Leaders of Iowa State’s three largest student organizations overwhelmingly supported a Department of Public Safety proposal to arm certified department officials with Advanced Tasers during a public forum Monday night.

Paul Duncan, president of the Inter-Residence Hall Association, said he talked to several students about the DPS proposal.

“I’m in favor of this,” he said. “All the students I’ve talked to are, also.”

Duncan said the taser can provide protection in situations DPS officers face daily but aren’t adequately prepared to handle.

“A [retractable baton] can’t fight a gun,” said Duncan, senior in transportation and logistics. “Mace can’t fight a gun. This is too little, too late, but this is a positive step in the right direction.”

The proposal asks that only certified officers be allowed to carry the Advanced Taser, an electronic weapon that delivers an electric shock through two darts fired from a gun.

The officers currently carry an asp, a retractable steel baton and pepper spray.

Dee Egdorf, Graduate Student Senate vice president, said she worked for 19 years as a 911 dispatcher.

“One of the hardest jobs I had as a 911 dispatcher was sending officers to situations where a gunshot was reported,” she said. “Not only were they my friends, but I knew they had wives and children who waited for them at home.”

Egdorf, graduate in human development and family studies, said although GSS has not voted to officially approve the proposal, it has sponsored two small-group discussions for graduate students and extensively discussed the issue in executive board.

“For my personal safety, the safety of others and the safety of those who protect us, we as a graduate student body support the proposal,” she said.

Government of the Student Body President Andy Tofilon also strongly supported the tasers.

“We need to make sure DPS has all the tools it needs to make the campus safe,” he said. “We’re asking police officers to go into situations where they know there’s a gun. We’re asking them to put their lives on the line for us.”

Tofilon, senior in journalism and mass communication, said he is “truly appalled at the current state,” and arming DPS officials with the tasers will “enhance their abilities.”

“We need to make sure DPS has everything to do a good job,” he said. “Tasers are a good first step.”

Tofilon said he would support arming DPS officers with guns if the issue were to come up.

City Councilman Herman Quirmbach, associate professor of economics, said he doesn’t want DPS officers to carry guns or tasers.

“I have every bit as much concern as you do,” said Quirmbach, who represents the 4th Ward for the City Council. “The fact of the matter is, even if [the officers are] carrying a six-shooter, there’s no guarantee they won’t be caught by surprise.”