Law-enforcement officers find stun guns useful.

But they're not for everyone.

In fact, in Michigan, they're not for anyone -- besides law-enforcement officers and a few other professionals. For most people, possessing an electric stun gun is a felony in this state, punishable by up to four years in prison.A 27-year-old Muskegon woman is facing the consequences of that law. Shena Connor of Muskegon is charged with possessing a stun gun after police arrested her following a reported argument with another woman.

Connor was arraigned last Thursday before Chief 60th Judge Andrew J. Wierengo III. She was scheduled for a preliminary examination April 15 and is free on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.

Connor was arrested April 1 after Muskegon police responded to a report of an "armed subject" in the parking lot of the downtown Seaway Shell gas station, 275 W. Muskegon, according to a police report.

The caller, a woman sitting in one parked car, said she had been threatened with a stun gun by another woman from another car, according to Detective Sgt. Monica Shirey. According to the police report, in the course of an argument between the two women, Connor allegedly got out of her car holding a stun gun, stood near the window of the other woman's car and verbally threatened to stun her.

After police arrived, they searched Connor's car and allegedly found a stun gun, Shirey said. She was arrested, taken to jail and later charged with the felony.

More and more police agencies are getting stun guns. Muskegon County commissioners last month approved the purchase of 15 for county sheriff's deputies.

The devices look and function much like a handgun. A user pulls the trigger, releasing two probes that are shot out of a cartridge. The probes, which are attached to insulated wires, penetrate clothing and pierce the skin.

Then, 50,000 volts of electricity confuse communication between the brain and affected muscles, causing intense pain and brief paralysis. Each shot sends a 5-second current, a period that can be extended by holding a finger on the trigger.