Protecting the Flock… Join IFC and Cornerstone Bible Fellowship in Newton for an eye-opening 2-hour presentation by Ed Monk exploring why churches, 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 considered. Join us.
Date: March 18th, 2025 Location:Cornerstone Bible Fellowship – Newton IA Time: 6:00 to 8:30 (30-minute break in the middle with food/drink purchases available from the church’s youth group) Cost: FREE (donations suggested to cover Ed’s travel, lodging, and fees, with the balance being given to the church) Please RSVP BELOW – Seating is limited to 250
IFC encourages members of law enforcement, church or school security teams, armed civilians, and anyone interested in mitigating the threat of active killers to attend this science-based presentation.
About Ed Monk: Ed Monk grew up shooting firearms of all types from the time he was 5 years old. After going through West Point, he served as a U.S. Army Officer for 20 years retiring as a Lt. Colonel and Battalion Commander in 2007. Since retiring from the military, Ed has continued in Law Enforcement but also picked up a very specific training focus along the way.
Ed became very interested in the study of active shooters and how to best stop them some years ago. After retiring, Ed sought out advanced levels of personal professional development by becoming a Rangemaster certified instructor (master level) for handguns, certified by ALERRT as a CRASE instructor and by Response Options (which became ALICE) as an instructor for Solo Officer Response to Active Killers.
From his lifetime of momentum of protection, came his laser focus on understanding and countering the active shooter threat. Ed began to see there was very little specific attention given towards training based on how to counter that threat in a realistic, logical way that saves the most lives.
Present and willing – the foundational pieces for saving lives. Now add a healthy dose of training, and you’re arguably very prepared to stop a threat, put evil on hold, and spare the lives of innocent people.
We’ve got problems, but we’re asking all the wrong questions, which means we’ll get the wrong answers. Too many will say something thoughtful like, “When are we going to do something?” They would be right to ponder and ask a question like that, but what you’ll get in return, if anything, is a bunch of manure splashed across the wall in hopes some of it sticks. And that’s a really poor way to consider and erect policy.
Let’s ask the hard question. “How many lives are we willing to forfeit each time something bad happens?”
Yeah, I wrote that. And you read it. There is no way to eliminate evil. Stop being silly and thinking if you could ban one more gun or curtail one more civil right, evil would cease. That mentality is as stupid as it is dumb. Rather, let’s agree on the TRUTH. Evil exists and for as long a man has walked the Earth, it has been present. Knowing this, the question pivots away from how to remove evil, to what we’ll do when evil presents itself. That’s the right question to ask, and we all know the answer. Some are just not comfortable admitting the answer, that’s all.
When evil shows itself, if you’re present and willing, you intercede. YOU STOP IT.
Being present and willing are foundational to stopping the gratuitous harm of others. With training, your speed and odds of success increase exponentially. That’s it. There’s no magic formula. Are you present? Are you willing? Are you trained in ways that allow you to reach your full potential? If you can answer yes to the first two, and the third is well in hand with more planned, you’re what the innocent among us require to make it home at night. Not the wholesale curtailment of the good guy’s rights. Not a bunch of Pollyanish ideas that have never and will never work, but give us some warm feelings. No. Why have we departed from the TRUTH?
When the bad guy shows up with a plan to hurt people, why don’t we act on our plan? That requires you and I to be present, then willing. And the more trained we are, the better off everyone will be. May the Almighty bless them, but no police response time is going to compare to a person who is present and willing in the school. No SRO is going to react as quickly to disaster in a classroom as the teacher standing there. Stop trying to convince yourself otherwise – that’s a fool’s errand. When the person present is willing and prepared the body count these killers amass, plummets.
Evil exists when the bad guys have a monopoly on violence in “Gun Free Zones” – when we remove that advantage two things happen. 1, What violence they inflict is quickly halted, and 2, fewer and fewer attempts will be made due to logical outcomes for the perpetrator.
Join IFC in the fight to stop these phony “safe” zones that are anything but… The families in Perry and the community as a whole have suffered in unimaginable ways. The past is granite, but the future is malleable. If you don’t choose to be present, willing, and prepared you’re not communicating your compassion, but rather your indifferent cruelty.
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.
IFC’s Warrior Wednesday this week features, Chuck Haggard, also known as the Legendary Lawman. With more than three decades of very active service in Topeka, Kansas, Haggard has become the “go-to” guy nationwide for training on less-than-lethal tools, including pepper spray, Tasers, and impact weapons. IFC chair John McLaughlin is a certified Pepper Spray/OC instructor through Haggard’s coursework.
In this wide-ranging interview, Chuck takes a deep dive into the evolution of pepper spray in both police and civilian use and why he recommends it for use between a “harsh word and a gun.” Also, check out John’s videos on pepper spray here:
There’s less than a week until the start of the 2016 Iowa State Fair. This major event draws more than a million people to the East side of Des Moines. With approximately 100,000 people passing through their gates each day and relatively tiny number of armed security personnel the Iowa State Fair is also Iowa’s largest gun free zone, making it an area ripe for crime and victimization.
Last week a panel of Iowa lawmakers reviewed the Iowa State Fair’s gun free zone policy, but decided to take no action to overturn the ban. Speaker after speaker testified against your right to defend yourself and to protect your loved ones. The Iowa Firearms Coalition was the only pro-Second Amendment organization to testify in favor of repealing the Iowa State Fair’s ban on the lawful carry of firearms. Our testimony is on the website, and so is a perfect example of why you should be able to carry at the Iowa State Fair.
IOWA STATE FAIR MOB VIOLENCE
BEAT WHITEY NIGHT
3 OFFICERS INJURED
The Iowa Legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee may have decided against taking any action but that does not mean the issue of State Fair Carry is dead. We expect to see this brought up during the 2017 legislative session. In all honesty though, unless we can flip the Iowa Senate repealing the Iowa State Fair gun ban will be tough. Not impossible, but tough. As will passing laws like Stand Your Ground, Constitutional Carry, or repealing Iowa’s ban on supervised youth handgun shooting. That’s why it’s imperative that you get involved this election cycle and do more than vote.
We’re working extremely hard to flip the Senate, but we need your help. Our campaign and election division, IFC-PAC, is mobilizing Iowans around the state to end the Gronstalling in the Iowa Senate and pave the way for the a legislature that is committed to protecting and enhancing the Second Amendment. When you’re ready to go to work for the Second Amendment sign-up to volunteer with IFC-PAC or make a donationto help us flip the Iowa Senate!
Finally, we’re very excited to announce that Jack of West Chester was the winner of our July AR15 Upgrade Giveaway. Jack won an 13” Geissele Automatics rail and ALG Defense ACT trigger for his AR15. This month we’ve partnered with Vortex Optics to giveaway their newest red-dot optic the SPARC AR. There are multiple ways to enter, and you can gain bonus entries for referring a friend. We’ll be giving away the Vortex SPARC AR at the end of this month, but every week we’re selecting a random winner and mailing them small prize from our IFC swag bag.
More updates to come. Thank you for continuing to support the Iowa Firearms Coalition!
Iowa Firearms Coalition is an entirely volunteer, grassroots, Second Amendment advocacy group. Responsible for bringing uniformity to Iowa’s Concealed Weapons Permitting process, IFC’s members work to protect and enhance Second Amendment rights in Iowa. An affiliate of the National Rifle Association, the IFC actively seeks to foster and promote the shooting sports. Sign up for our email list for the latest on Second Amendment issues in Iowa. You can support our work by becoming a member, or making a donation.
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