Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended				3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended								9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013 Segment	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013 Minimum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Maximum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Countries [Member] Customer	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Countries [Member] Customer	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Countries [Member] Customer	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Countries [Member] Customer	Sep. 30, 2013 Sales [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Sales [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Sales [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Sales [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Distributor One [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Distributor One [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Distributor Two [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Distributor Three [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Distributor Four [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 TASER C2 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Evidence.Com & Video [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Evidence.Com & Video [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Extended Product Warranty [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Extended Product Warranty [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Extended Product Warranty [Member] Minimum [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Extended Product Warranty [Member] Maximum [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments of company			2
Aggregated operating segments			0
Number of customer outside the united states							0	0	0	0
Maximum percentage of total sales represented by one customer	10.00%	10.00%	10.00%	10.00%							12.20%	10.60%	12.10%	14.30%
Accounts and notes receivable by customers one															16.50%	17.20%	13.90%	10.90%	10.40%
Deferred revenue																					$ 3,700,000	$ 1,300,000	$ 14,500,000	$ 10,800,000
Service term for services purchased					1 year	5 years
Period of extended warranty after expiration of standard warranty																									1 year	5 years
Standard warranty period																				1 year
Impairment losses	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0