End Gun Free School Zones In Iowa

Iowa Gun Owners (IGO) reports that this week, Representative Tom Shaw (R-10), will introduce new legislation in the House which would remove schools from the list of areas where Iowans with a permit to carry weapons are prohibited to carry. According to IGO,  Rep. Shaw, a current police officer, "knows firsthand that he can't be everywhere at once and that the only way to prevent events like this from happening is by arming potential victims."

You can help to get this historic piece of commonsense legislation passed here in the Hawkeye State.

First, go HERE and find out who your State Representative is. Send him or her an email urging them to co-sponsor Shaw's bill. (You can use the sample letter below if you'd like.)

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Dear Representative:

I am writing to urge you to co-sponsor the new bill being introduced by Representative Tom Shaw (R-10), which removes public schools from the list of areas where citizens with permits to carry concealed firearms are forbidden to carry. The current ban creates a nuisance for Iowa's hundreds of thousands of permit holders who must displace their weapons (which they can carry just about anywhere else) just to pick up their kids at school. More importantly, the creation of "gun free zones" around schools creates an atmosphere attractive to psychopaths who want to rack up a lot of kills before armed police arrive, as we've seen in Columbine and Sandy Hook Elementary.

In a July 2012 New York Daily News op-ed piece, John R. Lott points out a salient fact from his research that should be required reading for everyone on both sides of this debate: "With a single exception, every multiple-victim public shooting in the U.S. in which more than three people have been killed since at least 1950 has taken place where citizens are not allowed to carry their own firearms." That fact alone is shocking and points out the failure of "gun-free zones" of any kind in this country.

In 2000 Professors John R. Lott Jr. and William M. Landes released an exhaustive study of "Multiple Victim Public Shootings." Some key findings from that study:

• "Right-to-carry laws reduce the number of people killed or wounded from multiple victim public shootings as many attackers are either deterred from attacking or when attacks do occur they are stopped before the police can arrive."
• "Given that half the attackers in these multiple victim public shootings have had formal diagnoses of mental illness, the fact that some results indicate concealed handgun laws reduce these attacks by almost 70 percent is remarkable."
• "Not only does the passage of a right-to-carry law have a significant impact on multiple shootings but it is the only gun law that appears to have a significant impact."
• "[S]tates with the fewest gun free zones have the greatest reductions [in] killings, injuries, and attacks."[Emphasis added.]

There are many things that contribute to school shootings and many proposed solutions. Armed guards and police presence at schools are great, but cost money when budgets are seemingly always stretched thin. Gun control laws are unconstitutional infringements upon the people's freedom and come with political backlash. Ending the pointless "gun-free school zones" would increase safety and cost the state nothing. Please co-sponsor Representative Shaw's bill.

Sincerely,

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Second, since you're already writing emails, why not drop Rep. Shaw a line and tell him thanks for doing the right thing. IGO points out that he's about to (metaphorically) be in the crosshairs of "Anti-gun blogs, the media, and anti-gunners in the Capitol," so a kind word might be appreciated. Tom Shaw's official email is: tom.shaw@legis.iowa.gov

Thirdly, pass this information along to your friends!