West Burlington Mayor Trousil responds to NRA and IFC members

In the face of growing criticism over West Burlington's “Chapter 30” ordinance that bans the carry of firearms in municipal buildings, Mayor Hans Trousil continues to be defiant. The NRA and the Iowa Firearms Coalition have begun campaigns for members to contact the West Burlington city council in an attempt to get the illegal Chapter 30 removed from West Burlington's books. Mayor Trousil has been responding to NRA and IFC members with a blanket canned response that deflects, but does not defend, Chapter 30. Here are some of the salient points of Mayor Trousil's response letter:

The City of West Burlington passed a Weapon Free Ordinance in 2002.  This does not prohibit the purchase or carrying of guns in our community.  It established weapon free zones in municipal owned buildings.

Also known as “safety-free zones.”

Iowa State Code, 724.4A Weapon free zones, means the area within 1,000 feet of, the real property comprising a public or private elementary or secondary school, or in or on the real property comprising a public park.  Three West Burlington municipal buildings are located within 1,000 feet of a school, including city hall.

As pointed out in yesterday's Examiner article, Mayor Trousil is completely incorrect on this point. Either he has not read 724.4A, or it has not been explained to him correctly by the West Burlington City Attorney. Either way, it is still a wrong interpretation of 724.4A. 

The statement that I am quoted on was not complete by those who wish to take it out of context.  This is the whole statement, “There are a lot of nut jobs out there with guns who want to do harm to innocent people, including elected officials, but not every gun owner is a nut job".

It is interesting to note how “the whole statement” is quite different than what the Des Moines Register originally reported. Is the DMR unable to catch a sound bite correctly? Or is Mayor Trousil doing a quick double take, and hoping that he can put a positive spin on what is a fairly snide characterization of gun owners? Perhaps Mayor Trousil should see about getting the DMR to post a retraction.

The NRA, specifically the leadership has put out only what it wants their members to see and not the whole story, and like sheep being let to slaughter the membership fell for it.

Actually, the whole story has been in place since 2002. What more is there to the story than what has been reported? Chapter 30 is illegal, and West Burlington cannot enforce it. 

Less than 3 feet from where this letter is being drafted is a gun cabinet with 7 guns.  I hunted for many years and enjoyed the sport.  But I do not intend to bring any of those guns to a City Council meeting.

This is completely Mayor Trousil's choice. But his choice should not, and cannot, be allowed to be the “choice” for any other citizen who correctly believes that a “weapons-free zone” provides nothing but a false sense of security.

Common sense alone should tell us that weapons have no business in a setting where discussions could become heated and out of control.

Hundreds of thousands of firearms are carried in this country every day by permit holders (and in three states, by regular citizens with no permits!) in places where discussions could become heated and out of control. That “disqualifier” is not limited to municipal buildings. Rather, that is everyday life. Yet, there is no blood in the streets or shootouts at the O.K. Corral. This is Mayor Trousil trying to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt. 

No I do not have police protection, I am big enough to take care of myself.

His citizens do not have police protection either. So, some choose to carry a firearms for self-defense, some do not. It is a right that is ingrained in the very fabric of this country. Mayor Trousil, despite his apparent desire to do so, cannot simply wipe it away because he chooses to disagree with it. 

When was the last time any of you carried your concealed weapons into the Iowa State House, the United States Capitol or the White House, unless you where authorized to do so as a member of a police force, a member of our armed services or a correctional officer?

All are places that are explicitly covered by state or federal laws as “off-limits” and protected by security measures that far exceed those of the West Burlington municipal buildings. Furthermore, some states accept and recognize the fact that permit holders are the most law-abiding citizens in the population, and they actually allow their permit holders to carry weapons into their state capitol buildings. Perhaps that is something that needs to be addressed in Iowa as well.

Regardless of what Mayor Trousil says, Chapter 30 is still illegal – and technically, void. He can sugar coat it with platitudes of how he has “seven guns” within arms reach of him while he types his letter, but as anyone who understands the true concept of self-defense will tell you, those seven guns sitting in the cabinet will do him no good once he's left his house and they remain in the cabinet, and they do not make Mayor Trousil a proponent of gun rights.

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