A lawyer for the family of Virginia Beach victim Kate Nixon says she wanted to bring a gun to work for self-defense on the very day of the shooting but did not because of the gun-free policy.

Breitbart News reported that the building in which the May 31, Virginia Beach attack occurred had a gun-free policy for city employees. So when the gunman opened fire on fellow employees–11 of his 12 victims were city employees–they could not shoot back.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that one of those victims, Nixon, had expressed concern over the gunman and talked to her husband about carrying a gun to work for self-defense. She allegedly talked to her husband on the night of May 30, discussing the option of carrying the gun on May 31, the day on which the deadly attack occurred.

The family’s attorney, Kevin Martingayle, indicated that Nixon was simply going to hide a pistol in her “handbag” so she would be prepared if something happened. She ultimately decided not to “because of a city policy that prevents employees from bringing weapons to work.”

Nixon was killed on May 31, when the gunman opened fire on unarmed city employees with two handguns. Reuters reported that both handguns were purchased legally.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.