The Insidious New Attack on The Right to Keep and Bear Arms:

“You Can Keep Your Gun but If You Dare to Bear It in Defense of Self or Property

We Will Put You in Jail and Charge You With a Felony”

By Robin Heid, M.A.

~ Part Three ~

Introduction

The boundary between freedom and tyranny is the criminal justice system. – Larry Pozner, Esq.

Part One of The Insidious New Attack on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (4 AUG 26 issue covered how 7th Judicial District DA Anna Cooling is ignoring our God-given, common law, constitutional, and statutory rights to armed defense of self and property from violent criminals and actively prosecuting anyone who dares to bear arms in said defense. It detailed her constitutional and statutory violations, and provided documentation thereof, to include the atrocious case of Lynn Duteil, who was forced to accept a draconian plea bargain because he was too ill to survive a trial.

Part Two of Insidious covered a second felony menacing case that DA Anna Cooling is pursuing in furtherance of her agenda to either:

a) personally legislate from her prosecutor desk against the right of American and Colorado citizen rights to even display a firearm in defense of person and property; or

b) Allow mentally ill, anti-gun, anti-self defense, anti-property rights, Soros-compliant Democrat subordinate Ian Fowler to do it in her name.

Part Two also delved deeper into the failures of the Montrose Police Department and its associated “drug task force” to competently police the Tortilla Flats neighborhood, failures which were the proximate cause of the second felony menacing case, and which have negatively impacted the peace, safety, and property values of citizens living there. It also examined:

• The use by DA Cooling’s anti-gun subordinate Fowler of a legal theory from Lewis Carroll’s children’s book Alice in Wonderland to justify his anti-gun, anti-constitutional misconduct;

• How the actions of DA Cooling’s anti-gun subordinate Fowler to “shadow ban” even the display of firearms in defense of self and property work in concert with the moves by Comintern legislatures in Colorado and other states to ban certain guns or magazines; and

• Two other firearm-related self defense cases that underline how existential this concerted, multi-layer anti-gun, anti-self defense threat is to the foundations of our freedom.

Part Three of Insidious revisits the GiveSendGo campaign to raise funds both for my defense and, more importantly to the big picture, raise enough money to establish a foundation dedicated to protecting the right of Americans to bear arms in defense of self and property without being arrested, jailed, and charged with felonies and other crimes for doing so.

Part Three also expands on Deputy DA Ian Fowler’s mental health issue that should disqualify him from holding any position that gives him access to the power of the state to abuse citizens on his say-so.

Finally, Part Three looks at how my current physical condition made it necessary for me to bear arms in defense of self and property from a violent criminal attacker who was 14 years younger, a foot taller, and 50 pounds heavier than me.

The GiveSendGo Campaign

 A GiveSendGo fundraising campaign has been established at https://www.givesendgo.com/defend-the-right-to-bear-arms-in-self-de to raise money for:

1)  a defense fund so living-on-Social Security me can defend myself from Anna Cooling’s preposterous prosecution of me on felony menacing charges because I dared to bear arms in defense of self and property against a career criminal whom the Montrose PD and its associated “drug task force” has allowed for 10+ years to openly sell drugs, pimp prostitutes, and terrorize residents in the 900 block of North Selig Avenue in the Tortilla Flats neighborhood; and

2) establishing the Armed Defense of Self and Property Foundation, dedicated to finding, exposing, defending from, and ultimately eradicating from American law the coordinated attack on the right to keep and bear arms in defense of self and property. Anti-self defense DAs nationwide need to understand that We the Armed Citizens of the United States are fed up with this insidious encroachment on the right to keep and actually bear arms in defense of self and property and we’re going to stop it.

The Mental Health Issues of Deputy DA Ian Fowler

As described in Part Two, Deputy DA Ian Fowler has for the past several years worn a mask at all times. Fowler claims it is necessary because his wife is immune-compromised, but his conduct makes clear that it is kabuki theater, not medically necessary.

First, if Fowler’s claim was legitimate, he would at minimum wear an N95 mask instead of his 15-cent disposable made in a Bangladeshi sweat shop.

Second, Fowler would after six years know and strictly observe basic mask protocols, which he doesn’t. Recall that when Covid first hit, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other medical professionals initially advised people to not wear masks and gloves because they wouldn’t observe mask protocols and would therefore put themselves at even greater risk because improperly used masks increase the chances of contamination and thus infection.

Fowler ignores all such protocols: As I have seen him do through multiple court appearances, Fowler touches his mask constantly, pulls the mask down constantly to talk 2 inches from the court microphone (the absolute dirtiest, most germ-infested thing in the courtroom), and regularly pulls it down to drink from a non-sterile water bottle, which then contaminates the inside of the mask.

Fowler is clearly suffering from a significant mental health issue and thus should not be wielding prosecutorial power because, as both recent incidents with ICE and studies going back 57 years consistently show, people in positions of authority who hide behind the anonymity of masks are consistently more aggressive, brutal, and XXX than their counterparts who do not hide behind masks.

This behavior is known as deindividuation theory and posits that anonymity tends to reduce self-awareness, personal accountability, and inhibitions, and often results in greater aggression, brutality, and abusive behavior, especially in persons such as Fowler, who hold positions of power and authority over others.

Here are some relevant studies and their findings:

1. “The Human Choice: Individuation, Reason, and Order versus Deindividuation, Impulse, and Chaos” (Zimbardo (1969)

Classic lab experiment on deindividuation and aggression. Female participants in groups were instructed to shock a “victim” (confederate). 

Findings: Anonymous/hooded participants delivered significantly longer and more intense shocks. This supported the idea that anonymity reduces self-awareness, evaluation apprehension, and inhibitions against aggression.

Executive summary: Anonymity through face/head-covering disguises reduced inhibitions and increased aggressive responding (shock duration/intensity as proxy for harm). Foundational evidence that deindividuating cues like masks/hoods can disinhibit abusive behavior.

2. “Stanford Prison Experiment” (Zimbardo, 1971)

Simulated prison at Stanford University with student participants randomly assigned as guards (authority figures) or prisoners. Terminated early after 6 days.

Deindividuation elements: Guards wore uniforms and mirrored sunglasses (concealing eyes/identity); roles emphasized power and anonymity. No literal masks, but attire and situational roles promoted deindividuation.

Executive summary: Ordinary people in authority roles, aided by deindividuating uniforms and power dynamics, quickly engaged in brutal and abusive treatment of others. Iconic (though ethically controversial and critiqued for demand characteristics) demonstration of how anonymity cues and authority can foster aggression and tyranny in institutional settings.

3. “Investigation into Deindividuation Using a Cross-Cultural Survey” (Watson (1973)

Anthropological/cross-cultural analysis of warfare practices across societies (often cited as ~23 cultures).

Findings: In ~90 percent of cultures where warriors used strong disguises/alterations, they were far more likely to engage in brutal post-battle acts like mutilation or torture. This was interpreted as support for deindividuation enabling greater aggression by reducing personal identity and accountability.

Executive summary: Disguises and appearance alteration in warrior/authority combat roles correlated with heightened viciousness (brutal acts). Supports deindividuation in high-stakes authority/aggressive contexts across cultures but observational/historical, not experimental.

4. "Deindividuation, Anonymity, and Violence: Findings From Northern Ireland", Journal of Social Psychology. (Silke (2003)

Analyzed 500 violent interpersonal assaults in Northern Ireland (a conflict zone with paramilitary activity). Of these, 206 involved offenders wearing disguises (e.g., masks or hoods) to conceal identity.

Executive summary: Real-world data from violent assaults demonstrated that anonymity via disguises/masks strongly correlated with escalated brutality and abusive acts. Supports deindividuation as a mechanism increasing aggression when identity is concealed, particularly relevant to conflict or authority-challenging scenarios.

5. “The Relationship Between Masks and Aggressive Behavior” (2021, Northwestern University repository)

Exploratory/qualitative work (ethnographic interviews, literature review; appears to be a student or non-peer-reviewed project).

Findings/Claims: Masks reduce self-awareness and public self-consciousness via deindividuation/anonymity, leading to feeling “less like one’s typical self” and increased aggressive behavior. Provides “consistent empirical evidence” (per the work) that masks invoke aggression.

Executive summary: Argues masks promote aggression through deindividuation and reduced self-awareness. Directly addresses masks and aggression but is not a rigorous peer-reviewed controlled study.

6. “Studies/Theses on Police Uniforms and Militarized Gear” (e.g., Johnson, Nickels, and related work; deindividuation thesis ~2021)

Research on how police uniforms (especially militarized: tactical gear, helmets, face coverings) affect perceptions and behavior.

Executive summary: Police authority figures in anonymous/militarized attire (including potential masks/face coverings) show heightened risk of aggressive responses due to deindividuation and cueing effects.

7. “The Effects of Wearing Masks on Malevolent Creativity” (Zhou et al., 2025)

Recent experimental study (Acta Psychologica) on masks and harmful/antisocial creativity.

Findings: Mask-wearing increased malevolent creativity, mediated by heightened perceived anonymity (not changes in moral sensitivity). Facial concealment weakened social norm influence, raising likelihood of harmful or aggressive ideation.

Executive summary: Masks promoted generation of harmful/aggressive ideas via anonymity. Directly tests modern masks but on general participants (not authority) and creative output (not enacted viciousness). Suggests potential for disinhibited harmful thinking.

Bottom Line

The problem of mask-wearing abuses by persons in positions of authority is sufficiently pronounced and widespread that several government entities (including proposed bills in California, Washington state, and the US Congress) have advanced or discussed measures to prohibit masked or unidentifiable law enforcement to improve public accountability, reduce perceptions of "secret police," and mitigate risks associated with anonymity. Given this, Deputy DA Ian Fowler’s years-long practice of hiding his identity from the victims of his prosecutions shows that he suffers from a mental health issue that makes him clearly unfit to wield the power of freedom and incarceration over his fellow citizens, and should be dismissed immediately from the 7th Judicial District DA office.

My Physical Condition and Crimes Against At-Risk Persons

Roger Leroy Gilbert committed a Class 6 felony assault against me per C.R.S. 18-6.5-103 - Crimes against at-risk persons because I am more than 70 years old. Beyond that, he’s 6-foot-4, 180 pounds, and I'm 5-foot-5, 135 pounds.

More importantly, I have 27 pieces of steel in my body from various extreme sports-related injuries, the most critical of which is the plate in my neck that fuses C4, C5, and C6 together. As a result, my range of motion in all directions is reduced by ~50 percent, meaning that:

If my head gets hit, bent, or twisted too far in any direction, even with minimal force, I face far greater risk of death or instant paralysis from the neck down than the average person of “at risk” age.

Despite knowing all of this, Anna Cooling for some reason summarily dismissed even the idea of charging my attacker with the Felony 6 Assault his attack warrants in favor of allowing her mental health-challenged deputy Ian Fowler to pursue a felony menacing jihad against me because my physical limitations required me to display a firearm in order to defend myself and my property from his attack.

Conclusion

If you agree that DA Anna Cooling and her deputy Ian Fowler are violating two constitutions, multiple state laws, and their own oaths of office to pursue felony prosecutions they have no business pursuing, then please write, email, or call the 7th Judicial District DA’s Office and respectfully ask DA Cooling to immediately:

• Drop felony menacing and related charges against all 7th Judicial District citizens facing such charges for lawfully defending themselves and/or their property with a firearm;

• Terminate the deferred judgments and associated probation of all 7th Judicial District citizens facing such penalties for bearing arms to defend themselves and/or their property;

• Direct the relevant police agencies to return all case-related firearms, holsters, magazines, and ammunition seized from citizens by those agencies within two business days;

• Vacate all related Protection Orders against all the above-listed citizens; and

• Terminate Ian Fowler’s employment as a 7th Judicial District prosecutor.

IF through these actions we successfully: a) persuade DA Cooling to stop pursuing anti-gun, anti-self defense, anti-property rights, anti-freedom prosecutions; and b) establish the Armed Defense of Self and Property Foundation

THEN we will put on notice all the anti-gun, anti-self defense, anti-property, anti-freedom district attorneys throughout the USA that we are:

a) onto their scheme;

b) we aren’t going to take it any more; and

c) we now have the financial means to help victims of these police-state prosecutions to vigorously defend themselves.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

* DA Anna Cooling, 7th Judicial District, 1200 N. Grand Ave, Montrose CO 81401, anna.cooling@co7da.org, mail@co7da.org, 970-252-4300.