Citizens, and government officials,

Nearly every single mass-shooting tragedy has happened in a gun-free zone. These words, "gun free zone" are translated by the grossly uninformed as suposedly 'safe places'. The phrase is translated by terrorists, criminals, and would-be mass murderers looking for their 15 minutes of fame as 'barrels in which to shoot helpless fish'. They want a high body count and the only way to achieve this goal is to seek out large numbers of defenseless people in a small area.

Placed in an active shooter situation, which person would you rather be? The person who cowers behind a desk and when found has to beg for their life only to be murdered in cold blood by terrorist or lunatic? Or a prepared, rational person who has the Right and ability to stop a murderer in his or her tracks and subsequently, keep his fellow Virginians, friends, and/or family from becoming statistics on the nightly news?

I choose to be the latter. The firearm isn't the problem. It's a tool that is used far more often for good than for evil. A tiny number of people are the problem. Please focus on providing faster access to the best mental healthcare in Virginia. Creating these gun free zones is a passive regression with the false hope of security. We know this to be a fact because the criminal types, stated above, ignore these meticulously placed window decals and signs stating "No Firearms Permitted". Simply put, a sign does not work. If signs did work, there would be no drugs on school property. Those particular signs have failed spectacularly for decades.

I also call on Governor McAuliffe to heed the warnings of Boston, Paris, San Bernardino, and countless other attacks by religious fundamentalist. They have promised that they are bringing the fight to our shores. We must be prepared. It is not enough to merely 'See something and Say something'. We have to be able to act. The People have a Constitutional Right to protect themselves and their loved ones. Should this Right not apply at the now very vulnerable government offices?

This past month, Governor McAuliffe made the announcement that Virginia has eradicated veteran homelessness. The resources have been put in place to aid a large demographic of Virginia. I applaud this achievement. Next, let's put the focus on mental healthcare so that our Commonwealth may be known as the first state to fully address mental illness and become the nation's best at treating it.

Respectfully, 

Clint Roberts