[Bulldog68]

I'd stay away from the stun guns, simply because they only work up close and sometimes that's too late if the suspect gets the drop on your employees. The issues regarding concealed guns pose some legal issues and liability issues for you as an employer, so I'd avoid that route as well, especially in California.

A better option which has been touched on before is the civilian model Taser. It's not necessarily cheap and I don't know how many employees you have working at a time, but if you got one to try and let them have it during the night, it might be a good option for protection. It's designed for application up close, but also has the darts that can be deployed up to a short distance. After deploying it, it's designed to be left behind while the user flees the scene to call 911 and get away from the suspect. When the suspect recovers from being temporarily incapacitated, the Taser is rendered useless and can't be used against anyone else. Even if the suspect grabs it and flees with it, Taser will send you a new one, provided it was used in a lawful manner for protection of your life.

Oh yeah, and don't buy all the media hype about Tasers "killing" people, which would cause liability issues. Granted, we're in California, so liability exists even if you take proper precautions. That said, thousands of officers have been tasered during law enforcement training and nobody has died as a result. I've been tasered and had no ill effects after. It's designed to pulse the muscles and temporarily incapacitate someone, not kill them. The deaths that the media jump on with relation to taser use usually occurred because of secondary factors: suspects' drug use, physical actions during the suspect's flight from officers, fighting with police prior to the Taser use, or pre-existing medical conditions. Unfortunately, the media doesn't address these issues because (a) they're not facts released by law enforcement agencies at the time of the incident, and (b) it's easier to get ratings by attributing a death to the Taser and making controversy. The media makes quotes about the "50,000 volts," but don't address the fact that it's high current (amps) that can kill people, not necessarily the volts.

I'll get off my soapbox now. Good luck with everything...