Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)

(CNSNews.com) – Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. said on Wednesday that places known to be “gun free” are targeted by criminals or terrorists who seek a location for an attack.

“I’ve said this over and over again – gun free zones are killing fields and they are chosen specifically for that reason,” Clarke said at a panel discussion about gun rights and the Second Amendment at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.

CNSNews.com asked Clarke and other members of the panel whether armed, law-abiding citizens could help prevent mass shootings and other attacks in public places, such as the terrorist attack in September in a mall in Minnesota that was thwarted when a radical Islamist was killed by an armed, off-duty police officer.

“I don’t let people take me down rabbit holes on this issue,” Clarke said. “And I’m not accusing you of that. It’s a good question, but the answer is, I don’t know.”

“When people say, do you think if allowing more people to go armed in these public places – malls, schools, whatnot – would it reduce – I say, I don’t know,” Clarke said.

“That’s not the point for me,” Clarke said. “The point is, don’t take my right away to be able to defend myself, if I so choose.”

Clarke told the story of a student at the University of Nevada, Reno who had a license to carry a concealed weapon but the school prohibited weapons on campus.

“She goes to school one night, comes out walking to her car in the parking structure – brutally raped at gunpoint, 50 yards from the campus police building,” Clarke said. “Brutally raped at gunpoint.”

“The only reason she didn’t have her gun is because she’s a law-abiding citizen and the school prohibits firearms on campus,” Clarke said. “It worked to keep the gun out of her hand but it didn’t work to keep the gun out of her attacker’s hands.”

“I’ve said this over and over again – gun free zones are killing fields and they are chosen specifically for that reason,” Clarke said.