical outlet in a safehouse or vehicle (10-second animation). The activation cooldown between shocks is 1.2 seconds, preventing rapid-fire stunning but allowing follow-up shocks against targets who begin recovering prematurely. Against animals, the Stun Gun has variable effectiveness: small animals are killed outright, medium animals (dogs, raccoons) are incapacitated for 6 seconds, and large animals (bears, alligators) are merely staggered for 1.5 seconds without full incapacitation.

Tactical Analysis

The Stun Gun is the premier non-lethal takedown tool for missions where killing is penalized or where live targets have higher value than dead ones. Bail bond missions, bounty hunting side content, and certain story missions with "capture alive" objectives all reward or require non-lethal approaches, and the Stun Gun's guaranteed incapacitation makes it the most reliable option. The 4-second disable window is long enough to apply handcuffs (using the restraint mechanic), drag the target to a vehicle, or simply retreat from the encounter.

The contact-range requirement is both the weapon's greatest limitation and its strongest balancing factor. Players must close to melee distance against potentially armed targets, which demands either stealth approach, distraction techniques, or sprinting directly through incoming fire to make contact. The "tackle and stun" technique — sprinting into a target to trigger the tackle animation, then immediately activating the Stun Gun while both characters are on the ground — is the most reliable engagement method, as the tackle animation prevents the target from firing during the approach transition.

Attachments & Modifications

Stun Gun modifications are available at electronics shops and Ammu-Nation locations. A high-voltage capacitor upgrade ($3,500) increases the incapacitation duration from 4 to 6 seconds, providing a more comfortable window for restraining or repositioning. An extended battery pack ($2,800) doubles charge capacity from 8 to 16 activations, essential for missions requiring multiple non-lethal takedowns without access to recharging points.

A conductive gel tip ($1,500) improves contact reliability through clothing, eliminating the occasional "glancing shock" that deals damage without full incapacitation when the contact angle is shallow. The most tactical modification is a shock-through-vehicle upgrade ($4,200) that allows the Stun Gun to incapacitate occupants through vehicle doors and windows by pressing the weapon against the vehicle's metal body — the electrical current travels through the chassis to the occupant, enabling non-lethal vehicle stops without the damage and danger of shooting out tires or using spike strips.

Best Situations

The Stun Gun is indispensable during Bail Bonds missions, where the bond target must be delivered alive to the bail bondsman's office. These missions scattered across Leonida feature increasingly dangerous fugitives, from petty criminals who flee on foot to armed suspects who fight back aggressively. The Stun Gun simplifies every encounter to the same formula: close distance, stun, restrain, transport. The fugitive in the Everglades compound is particularly challenging without a Stun Gun, as he's surrounded by armed associates who make lethal engagement risky.

Beyond dedicated capture missions, the Stun Gun enables a unique playstyle during robbery encounters. Stunning store clerks and security guards instead of shooting them avoids the murder charges that escalate wanted levels and public notoriety. In the property management gameplay, the Stun Gun handles trespassers and troublemakers at owned properties without the negative press coverage that shootings generate — important for maintaining property values and business reputation in the economy system. It's also the safest way to deal with aggressive wildlife near populated areas where gunfire would cause panic.

How to Acquire

The Stun Gun becomes available at Ammu-Nation after completing the first Bail Bonds mission, priced at $2,800. This mission is accessible early in the game through the bail bondsman contact in downtown Vice City/wiki/vice-city.html" style="color:var(--coral)">Vice City, making the Stun Gun obtainable within the first few hours of gameplay. A free Stun Gun can be acquired by subduing any VCPD officer and picking up their dropped equipment — officers carry Stun Guns as part of their standard loadout alongside their service pistol.

A law enforcement-grade "Compliance" variant is rewarded for completing all Bail Bonds missions (10 total), featuring extended range contact probes that increase reach to 0.8 meters and a built-in flashlight that illuminates dark environments during nighttime pursuits. This variant also recharges passively while holstered in a vehicle, eliminating the need to manually recharge at electrical outlets. Police supply rooms in captured or infiltrated precinct stations occasionally contain 1-2 standard Stun Guns that can be pocketed during heist preparation missions.

Comparison to Similar Weapons

Against the Taser (ranged electroshock, fires probes at 7-meter range), the Stun Gun trades range for reliability. The Taser's ranged probes can miss, be deflected by heavy clothing, or disconnect if the target moves sharply — failure modes the contact Stun Gun doesn't have. The Taser's advantage is obvious: incapacitation without closing to melee range, which is dramatically safer against armed targets. Players who prioritize reliability choose the Stun Gun; those who prioritize safety choose the Taser.

Compared to melee takedown attacks (fists from behind, weapon butt strikes), the Stun Gun offers faster and more reliable incapacitation without requiring a stealth approach from behind. Melee stealth takedowns only work from specific angles and trigger lengthy animations, while the Stun Gun works from any contact angle with a quick activation. The trade-off is that melee takedowns are silent, while the Stun Gun's electrical discharge produces a distinctive crackling sound audible to nearby NPCs within 5 meters. For lethal melee options, the Knife is faster but kills rather than incapacitates.

Combat Strategies

The "Shield Rush" strategy equips body armor and sprints directly at armed targets, absorbing incoming fire during the approach while closing to contact range. This kamikaze approach sounds reckless but is mathematically viable against single opponents — standard NPC accuracy means roughly 30% of shots hit a sprinting target, and the 1.5-2 seconds of sprint time to cover 10 meters typically results in only 1-2 hits absorbed before contact. Activate the Stun Gun immediately upon reaching the target, and the incapacitation ends the threat instantly regardless of how much damage was taken during the approach.

The "Stun Chain" technique handles multiple targets by stunning them in sequence during the 4-second incapacitation window of each previous target. Stun target 1, sprint to target 2 (3-4 meters away), stun target 2, then return to restrain target 1 before recovery. With the high-voltage capacitor upgrade extending incapacitation to 6 seconds, chains of 3 targets become viable if they're positioned within 5 meters of each other. This technique is essential for the late-game Bail Bonds targets who employ bodyguards that must all be neutralized non-lethally.

History in the GTA Series

The Stun Gun debuted in GTA V as a weapon available exclusively through specific mission contexts and cheat codes, most memorably associated with the FIB mission line where Trevor uses one during an interrogation sequence. GTA Online later made it purchasable, though its short range limited its practical application in PvP contexts dominated by automatic weapons and explosives. The community used it primarily for trolling and role-play scenarios rather than serious combat.

GTA 6's Stun Gun reimagines the weapon as a legitimate tactical tool rather than a novelty, supported by the new bail bonds system, non-lethal mission objectives, and property management encounters that give non-lethal options genuine gameplay value. The added modification system, battery charge mechanic, and vehicle-stun capability transform it from GTA V's joke weapon into an essential part of any completionist's loadout. The non-lethal playstyle community has grown substantially around the Stun Gun's expanded utility, with dedicated guides covering "zero-kill" mission completions that rely heavily on electroshock incapacitation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated April 26, 2026.