DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa Republican lawmaker says he’s holding a campaign fundraiser featuring U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley at a shooting range despite calls for him to cancel the gun-centered event following weekend mass shootings in Texas and Ohio.
State Rep. Steve Holt says his Sweet Freedom Celebration in Denison remains scheduled Monday night.
Holt posted on his campaign Facebook page Sunday that “mental deviants have killed innocent people in El Paso and Dayton” and he offered his prayers. A writer responded that gun safety legislation was needed more than prayers.
Holt then noted his support for the Second Amendment. He blamed the shootings on “the loss of our value system brought about in part by idiotic far-left ideology that forced Biblical values from our schools, the media and the public square...”
Holt didn’t immediately respond to a telephone message.
Grassley’s staff didn’t immediately verify whether he would attend the event.
