WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department said it is reviewing the deaths of 30 people who died after being shocked with stun guns by law enforcement officers.

A number of police departments are re-evaluating their training with the electroshock devices.

Montgomery County police let News4 take a look inside their training, and an officer allowed himself to be stunned to show News4 viewers what it feels like.

The weapon fires two probes attached to long, thin wires. They deliver an electro-magnetic shock that incapacitates the person who is shot.

Police said the weapon can also make direct contact with the body.

Taser International, the nation's largest maker of stun guns, said they have supplied more than 130,000 of the devices to nearly half of the nation's 16,000 police agencies.

After 180 deaths associated with the weapons and reports of misuse by police across the country, there has been a call for greater oversight.

"Recently, a 92-year-old man was shot three separate times with a Taser weapon because he was swinging his cane. He has a cane. He has Alzheimer's disease. He doesn't walk well. Certainly there were alternative uses of force that could have been used on this gentleman," said Delia Hashad of Amnesty International.

Public policy expert Dennis McBride said he took part in a conference on stun guns last year.

"One of our biggest surprises is that no government regulatory agency actually regulates stun guns," said McBride.

Officials said the decision on how to use the weapons is up to individual police departments.

Police officers in Montgomery County must become certified to use a stun gun. Officials said officers participate in 40 hours of training.

Police said during scenario training, an officer who plays a drunken suspect wears a special padded suit to keep him from feeling the shock.

Training Officer Greg Dickerson said he urges officers to cuff the suspect during the five seconds the electric charge lasts, so that a second charge will not be necessary. He said the officer will not get shocked if they don't touch the area between the probes.

"Our goal is one time. That's our goal," Dickerson said.

Dickerson also urges officers to get shocked themselves.

Some other police departments in this area do use stun guns, including Arlington County in Virginia and Prince George's County in Maryland.

Officials said that after a series of fatal shootings by officers in Anne Arundel County, the department plans to explore the use of the weapons.

D.C. police said they do not use stun guns and have no immediate plans to get them.