Post Office Shooting Another Example of Gun-Free Zones Not Working

Not that long ago, the rules changed. You can carry a firearm in a post office without fear of any legal repercussions, so long as you're lawfully carrying in the first place. Granted, I won't say that I carried in post offices for years, but I will say that a lot of my friends carried in them and were completely unaware they were gun-free zones.

Particularly since the shorthand way to describe someone conducting a mass shooting was "going postal" due to all of the post office shootings. You'd think that there were no rules about carrying guns in there, but there were.

Now, the new rules only apply to customers, not staff there on the clock. That's important, because this happened.

A female postal worker shot two female co-workers at the main post office in Iowa’s capital city Thursday before being captured nearby and faces attempted murder charges, authorities said.

Jennifer Christine Pledger, 39, of West Des Moines, stood above one woman who she had shot and fired again, police said, and continued firing as she fled the building.

A male employee was injured in a fall while trying to escape. None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening, according to police.

“They’re all at the hospital. They are being cared for right now,” Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek said of the victims, who included two women, 45 and 53, and a 55-year-old man. All were in stable condition.

Pledger is being charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of willful injury causing serious injury and intimidation. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach possible relatives were unsuccessful and information was not immediately available on an attorney who could speak on her behalf.

The shooting happened on the facility’s second floor, in an area not accessible to the public. Witnesses reported hearing 10 to 12 shots, he said.

In other words, this was a gun-free zone, but Pledger allegedly ignored that rule, brought a gun in, and shot two people.

It's almost like that gun-free zone thing doesn't even work.

For all the hysteria about lawful citizens being able to carry guns into post offices, the issues we hear about aren't with customers but with postal workers who are still prohibited from having a gun in the building. I'd sarcastically write "weird" here, but I can't. It's the most predictable thing in the world. There's nothing at all weird about it, even if we didn't have the history of "going postal."

But we do.

I'm not saying that postal workers are inherently unbalanced. There are too many people who work for the post office who would never do any such thing for me to make such a broad statement.

What I will say is that we have a history that showed the gun-free zone thing never worked in the postal system, and now that the rules against armed customers are lifted, we're still seeing it.

It's well past time for some people to get over themselves and recognize that if someone means harm, the sign on the door isn't going to do all that much except mean that no one is in a position to defend themselves unless they also break the rules. That's never a position anyone should want to be in.

Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

Help us continue to report on their efforts and legislative successes. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.