In what is becoming an all too familiar scene, a criminal with a gun chose to attack a location where he was most likely to face little opposition yesterday – a federally mandated gun free zone.

In what is perhaps the ultimate irony, this criminal shot up Fort Hood, a sprawling military complex in Texas that houses almost 50,000 U.S. troops.

50,000 troops on base, yet only military police and specifically authorized individuals are allowed to possess weapons on their person due to a Clinton era ban on military personnel carrying weapons.

This “gun free zone” is so comprehensive that it even bans the possession of privately owned firearms in military personnel’s homes if they live on base, thus leaving spouses and children of the soldier vulnerable too.

In this instance, 3 people were killed before responding military police officers could arrive which compelled the shooter to take his own life.

Of course, we’ve seen this all before.

This shooting, just like so many before, all have one thing in common: the attack was carried out in a gun free zone!

These are places where politicians have decided that your right of self-defense is forfeited to government bureaucracy.

Innocent Americans are the ones who pay the price for such foolishness.

A look back at some of the most recent criminal shootings make it clear – criminals almost always attack “gun free zones” when they carry out their cowardly acts. Consider:

• Washington D.C., September 2013, a violent criminal left 12 dead in the Washington Navy Yard, a very visible “gun free zone.”

• Newtown, Connecticut, December 2012, a violent criminal left 26 dead in a “gun free” school.

• Portland, Oregon, December 2012, a violent criminal left 3 dead in a “gun free” mall.

• Atlanta, Georgia, October 2012, a violent criminal shot and killed a volunteer church leader as he led a prayer service in a “gun free church.”

• Aurora, Colorado, July 2012, a violent criminal left 12 dead in a “gun free” movie theater.

I could go on.

You’ll note what locations were not listed above. Police stations, shooting ranges, gun shows, or, come to think of it, the office of Iowa Gun Owners. There is a reason for this.

The blame for every one of those lives lost can and should be laid at the feet of those violent criminals.

But anti-gun legislators, at the state and federal level, share in this blame too, for creating a target rich environment where criminals know that they will face little armed opposition.

So what is the official government solution, once you’ve been made defenseless in one of these scenarios and an armed criminal attacks your place of employment? The government calls it ‘shelter-in-place.’

(Shelter-in-place signs like this are commonly seen in government buildings, as government policies often deny employees the means of self-defense – even on a military base as was the case yesterday!)

Anti-gun policies have reduced us to turning off our lights and waiting under our desks hoping that an armed criminal won’t step into our office, that he won’t check in the broom closet where you are hiding.

The solution is obvious. If the shooter knew that every room he entered may result in him facing a barricaded adult with a Colt .45 or a Glock 17 these problems would simply disappear.

But anti-gunners don’t want this. Why? It’s simple. They need sensational stories like the one out of Fort Hood from yesterday to advance their radical agenda of disarmament.

That’s why every time a shooting like this takes place, anti-gun organizations and politicians are standing in front of a camera before the blood has even dried!

Here in Iowa, we’ve got our own “gun free zones” as many businesses put up signs barring the carrying of firearms in their location after the passage of “Shall Issue” legislation. While some of these signs have started coming down, not nearly enough of them have.

More recently, anti-gunners have been able to get some traction on the advancement of these zones.

In February of 2012, Rep. Clel Baudler, the Republican Chairman of the House Public Safety Committtee rammed a bill through his committee that would make you and I criminals for carrying a concealed firearm in town halls, hospitals, and other government buildings.

In fact, Baudler and the anti-gunners who voted with him, went so far as to ban all ammunition and accessories so that if you so much as parked on city property while walking in to pay a bill at city hall with a box of .22 shells on your dashboard you’d be committing a criminal act.

Imagine going to visit your loved one in the hospital only to be arrested for having a weapon, spotted by some staffer who calls you in to the local authorities.

Most of us wouldn’t want to take that chance and so more and more Iowans would be totally helpless in city hall, hospitals, county parks and more should a violent criminal attack!

I don’t know about you, but I get outraged when I have to choose between carrying a firearm which could protect my family or breaking the law.

Thankfully, Baudler’s bill did not become law, despite his efforts.

But rest assured the anti-gunners are waiting in the wings to pass exactly this type of legislation.

I can assure you, Iowa Gun Owners will be ready for them when that time comes.

In the meantime, join us in praying for the victims’ families in yesterday’s Ft. Hood shooting.

But also join us in putting the blame where it needs to go – on the criminals of course – but also on those politicians who’ve decided to leave more and more Americans helpless in the face of these attacks.

For Freedom,

Aaron Dorr
Executive Director

P.S. Yesterday’s Fort Hood shooting was just the latest in a long line of shootings in “gun free zones,” places where politicians decided that law abiding citizens should be denied the option of self-defense to further their personal agenda of disarmament.

Predictably, the anti-gun organizations were standing in front of cameras screaming for even MORE gun control before the blood had even dried in this most recent shooting.

Attempts have been made right here in the Iowa House to add to the list of places where you and I can’t carry – legislation passed out of the House Public Safety Committee under the control of Republican Clel Baudler that would make you and I victims in city hall, hospitals, and other government buildings.

Don’t fall for the hype! Armed criminals committed these crimes, aided in part by ridiculous policies that leave you and I helpless to defend ourselves.

That’s why Iowa Gun Owners will continue to fight ANY attempts to expand these zones in Iowa.