New York state forbids the sale and possession of personal stun guns to its inhabitants. In October of 2005, the Attorney General of NY, Eliot Spitzer checked out stun gun sales on eBay. Investigators posing as ordinary eBay buyers were able to buy 16 stun guns from 16 different sellers on eBay.

Fourteen of the stun gun sellers are outside New York and according to Spitzer these eBayers are believed to have sold 1,100+ stun guns to New Yorkers from September 2003 to August 2005. Included in the sales were a Taser International stun gun valued at $57 and a $400 Air Taser that delivers a 50,000-volt disabling shock through darts connected by wires to the weapon.

Upon complaining to eBay, NY and the auction site reached the following agreement on stun gun sales:

1. Any New Yorker bidding on a stun gun will receive notice that possession of the weapon is illegal and any completed sale will be reported to the police

2. Sellers of the personal stun guns have been warned that NY sales are illegal

3. eBay will suspend sellers who continue to sell the guns to residents of NY

Besides NY, there are six other states where personal stun guns are illegal:

* Hawaii
* Massachusetts
* Michigan
* New Jersey
* Rhode Island
* Wisconsin