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Some Parents Asking For Tasers On Central Texas School Campuses


Parents are making a push to get Tasers on school campuses. They say it will give teachers and staff a line of defense to protect themselves and their students. Kristen and Eddy Hobizal have three kids, one attends the Round Rock Independent School District. Like other parents, they worry every time they drop off their child off at school. "Our schools are very vulnerable," Kristen Hobizal worries. "There's not much more, other than a lock and key that they can use to defend themselves."

Eddy Hobizal says, "There's a lot of conversation about other options, so why not start a conversation about this option." They're looking into putting together an online petition and also sending a letter to the Round Rock ISD board of trustees and lawmakers.

But how do Tasers work and what are the effects? We sat down with Round Rock Police Officer Blake Bearden who trains officers to use Tasers. "A Taser will temporarily incapacitate that person so they don't have the typical abilities they have to be resistant, so they will typically fall to the ground if they are standing," he says. That's when officers will go in and take the subject into custody.

Officers Bearden wouldn't comment on whether placing Tasers on campus is a good idea. But he did say if a person has a deadly weapon, a Taser becomes less of a reasonable option.

But Kristen Hobizal says it's an option she's hoping will be considered, "In another day and age this would have sounded crazy and irrational, obviously we do need to do something, but I'd like to find a way that we can do something feeling like the ultimate result will be dead or put our kids at more risk."

By Lydia Pantazes