From NAGR...FEMA Training to Stop People Like YOU!

[Lone Star State Sentinal]

Michael, In the past few weeks, Aaron Dorr of Iowa Gun Owners became aware of the fact that the Emergency Management Agency was planning to hold a terrorism response drill at a local school in Iowa. In this scenario, two "terrorists" went into this school and shot or killed close to two dozen people according to the planning documents. While I empathize with the job of Iowa's peace officers and am happy they are training to protect the their bosses (taxpayers), there was a major problem with this scenario: The shooter could have been you or me. That's right; the description given of the shooter was of a white male who came from a family of firearms enthusiasts, and who was concerned about illegal immigration! In a blatant attempt to demonize law-abiding citizens who own and use firearms for self-defense, the organizers of this event described what is likely the majority of the members of the National Association for Gun Rights. Iowa Gun Owners asked its members to contact the County Supervisors via email or phone and voice their concerns. The result: the event was cancelled due to a huge public outcry! Now, of course the Emergency Management Agency coordinator says that county officials were receiving threats and that's why they cancelled the event. Worse still, the coordinator, Jeff Theulen, said that the true patriots are those government bureaucrats who received all the pressure that you applied. Some people never learn. Mr. Theulen's office puts forth a scenario where a person who supports and believes in the Constitutionally protected rights of the Second Amendment is portrayed as a mass-murdering terrorist in what appears to be an attempt to further undermine our freedoms and yet Theulen thinks that he and his colleagues are the real patriots! Incredible. Unfortunately, people like Mr. Theulen are just tools of a higher authority. So, while the great people of Iowa are taking him to task, I need you to address this problem at a higher authority. He takes his marching orders from the Department of Homeland Security, and that’s where my concern lies. This is a lot bigger than just Iowa. I need you to contact your Congressman and Senators and tell them that the Department of Homeland Security’s characterization of gun owners who are concerned about ILLEGAL immigration into our country as potential terrorists is as laughable as it is outrageous. Tell them that law-abiding gun owners encourage the training of the first responders in the county, but under different circumstances. That’s where a good legislator is so important. Iowa has such a man in State Representative Tom Shaw. Shaw, a freshman legislator from North Central Iowa, was made aware of this situation by representatives of Iowa Gun Owners and was very troubled. You see, Rep. Shaw, until he won his election last November, was a police chief in Iowa. While obviously not hostile to peace officers, Rep. Shaw was as concerned as we were about the ramifications of this scenario in South West Iowa. At the request of Iowa Gun Owners, Rep. Shaw went on WHO radio in Des Moines two different times as a member of Iowa Gun Owners, a gun owner, and a state legislator to sound the alarm. This is how the system is supposed to work. You elect good people and they prevent your freedom from being stripped away by doing their job. If they don’t, you hold them accountable. Gun owners are a proud bunch. But without holding these agencies accountable, our rights will erode faster than we can fathom. I don’t want that, and I know you don’t either. So call your Congressman and your Senators at 202-224-3121 and tell them you are tired of being labeled as a “criminal” by the Department of Homeland Security and its lower level agencies. And then hold them accountable if they don’t stand up for your rights. It is, after all, why they are there. For Liberty, Dudley Brown Executive Director National Association for Gun Rights