IFC’s Educators Academy, our first ever, is just two weeks away. It’s an intensive three-day training event designed to quickly train those school staff members volunteering to be present, trained, and willing to stop any violent attacks on Iowa school kids.
This prototype course has been developed to be easily duplicated across Iowa. There are still a few seats left for the first night of the Academy’s special event IFC Steak Dinner; “An Evening With Ed Monk” on August 15th. You can get tickets here.
One of the best examples of this concept in action comes out of Texas. Here is an important highlight of the Texas Guardian Program and its cost-effectiveness, brought to us by Ammoland.com about the Groesbeck, Texas Independent School District’s implementation of this program.
Two months ago, I sent my monthly superintendent newsletter informing parents of our Guardian Program and new signage (see picture below). Being installed this week, signs will be posted on our campuses which state, “ATTENTION: GISD STAFF ARE ARMED AND TRAINED TO PROTECT OUR STUDENTS. 12”X12” signs will be attached to all building entrances, and larger 3’X3’ signs will be displayed at all parking/drive way entrances.
Last year the Groesbeck ISD school board watched the devastation of schools across the country, being forced to prepare for the unthinkable –the potential of a school shooting, and considered appropriate policies. The Board updated local policy, authorizing a School Safety “Guardian” Program (TX Govt. Code 411.1901). Its purpose is to provide students and faculties an armed self-defense option prior to the arrival of Law Enforcement in the event of an active shooter or “active killer” on campus.
The Guardians are ISD staff members who have passed strict requirements and training. In order to protect them from becoming targets of an intruder, their names are confidential and are not to be released. I ask that names not be guessed at nor rumors passed in an attempt to protect these individuals.
Although the program has been in place for almost a year, the Board of Trustees approved for the district to make the program more visible. By providing the community this information and by placing signs up across the campuses, we are taking additional steps so that people know we are NOT an “easy target” .
The cost of a School Resource Officer is approximately $100,000 per year, but in Texas, Guardians can be trained for about $1000! Yet, believe it or not, it’s the insurance industry here in Iowa that is trying to shut down IFC’s efforts to protect our most loved school children. They are doing that by cutting off insurance protection for any school district that has non-law enforcement armed staffers. This is the same industry that recently engineered a medical malpractice claim in Iowa City to scare our legislatures into limiting medical malpractice non-economic damages in Iowa to protect their profits.
But please remember, like our willing school staffers who are attending the IFC Educators Academy to be Ready at All Times, never forget that those anti-freedom dangerous quacks are playing a long game — but so are we at IFC. Help us by joining or renewing your IFC membership here today.
Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.
IFC is embarking on a new venture – one designed to keep Iowa’s school children safer. IFC is offering a part of the SOLUTION when evil walks through the doors of our schools. Gun-free zones, like schools, are attractive to active shooters because they will not encounter armed resistance to their assault, until the police arrive. And our children’s bodies stack up.
IFC is offering eighteen $1,000 scholarships to cover the cost of the Academy for the selected participants. Several scholarship applications have already been filed. If you are employed by Iowa schools, have a Permit to Carry (or can obtain one prior to the Academy), and want to be prepared to protect the students in your school, you can file a scholarship application HERE.
Listen to Michael Ware of IFC talking with Simon Conway on an iheart.com podcast about this opportunity.
ACADEMY INSTRUCTION
The training will feature three renowned instructors:
Adam Winch / military veteran and police trainer, of Defenders-USA
John McLaughlin / Chair of the IFC Board & Certified Instructor
The 30 hours of training begins with an in-depth review of the history of active shooters in school situations, and the necessity of having Present, Trained and Willing defenders at the school, to protect the children. This premise is the foundation of the course and is derived from over twenty years of research on mass shooting incidents, by Lt. Col. Ed Monk. He provides a compelling narrative and breaks down the statistics, drawing a mathematically derived conclusion that ONLY by having Present, Trained and Willing defenders on-site will casualties be reduced. This portion of the training will be live streamed to Iowa educators wishing to watch remotely (watch for future information on how to access), and will also be recorded for future training sessions.
The remainder of the training focuses on building skills through dry fire, then live fire at a variety of distances and speeds, repetition, incorporating basic tactical movement, and focusing on accuracy and firing under pressure. Participants will have a baseline assessment before the training. Additional blocks of training include Trauma Medicine, Deep Concealment for Educators, and What to Do When the Shooting Stops.
Three indoor ranges at CrossRoads will be used for the training. Six participants will work with one of the instructors and each range will have a Range Safety Officer to assist. There will be a second skills assessment prior to the end of the Academy.
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
This is an opportunity to become part of the solution. To seek individual training like this at your own expense would be very costly. This is an immersive experience featuring modern learner-centric educational theory and data-driven analysis of real world threats. Our response to active shooters at schools cannot be the simple offering of thoughts and prayers. We must counter the active shooter threat.
IFC Educators Academy – Present, Trained, Willing: A research-based response to the active shooter threat based on data collected by Ed Monk, using modern learner-centric educational theory and data-driven analysis of real-world threats.
18 scholarships are available to Iowa public and private school staff members.
The Iowa Firearms Coalition, in cooperation with active-shooter researcher Lt. Col. Ed Monk (US Army retired) and military veteran and police trainer Adam Winch of Defenders-USA, have developed the IFC Educator Academy: Present, Trained, Willing.
Three full days of training begin with a historical look at the active shooter threat in schools and the sobering reality that the threat must be neutralized in the first 30 seconds to one minute in order to keep the victim count low.
Educators will be trained in basic tactical movement and the balance of speed and accuracy when firing a handgun. Each participant will be evaluated with a firearms skills assessment before the training and at the end to gather metrics on improvement in accuracy, time to draw from concealment and the ability to shoot precisely at a variety of distances under pressure. This data will be used to tweak the curriculum with the goal of offering “best practices” and streaming video content of Ed Monk’s presentation to all interested Iowa educational institutions. Additional instructional blocks include Trauma Medicine, Deep Concealment for Educators, and What to Do When the Shooting Stops.
18 participants will be selected to attend the 30-hour course. Applicants should have or will obtain, an Iowa permit to carry weapons before the class. The scholarship covers the $1000.00 course fee and lunch during training. Successful applicants will need to provide an appropriate firearm, concealed holster, and a minimum of 500 rounds of ammunition.
LISTEN HERE for the Simon Conway WHO Radio 1040AM interview centering on the IFC Educator Academy.
Each Attendee Will Receive -30 hours of Instruction -Lunch each Day -Steak dinner with a presentation by Ed Monk.
The IFC Educator Academy results are in. 13 Iowa educators participated in 36 hours of firearms and active shooter training. 10 of the 13 were able to complete standards of 90% or higher on a qualification where no shots were allowed outside the target’s outline. IFC Chair John McLaughlin discusses this at length with Ed Monk, active shooter planning and response expert, and Adam Winch, owner and creator of Defenders USA. These folks came to Iowa and taught Iowa School Staff from the ground up and now reflect on the past and point to future possibilities.
IFC Board Member, Richard Rogers with IFC’s first Educator Academy reflection. Special guest and student of the IFC Educator Academy, Nathan Tillotson.
IFC Educator Academy is here! Leading Active Shooter Response trainers coming to IFC Educators Academy August 15-17 in Johnston. IFC chair John McLaughlin has the details! See the event HERE and apply for your $1000 scholarship to attend!
Join IFC and our Educators Academy participants for a great steak and potato dinner followed by an eye-opening 45-minute presentation by Ed Monk exploring why schools and businesses continue to fail in making active shooter plans. This could be the most important perspective on the subject of stopping terror in your presence you ever consider. Join us.
(DES MOINES, Iowa) – The Iowa Firearms Coalition (IFC) welcomes the introduction of the “Students First Safety Act,” HSB675, a bill that creates a pathway for Iowa school districts to arm trained staff.
The bill will be brought before the Public Safety subcommittee on Monday.
“If you see a fire starting in your home, do you grab the fire extinguisher and put it out, or just dial 911 and wait for the fire department to arrive after it’s totally engulfed?” said IFC President and Des Moines area police officer, Dave Funk. “IFC is grateful to the legislature for bringing this bill forward, addressing issues of critical importance.”
While IFC is encouraged legislators are taking steps to protect Iowa’s children in the classroom, the existing proposed legislation leaves room for improvement. IFC looks forward to working with lawmakers to refine the bill to include:
Protection for all Iowa school districts, not just the largest and wealthiest in the state.
A training program for all willing educators.
Closing the insurance discrimination loophole, which has allowed for insurance companies to hold the safety of Iowa children hostage at the expense of woke corporate policies.
Two school districts in northwest Iowa had planned on implementing armed staff as soon as the 2024 school year but withdrew their plans once Des Moines based EMC insurance notified the districts that their insurance policies would not be renewed if the plan went into effect.
“We’ve had meetings with the schools, we’ve had meetings with the insurance companies. I’m working with the Senate to make sure we have a collaborative bill we can do something with,” said Rep. John Wills (Dickinson County).
IFC further recommends legislators use “Time and Math” when debating the bill and to look beyond School Resource Officers (SROs) as the only solution to protecting students. While IFC acknowledges the important role of SROs in Iowa schools, in particular how they provide mentorship to students, it is unrealistic to think that a single peace officer is always going to be at the right place at just the right time when evil strikes.
IFC has been working with retired Army Officer and schoolteacher Ed Monk to bring a fact-based approach to the Capitol in the wake of the tragedy at Perry High School. Monk was further part of a team of experts that led the Iowa Educators Academy, an intensive IFC program that taught more than a dozen school administrators and staff members on how best to respond to a crisis, last year.
“If you don’t stop a threat within thirty seconds to one minute, you often see double digit victim counts,” said Monk. “You want the lowest possible victim count and that means an immediate response. You can’t argue against Time and Math.”
IFC is calling on Iowans to contact their local representatives and senators and demand they find a solution to insuring school districts that understand the reality of Time and Math.
The Iowa Firearms Coalition, Iowa’s official NRA State Association, is a 501(c4) nonprofit and is Iowa’s only effective pro-Second Amendment rights organization.
John McLaughlin, IFC Chair 515-724-4164 jmclaughlin@iowafc.org
(MOVILLE, Iowa) — The Iowa Firearms Coalition (IFC) strongly condemns Thursday morning’s attack at Perry High School.
“Our prayers are with the Perry community following this morning’s act of evil. Iowa must, finally, harden soft-targets and empower school staff who love their children enough to protect them to do so. Signs don’t stop evil, good people do,” said IFC President, Dave Funk.
IFC has offered free active-shooter training to Iowa educators and school staff, most recently at the IFC Educators Academy this past August in Johnston. The intensive three-day training program provided participants with the essential skills and knowledge needed to effectively respond to active shooter threats in schools.
IFC has also worked with school districts in the state to increase their security and allow for trained staff to exercise their constitutional rights on school grounds.
IFC continues to lobby Iowa lawmakers to ban “gun-free zone” signs that are endangering the lives of students and emboldening criminals to commit acts of evil. Additionally, IFC has included in this effort, the need to end Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) policies that are preventing schools from taking the necessary and scientifically proven steps needed to protect students and staff during a crisis.
The Iowa Firearms Coalition, Iowa’s official NRA State Association, is a 501(c4) nonprofit and is Iowa’s only effective pro-Second Amendment rights organization.
Once again, “the Cat’s away, so the mice will play!” Our illustrious President, Dave Funk is burning the candle at both ends working at the Iowa State Fair these days, so I’m on tap for this week’s President’s Message. You’re going to get a veritable stew, if you will — there’s a lot going down these days.
Laws for me but not for thee! Can you think of a current case where this applies? (Can you think of one where it Does NOT Apply?!)
First, in today’s news, Hunter Biden’s attorneys are arguing that the sweet diversion deal on the gun charge (you know, the one that DOESN’T send him to jail?), yeah…Anyway, his attorneys are arguing that even though the entire plea deal fell apart in court under the judge’s scrutiny in late July, the deal on the gun charge is separate and still binding. Really?
Specifically, a Fox News article reports:
Hunter Biden’s legal team said in a Sunday court filing that federal prosecutors reneged on a plea deal reached by both parties in June, and an agreement reached on a felony gun charge against the president’s son still stands.
The article goes on to report:
The filing says “the Defendant intends to abide by the terms of the Diversion Agreement that was executed at the July 26 hearing”…
Of course, this filing came two days after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed David Weiss as special counsel to lead investigations into Hunter Biden. This is the same U.S. Attorney for Delaware who led a very slow and lax prosecution into the tax and gun charges eventually levied against Hunter Biden and who crafted the original “sweetheart deal” on both that came apart in court last month. (Funny, I seem to recall that when the judge clarified with the prosecutors that immunity from additional crimes would not apply to Hunter, HIS attorneys declared – in court – that the entire agreement was “null and void”). Here is a link to the full article, if you care to read it: Hunter Biden’s Attorneys Argue Gun Deal Still Stands
Growing up as a military brat, I learned ALL the acronyms — including RHIP (Rank Has Its Privileges)! Indeed.
Nothing to see here folks. Moving on…
School Districts Arming Staff & Employing More Security
In the aftermath of Uvalde, Texas conservative lawmakers have been pushing for more teachers to be armed. Although many teachers have voiced opposition, “the strategy is catching on with more and more isolated school districts, like Harrold, where the nearest officer is miles away”. In this article (now over one-year-old), Harrold Independent School District Arms Half of its Staff, this very remote small rural school district on the Texas/Oklahoma border has armed fully one-half of its staff to thwart any would-be active shooter threats. Cody Patton, Superintendent of Harrold Schools, says:
I have two daughters in this school…But basically every kid who walks in that door is my child, and I’m responsible for their safety and make sure they get home to mom and dad at the end of the day. So we want to give our employees whatever they need to protect our kids.
So how does the general public feel about this idea? In this 26-minute YouTube video from Bearing Arms, Cam & Co. Research Shows Armed Teachers Save Lives, Cam interviews Dr. J. Eric Dietz with the Homeland Security Institute at Purdue University about effective measures to save lives. Dr. Dietz says that “so much of what’s going on, isn’t accomplishing that”. Dr. Dietz says that, based on their research, an on-site school resource officer who responds without delay can reduce casualties by about 70%, but stated that when you add just 5% of teachers with concealed carry, you can have even better casualty reductions. He went on to say that if armed teachers were focused on just protecting the kids in their classrooms, they could further reduce casualties by another 5-10%. The video also discusses the reality of police response time, saying in most places in the country it ranges between 5-10 minutes, and sometimes more.
Public attitudes toward this idea are changing: A poll by the Trafalgar group polled 1,091 general election voters and found that 57.2% of the respondents said they felt a school shooting situation would be more dangerous without armed teachers. The video is worth listening to and the link is above.
Meanwhile, here in Iowa…IFC Educators Academy Begins!
IFC is launching its first-ever Educator Academy beginning this morning. For the next three days, selected scholarship applicants — all of whom are employed by an Iowa school — will be getting intensive training on Active Shooter Response. The premier trainers (Lt. Col. Ed Monk (U.S. Army Ret.) & owner Last Resort Firearms Training) and Adam Winch (Former Law Enforcement and Military Policy Officer with duties including SWAT, Quick Reaction Team, and trainer for Colorado National Guard) and John McLaughlin (Chair of Iowa Firearms Coalition, Active Self Protection and NRA certified firearms trainer) will review the statistics and realities of active shooter events, discuss in-depth what works (and what doesn’t) to counter an active shooter, put the participants through the paces with safe gun handling, dry fire practice, drawing from concealment and then on to live fire drills, then timed live fire drills. Participants must shoot qualifying scores to pass. In addition, there is a trauma medicine segment. This is not for the faint-hearted and I guarantee you the participants will be bone tired when this event concludes. Stay tuned next week for a recap!
Guess I better close. Dave will never turn me loose again! 🙂
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So how does the general public feel about this idea? In this 26-minute YouTube video from Bearing Arms, Cam & Co. 
IFC is launching its first-ever Educator Academy beginning this morning. For the next three days, selected scholarship applicants — all of whom are employed by an Iowa school — will be getting intensive training on Active Shooter Response. The premier trainers (Lt. Col. Ed Monk (U.S. Army Ret.) & owner Last Resort Firearms Training) and Adam Winch (Former Law Enforcement and Military Policy Officer with duties including SWAT, Quick Reaction Team, and trainer for Colorado National Guard) and John McLaughlin (Chair of Iowa Firearms Coalition, Active Self Protection and NRA certified firearms trainer) will review the statistics and realities of active shooter events, discuss in-depth what works (and what doesn’t) to counter an active shooter, put the participants through the paces with safe gun handling, dry fire practice, drawing from concealment and then on to live fire drills, then timed live fire drills. Participants must shoot qualifying scores to pass. In addition, there is a trauma medicine segment. This is not for the faint-hearted and I guarantee you the participants will be bone tired when this event concludes. Stay tuned next week for a recap!
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