LETTER: Waylon Brown promoting Wild West

By Jamie Lewis

I attended last week’s AAUW-sponsored candidates’ forum at the Trinity United Methodist Church, and was impressed by the congenial nature of exchanges between local candidates.

Mental health concerns were one prominent area of discussion.

A few days later, a yellow flyer appeared on my porch which promoted views counterintuitive to both mental health and civility. The flyer proudly trumpeted Iowa Senate candidate Waylon Brown’s unqualified support for open carry and “stand your ground” gun legislation, and his complete opposition to restrictions on assault weapons or limits on ammunition clips. These types of legislation promote a mindset which openly encourages an individual to, at the slightest provocation, usurp law enforcement authorities and act as a law unto himself. People may recall the 2007 case of Rodney Heemstra, a western Iowa farmer who killed his neighbor because of a confrontation over water rights and then dragged the man’s body for over a mile before stuffing it down a well.

The man’s widow had difficulty even obtaining redress through civil means.

According to Waylon Brown’s flyer, he favors legislation which shields gun owners from any civil lawsuits resulting from actions they consider ”self-defense.”

He also doesn’t want anyone denied a gun on the basis of a mental health screening. These views are paranoid nonsense, and they encourage a “shoot first and ask questions later” mentality, which should alarm people, given the mass killings that seem to be occurring with regularity in the United States.

If you want a return to “Wild West” values, it’s clear that Waylon Brown is your man.