STUDENTS FIRST SAFETY ACT

The Students First Safety Act / Iowa House Study Bill 675 has been rolled out. By the time this President’s Message Blog has been published, it’s had its first hearing up at the Iowa State House. 

HSB675 needs some work before IFC can fully support it. You can find more details here about the bill by IFC past Chairman Michael Ware. But I’d like to point out to you how the Iowa State Education Association feels about your kid’s safety, time, and math. 

“Melissa Peterson from the Iowa State Education Association says firearms in the schoolhouse is a risky idea. “Accidents always happen when you’re around students regardless of what age they might be, and we think that quite frankly the stakes are just too high. We should not take the risk. More firearms does not equal more safety,” Peterson said.

Peterson says school resource officers can negatively impact the learning environment for students who have adverse relationships or perceptions of law enforcement. Some school districts have done away with SROs for that reason.”

That quote is from a February 9th, 2024  KCRG story, and my hat is off to reporter Conner Hendricks for presenting both sides of the issue.

My concern is that our statewide teachers union does not live in real-ville. Most thinking adults know the fastest way to stop an attacker is to shoot them right now. Not in ten minutes, but right now. Reducing the potential number of victims by terminating the attacker’s ability to continue immediately beats calling 911 and waiting several minutes or more for a police response. 

Oh, and the safest kids’ sports in the United States are shooting sports and archery, go figure. Even Time Magazine in a March 7, 2019 article about High School Clays in Minnesota:

“As for safety: more than 70,000 students have fired 42 million shots since 2008. No one has reported a single injury, according to the league.”

For those who think I might be picking on the ISEA because it’s a union, know this: As a retired member of the Airline Pilots Association (the Pilots Union) and an ALPA Security Coordinator, I fully support employees’ rights to organize. But let’s remember who led the charge to arm pilots with handguns after 9/11…it was the pilot unions in America. 

I get that ISEA is a business, but my advice to Ms. Peterson is to get out of the woke propaganda business and back to doing what’s best for our kids.

Help us defend all Iowans’ rights by joining or renewing your IFC membership here today. And please stay Ready at All Times

Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.

Dave Funk
President
Iowa Firearms Coalition