IFC to hold “Second Amendment Day” at the Iowa State Capitol
WHO: The Iowa Firearms Coalition WHAT: Second Amendment Day WHEN: January 18, 2024 – from 9AM to 12PM WHERE: Iowa State Capitol Building WHY: To increase school safety and lobby Iowa’s elected officials to pass common-sense pro-Second Amendment legislation
“In the wake of the tragedy at Perry High School, we believe this Second Amendment Day will be the most important and impactful one we have held in Iowa history,” said IFC President Dave Funk. “The time has come for common sense, fact-based legislation that will once and for all keep our children safe at school – our kids cannot afford to wait any longer.”
Among IFC’s goals during this legislative session is to ban phony and dangerous “gun-free zone” signs.
“A sign is not a security plan,” said Funk. “As we have, sadly, seen too many times, ‘gun-free zones’ have proven to be an invitation to those intent on committing evil. The only way to stop a threat is to harden soft targets. It’s past time our kids are as protected at school as our politicians and bureaucrats are in government-run facilities.”
At the event, IFC will be calling on lawmakers to work with school districts in the state to increase their security and allow for trained staff to exercise their constitutional rights on school grounds.
IFC will also push for an end to Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) policies, that are currently legal in Iowa, which are preventing schools from taking the necessary and scientifically proven steps needed to protect students and staff during a crisis. ESG rules have been abused by insurance providers to bully Iowa school boards into not implementing their policies to increase school security, most recently in Cherokee and Spirit Lake.
The event will feature prominent pro-Second Amendment speakers, including lawmakers, IFC leadership, and Gabby Franco, a civil rights advocate, Olympian, and former contestant on the hit History Channel TV series, “Top Shot.”
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.
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.
Listen to Raul Mendez describe his experiences before, during, and after a shooting in the home of neighborhood friends, where he lost an eye, regained his senses, and came to the aid of others to stop a murderer. IFC records his story for people to carefully consider.
To avoid a descent into disorder and chaos, we must confront evil. Evil is defined as “immoral” and “wicked”. People conduct evil: immorally reprehensible acts intended to harm other people. Ever since Cain slew Abel, men – and women – have been killing one another. Why?
Idealism: “Noble ends are often seen as justifying violent means”
The pursuit of sadistic pleasure.”
He goes on to comment that “A disproportionate amount of violence and crime in societies is perpetrated by the small minority of people with antisocial personality traits.” Interpersonal violence, he says, is “often carried out by people acting impulsively, fearfully, insecurely, passionately, vengefully, or misguidedly” and that “only some violence is premeditated, calculated, or predatory”.
Characteristics of a Mass-Shooter
A review of perpetrators of mass-shootings in the U.S. reveals some common attributes:
The shooter is intent on causing as much mayhem as possible
The shooter targets “Gun-Free zones” (no on-site resistance)
The shooter reviews information from previous mass-shooting events
The shooter pre-plans the event, often for months
The shooter writes a manifesto and/or publishes comments on social media or to friends
The shooter procures the tools needed to carry out his/her plan, frequently well in advance of the event
The shooter exhibits antisocial tendencies, is often known to be troubled
The shooter plans to die in the event
Taken together, these attributes paint a picture of an opportunist who wants no one to interfere with his/her plan. They have carefully researched their target; they have gone over and over their plan; they have written their statement for the world to read (posthumously) and they are prepared to die in order to put their personal stamp on the face of history at the expense of their casualties. By definition, their actions are evil: premeditated, calculated and predatory.
Whatever story eventually unfolds about Audrey/Aiden Hale, watch the videos that have been released, and read what we know about her. This event was not impulsive. She certainly was not fearful when she shot out the doors to the school. She was not insecure when she began roaming the halls, firing at will.
We can never know what is in another person’s mind and what struggles they are dealing with. But we CAN judge their actions. Audrey/Aiden Hale’s actions were the embodiment of evil. Six people—three children—paid with their lives. Countless others have been significantly impacted. Thank God the teachers and staff had prior active-shooter training and locked the school down effectively. Thank God the Nashville Police got there quickly and reacted decisively, professionally and with resolve.
Evil lives among us. Evil is only stopped by prepared good men and women who will confront it. Join IFC — the good men and women of Iowa Firearms Coalition.
Read the blog later this week for a discussion about why we need to have trained and willing people on-site, at the schools, ready to stop these threats.
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